The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

by

Victor Hugo

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Book 5, Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Frollo’s statement, “this will kill that,” reflects the terror of humankind in the face of a new and vastly superior technology. Printing will bring about freedom for mankind and bring an end of theocracy, or religious rule. In another sense, the book will “kill” architecture because the printing press will, ultimately, end the power of the Church and reduce the need for buildings of worship. As human society changes, the way that it expresses ideas will change too. The architecture of previous ages, which revealed so much about these societies, will be replaced by the printed word as a source of knowledge.
Hugo represents medieval society as a society on the cusp of enormous change. The novel is set at the end of the medieval period, which was about to transition into the Renaissance (a period of intense philosophical and scientific development in Europe). While medieval society was primarily organized around the Church, increased literacy among common people and new understanding of the natural world—which contradicted many medieval superstitions and religious beliefs—meant that people would soon question the Church’s power. Ultimately, the Church went into decline. After the invention of the printing press in 1440, books gradually became easily accessible and cheap to produce. Buildings, on the other hand, were still very expensive to construct and people began to express themselves in writing, rather than through architecture.
Themes
Gothic Architecture, History, and Art Theme Icon
The Supernatural, Rationalism, and Knowledge Theme Icon
Justice, Punishment, and Freedom Theme Icon
Quotes
The first written language was a language of stones, such as the standing stones of ancient societies, which symbolized certain things. As societies progressed, these stones turned into buildings. As society became more complex, these buildings grew more elaborate. Eventually, these ideas became too complicated for architecture and were written in books. Before this, however, architecture was like a huge book that contained the history of human ideas.
Hugo suggests that in early societies, which did not have access to modern technologies such as the printing press, people used architecture to express cultural ideas and beliefs. Historical buildings, therefore, can be read like books that contain information about  historical societies.
Themes
Gothic Architecture, History, and Art Theme Icon
Architecture changes with society. Early Christian architecture was Romanesque because it was based on the ruins of Rome. These Romanesque churches became symbol of Christianity. Romanesque architecture in this period represented the power of the Church, rather than the power of the individual or of ordinary people. The Crusades (a series of religious wars, in which soldiers traveled from Europe to fight in the Middle East) then caused a massive shift in culture.
Cultural shifts can be seen in architecture because, as culture changes, so does the architecture it produces. As people discover new ideas (such as those brought back from the Middle East during the Crusades) and as institutions gain or lose power, these changes are reflected in architecture.
Themes
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The Supernatural, Rationalism, and Knowledge Theme Icon
Feudalism (a system in which kings and nobles owned all wealth and land, charging peasants rent for living on these lands) also created a new architecture. During the feudal era, the noble class began to vie with the Church for social power, and this marked the beginning of Gothic architecture, which symbolized a new freedom from the Church with more personalized and individual building styles.
Architecture is not only a functional art form (in that it provides buildings for people to live in and use), but also an expressive art form that reflects societal values and shifts in culture. Hugo believes that large groups of people have the power to undermine authoritarian institutions (like the Church, which was extremely powerful before and during the medieval period). The decline of the Church throughout the medieval period is reflected in the architecture of the period, which gradually moves out of the Church’s control and is used to express individual ideas, rather than monolithic, authoritarian ones.
Themes
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Justice, Punishment, and Freedom Theme Icon
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Architects grew braver and more expressive as the Church’s power began to wane. Soon, Gothic architecture became “poetic,” rather than just a tool of the Church. Sometimes, anti-Church sentiment was even carved onto the façade of a religious building, such as the carvings which Nicholas Flamel designed on the walls of Notre Dame. As people did not have freedom of speech and did not have the tools to write, ideas could be safely expressed in architecture, as they could not be blamed on a single individual.
The early Church was extremely powerful, and people did not have the freedom to publicly or privately contradict its ideas. The decline of the Church’s power can be traced in the architecture of the medieval period as people began to express their own, individual points of view—even in carvings on literal churches. The fact that buildings were considered a safe form of rebellion (because so many people work on a building that it’s impossible to blame anyone specific) highlights Hugo’s broader point that even powerless people can gain strength by joining together.
Themes
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Justice, Punishment, and Freedom Theme Icon
This changed with the invention of the printing press. Before this, there were two types of architecture: the theocratic and the popular. The theocratic expressed unity and fidelity to a Church or ruling class, while the popular allowed for more individual expression and artistry. Until the 1400s, architecture was symbolic and told the story of the civilization that produced it. Buildings are less easily destroyed than manuscripts and, therefore, it is a safer way to convey ideas and make sure they are passed down to the next generation.
The printing press, which was invented in the 1400s, made books more available and increased literacy. This meant that, for the first time, ordinary people were free to express their points of view in writing and be easily understood by others. Although people might be punished for what they wrote, it was difficult for the Church to censor their ideas, as books could be quickly and easily reproduced.
Themes
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The invention of the printed book made it easier to convey ideas to large numbers of people. Knowledge, which once had to be painstakingly carved into a building, became easily accessible to the masses and spread around the world. These ideas spread so quickly that they caused a change in society and in the human mind. It took power and information out of the hands of the Church and gave it to the people.
Before books became widely available, people largely relied on the Church for knowledge and education, as members of the Church were usually the only people who had access to written manuscripts or who could read. Therefore, the rise of printed books much more power to average people, even as it diminished the role of architecture in transmitting knowledge.
Themes
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As printed books were easier to produce and harder to destroy, given their numbers, people switched from architecture to the written word to express themselves. The life went out of architecture and its death coincided with the end of the Gothic era. As people moved into other modes of expression, art forms such as poetry, theater, and sculpture flourished. This freedom and diversity in art led to diversity in political ideas and then to revolutions, such as the Reformation (when the Church divided into Protestantism and Catholicism), which would have been impossible without the printing press.
The Reformation, which was a split in the Church brought about by Martin Luther’s criticisms of Church doctrine, was largely driven by printed pamphlets and the idea that everyone should be able to read the Bible for themselves, rather than relying on the Church for religious teaching.
Themes
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As the life went out of architecture, the grandeur of it disappeared. Plain, practical styles replaced decorative and elaborate ones. By the 16th century, architecture had become a parody of itself and it only recreated older styles rather than producing new ones. Like an aging person, architecture grew senile and demented before it died.
Hugo suggests that the decline of architecture as an art form was inevitable because people no longer needed to express themselves in this way but could instead use cheaper, more individualized methods, such as the written word.
Themes
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While architecture died, printing became invigorated and all the significant efforts of human thought and achievement appeared in literature. Books killed architecture, partly because books are cheap to make, while building is so expensive. Every now and then, a masterpiece of architecture is built, but architecture is no longer the dominant social art.
Hugo suggests that humans are fundamentally expressive and always need a way to channel their passions and ideas. This suggestion echoes the tension in Frollo’s character and subtly foreshadows that he’ll have to do something to express himself—he can’t keep his passions bottled up forever.
Themes
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Lust, Sin, and Misogyny Theme Icon
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Looking back across history, the story of humanity has been written both in architecture and in books. There is something grand and epic about the story written in architecture which books, although they are numerous, cannot recreate. However, like ancient buildings, print culture is democratic and it lets the whole of humanity add their piece to the story—just as many builders worked on the famous buildings of ancient civilizations. Humanity fends off “barbarism” through contributions to this story and tries to fight off confusion and ignorance. In this way, books are like a “second Tower of Babel.”
Hugo does not believe that ordinary people in early societies were barbarous. It wasn’t that they didn’t have sophisticated ideas, but rather that, unlike people in modern society, they did not have a cheap and reproducible way to express these ideas. Although historical buildings were often commissioned by kings or Church authorities, Hugo suggests that these buildings still reflect the perspectives of ordinary people, because ordinary people contributed to their construction. The Tower of Babel is a biblical story in which the nations of the world try to build a tower to Heaven. As punishment, God splits the languages up into different tongues so that people cannot understand each other. Art, Hugo suggests, is a tool to fight ignorance and to help people communicate, whether they do so in the form of architecture or through written books.
Themes
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The Supernatural, Rationalism, and Knowledge Theme Icon
Justice, Punishment, and Freedom Theme Icon