Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gothic Architecture, History, and Art
Lust, Sin, and Misogyny
Appearances, Alienation, and Hypocrisy
Fate and Predestination
The Supernatural, Rationalism, and Knowledge
Justice, Punishment, and Freedom
Summary
Analysis
In 1482, Robert d’Estouteville has been Provost of Paris for seventeen years. He has clung valiantly to this position, even when Louis XI made significant changes to his political regime. Robert’s life is very happy because the pay for the provost is good and he receives a lot of the money in taxes collected throughout the city. He enjoys the respect which his uniform wins him and the power of having a group of soldiers at his command.
Hugo suggests that medieval Paris is very corrupt and that officials like Robert, who earn their living by taking money from the people in unfair taxes and rents, cling to their positions because they enjoy having power over people. This suggests that corruption is rewarded in this society. Robert also, hypocritically, uses his appearance as an enforcer of justice to commit unjust acts.
Themes
Robert enjoys doling out justice and pronouncing judgement on those accused of crimes. After sentencing criminals all day, he likes to relax in the gorgeous house which comes with the job. Robert is also responsible for judging political prisoners who have offended the king and who are sentenced to death as a result. He has even had the pleasure of leading those whom he personally dislikes from the Bastille to their execution.
Robert is corrupt because he does not care about justice and, instead, uses his power to his own advantage—to increase his wealth and to punish his enemies. This suggests that medieval Parisian society is unjust because men like Robert wield large amounts of social and legal power.
Themes
Despite all these advantages, Robert wakes up one morning in an extremely bad mood. Although it is possible that his temper is due to the holiday the day before, after which the provosts are responsible for cleaning up, it is also possible that he is simply a mean, bad-tempered man. He is due to sit in judgement on a trial that day (judges always hold trials on days when they are in a bad mood and take this mood out on the accused), but he is late and the trial begins without him.
Robert does not care about justice but only about having a leisurely and comfortable life for himself. He does not take his duties seriously and, instead of sentencing people based on evidence, he sentences people based on his own mood to alleviate his own frustrations. This suggests that justice is not truly just in medieval Paris, since it’s run by hypocritical people who use the powers of justice to improve their own situations.
Themes
Florian Barbedienne, the Provost’s Lieutenant, acts as judge in the trial instead. The hall is crowded; many spectators have come to watch the trial. Although Florian is responsible for hearing the trial, he is, in fact, completely deaf. He still frequently passes sentences, however, and he only pretends to listen to the cases brought before him.
Through this absurd scenario, Hugo suggests that the medieval justice system is totally unjust because it does not even hear the evidence of prisoners. Instead, people are condemned based on the whims of the judges, who are corrupt and only care about their own reputations rather than giving people a fair trial.
Themes
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Jehan and his friend Robin Poussepain are in the audience at the trial. They admire the pretty women in the audience and make fun of Florian Barbedienne, who they say is a gambler and an imbecile. Quasimodo is led into the court and deposited in front of Florian. Quasimodo is tied up but seems calm and sullen. The crowd begins to point and laugh at him.
The crowd do not have sympathy for Quasimodo and, instead, mock him because of his appearance, which is not his fault. This again emphasizes that people in the medieval period do not try to understand people but judge them on appearances instead.
Themes
Florian checks over the documents to make sure that he knows the name of the accused and the crime which he is supposed to have committed. This way, he can ask the questions and pretend to hear the answers and the crowd will not know he is deaf. However, half the audience already thinks Florian is an idiot. Some are taken in by his performance, though, and they believe that he is a competent judge.
Although medieval society has an active justice system, Hugo suggests that it is a pretense at justice rather than a genuinely fair system. This is demonstrated by Florian, who only pretends to hear the evidence of the accused, which obviously makes the trial unfair. Florian himself does not care about justice but only about his reputation and appearance.
Themes
Florian begins to question Quasimodo, but Quasimodo is deaf and does not hear or respond. Florian thinks that Quasimodo has replied and goes on to the next question. This goes on for some time and the crowd falls about in hysterics. Hearing the laughter, Florian thinks that Quasimodo has made fun of him and begins to shout at Quasimodo. This tirade is interrupted when Robert d’Estouteville arrives and sits down in the judge’s chair in front of Quasimodo.
This exchange parodies the medieval justice system and suggests that, although people can be tried, their evidence is not important—because the judges do not listen, and they condemn people based on whims rather than evidence. Accused criminals like Quasimodo may as well not answer the questions or participate in the trial, for all the good it does them. It’s clear from this scene that Paris’s court system offers nothing more than a thin illusion of justice.
Themes
At the arrival of Robert d’Estouteville, Quasimodo states his name and occupation because he thinks Robert is the judge. Robert thinks that Quasimodo is mocking him and sentences Quasimodo to a public beating on the pillory. As Quasimodo is being led away, Jehan shouts something from the audience and Robert, thinking it was Quasimodo who spoke, increases the length of the punishment.
Robert does not care about the evidence or facts of the case. He sentences Quasimodo because he feels that Quasimodo has tried to make him look stupid, rather than because he thinks Quasimodo is guilty. This suggests that the justice system is very unjust in medieval Paris.
Themes
Justice is quick in the medieval period and one is usually sentenced to the pillory or the gallows and taken straight there from the court. Jehan approaches the clerk to confirm the sentence and the clerk, who hopes that Florian might lighten Quasimodo’s sentence if he understands the situation, explains to Florian that Quasimodo is deaf. Florian, however, does not like to be compared with Quasimodo and lengthens the sentence even more when he hears this.
This sequence again highlights how deeply the justice system lacks any actual justice. People are quickly sentenced to brutal punishment on very little evidence, and they are given no time to defend themselves or have their cases thoroughly examined. Florian does not care about justice (although he is a judge) and, instead, only cares about how he appears to people. He does not want to be compared to Quasimodo as he thinks Quasimodo is stupid and ugly, and he takes his anger out on someone whose crime hasn’t even been proven.
Themes
