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
Underneath Paris, there is a network of chambers and tunnels in which condemned prisoners are kept. Esmeralda is locked in a dark cell, with only a bundle of straw to sleep on and a trapdoor above her head, through which the jailor delivers food. Mad with grief and isolation, she loses track of time and is unsure whether she is awake or dreaming. She has lost all the things she loves: the fresh air, the sunlight, her freedom, and Phoebus.
Hugo suggests throughout that architecture reflects the society that builds it. The tunnels and chambers underneath medieval Paris thus reflect its cruel justice system, in which people (like Esmeralda) are unfairly condemned and then inhumanely punished.
Themes
Esmeralda has been in prison for several weeks when the trapdoor opens and, instead of the jailor, a man in a black robe enters the cell. He carries a lantern and is horrified when he sees the conditions that Esmeralda is kept in. At first Esmeralda is apathetic about her fate, but then she begs the man to help her escape. The man agrees. He pulls back his hood and reveals his identity: it is Frollo. Esmeralda draws back in horror when she sees him and says bitterly that he is the cause of all her problems.
The medieval justice system is so cruel and unjust that even Frollo is shocked by it. Esmeralda has feels she is doomed to die., but the sight of a visitor renews her hope, highlighting Hugo’s broader point that people shouldn’t use fate as an excuse to avoid taking action to improve their circumstance.
Themes
Esmeralda sinks to the ground before Frollo, like a bird before a predator, and tells him to kill her. Frollo realizes that he disgusts Esmeralda. She bursts into tears and begs Frollo to explain why he hates her so much. Frollo exclaims that he loves her and Esmeralda shudders. Frollo tells Esmeralda that, before he met her, he was happy and pure, renowned for his chastity and wisdom. Esmeralda meekly replies that she was happy too.
Frollo is like a predator to Esmeralda because he is a powerful man in medieval society, while she is a poor young woman and has no way to defend herself. Frollo blames Esmeralda for his feelings towards her, even though they are not her responsibility. Frollo is completely self-absorbed and only thinks about his own suffering, which is self-inflicted, and not the suffering he has caused Esmeralda, which was totally outside of her control.
Themes
Frollo says that one day he saw Esmeralda dance in the square and became intoxicated by her beauty. He felt fate seize hold of him and remembered that Satan often tricks men with beautiful things. When Frollo saw Djali at Esmeralda’s side, he knew that the devil had sent Esmeralda to taunt him. He heard Esmeralda sing and was so enchanted by her voice that he collapsed, like someone turned to stone.
Rather than accept that his sexual feelings towards Esmeralda are natural and come from inside himself, Frollo blames Esmeralda for them and assumes that his feelings—which he considers unusually powerful—must be the result of supernatural or unholy powers.
Themes
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From that day on, Frollo grew more and more obsessed with Esmeralda. He felt that she was taunting him, that she possessed his soul, and that she deliberately distracted him from his studies. He tried several methods to be rid of her: he tried to ban her from the square, he tried to abduct her, and, eventually, he decided that he must do as other great religious men had done and kill the witch who haunted him. He sought to possess her in prison the way that she had possessed him. Although he knows this is wrong, he feels that, if one is going to be damned, one should take it to extremes.
Although Esmeralda has been totally unaware of Frollo’s attraction to her—which is very intense and consumes his life—Frollo blames her for his own feelings. He believes himself to be morally virtuous and, therefore, cannot accept that he naturally experiences seemingly sinful emotions like lust. Rather than take responsibility for his feelings and find a way to express them, Frollo tries to destroy Esmeralda so that he will no longer be distracted by her. Frollo’s fatalistic belief in destiny helps him justify this behavior to himself as he assumes that, since he feels lust for Esmeralda, he is already damned (he believes that events are predetermined by God and, therefore, cannot be changed), so he may as well take his immoral behavior to extremes. Frollo’s logic here comes off as absurd, and it supports Hugo’s idea that suppressing desires only leads to unnecessary destruction.
Themes
Frollo explains that one day he heard Phoebus speak lecherously of Esmeralda in the street. When Esmeralda repeats Phoebus’s name, Frollo seizes her and tells her not to speak that cursed name. Fate has undone them all, Frollo cries. He tells Esmeralda that, although she has suffered through her torture and trial, he has suffered more because he loves her and she has rejected him. He opens his robe and shows her a bleeding wound in his side—he stabbed himself while watching her get tortured.
Frollo projects his own belief in fate onto Esmeralda and believes that, since he is damned, she must be damned with him. He believes that it is God’s plan to damn him—either Esmeralda will seduce him, which will lead him to break his priestly vows of celibacy, or he will kill Esmeralda to prevent this, which will make him immoral and a murderer. Although Frollo struggles with the idea of spiritual damnation—and hurts himself in this struggle—the consequences for Esmeralda are far more serious and tragic because she has lost her freedom through no fault of her own.
Themes
Frollo falls to the ground and begs Esmeralda to take pity on him and not to be disgusted by him. Esmeralda murmurs Phoebus’s name and Frollo begs her to have mercy on him. He implores her to let him save her and to give him her love, just for a short time. He reminds her that, if she refuses, she will be hanged the next day. Again, Esmeralda asks him what has become of Phoebus.
Frollo believes that Esmeralda deliberately tortures him by rejecting him. He does not realize that Esmeralda’s suffering—which he has caused by having her unjustly imprisoned—has unhinged her mind and caused her to become fixated on Phoebus, whom she believes is fated to save her.
Themes
Frollo coldly tells Esmeralda that Phoebus is dead, and Esmeralda flies at him in a rage. She tells Frollo she will never love him and that he is cursed. Frollo throws her off and staggers towards the trapdoor. As he leaves, he screams again that Phoebus is dead.
Frollo tries to make Esmeralda suffer because he feels she deliberately tortures him by withholding her love. However, Esmeralda is afraid of Frollo, confused about his intentions towards her, and has never knowingly tried to seduce him. Again, Esmeralda is being held accountable for Frollo’s emotions, which shows just how little power she has as a woman in an oppressive society.
Themes
