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
The harsh and frequent punishments of the medieval period mean that, in every city, there are many different sites where prisoners can claim sanctuary. This balances out the justice of the courts, which can be violent and cruel. However, once a prisoner takes sanctuary, they cannot leave the site again or they will be killed. A place of sanctuary, therefore, can become a prison. From time to time, the parliament can overrule the church and forcibly remove a prisoner from sanctuary, but this is unpopular and does not happen often.
People were frequently sentenced to death in the medieval period, even for minor crimes or on very little evidence. Hugo suggests that the system of sanctuary arose so that people would not feel that the justice system was unfairly stacked against them. The nobility feared that people might start to rebel if they felt that they were being killed indiscriminately with no hope of mercy. Although the justice system is very oppressive, medieval rulers do not like to upset the people, who can be very powerful when they rise up in large numbers.
Themes
At first, when Quasimodo snatches Esmeralda, she thinks that she is dead and that her spirit is being carried away. Quasimodo places her in a cell in the tower. When Esmeralda realizes what is happening, she remembers that Phoebus is alive and does not love her. She demands to know why Quasimodo rescued her and he looks very sad and scrambles away, leaving her alone in the cell.
Esmeralda desires freedom but is persecuted and threatened with incarceration throughout the novel. Her relief when she thinks that she is dead suggests that, as a powerless woman in an unjust society, her only chance to be free might be to die.
Themes
After some time, Quasimodo returns and tells Esmeralda that she must stay in the cell by day but that, at night, she may go anywhere in the church. Esmeralda is moved by Quasimodo’s care for her but, when he leaves her alone again, she feels sorrowful and cut off from the world. She feels something brush against her feet and, looking down, she sees Djali. Comforted by the little goat, Esmeralda curls up with Djali and begins to cry. After this, she feels a little better. That night, she wanders around the tower and looks out at Paris under the moonlight.
Like Quasimodo, Esmeralda is ostracized and cut off from society because of her appearance. While Quasimodo is alienated because of his deformity, Esmeralda is alienated because she is extremely beautiful and this makes her a target of persecution from misogynistic men, like Frollo and Phoebus. Quasimodo and Esmeralda represent two extremes of Gothic architecture—its beauty and its grotesque quality—and together they demonstrate the harmony of Gothic buildings, which combine and express these two essential elements of life.
Themes
