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Metaphors
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Mood
Explanation and Analysis:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame's mood is marked by drama and intrigue, as Hugo stages its characters and their conflicts to sensational effect. Most of the story’s plot rests on grippingly improbable coincidences. Paquette, the tattered and suffering old woman at the rat’s box, turns out to be Esmeralda’s mother. Claude Frollo only happens to catch sight of Phoebus and trace him down through his brother, Jehan. Quasimodo exchanges places with Esmeralda on the baby bed and finds his destiny intertwined with hers. Hugo sustains the story through a series of clever if fragile coincidences. Everything seems fated, each moment set up neatly to advance the plot.
The novel’s unsubtle characterization complements its suspension of realism to create intense, deeply charged encounters. In stark moral binaries, Hugo clearly separates the villains from the heroes. If Esmeralda is unrealistically innocent and gorgeous, the balding Claude Frollo is evil and repulsive beyond imagination. Setting them against each other makes for fairy tale-esque drama. The Hunchback of Notre Dame derives its sensational force—and even a slightly sexual pleasure—from its own adaptions of maidens and ogres. Impossibly beautiful women get tortured by iron instruments and suffer in dungeons deep underground. Priests stab archrivals, possessed by wicked jealousies, and profess their love in long, unhinged monologues. By painting characters in so broad a brush, the novel sets off sparks.
Hugo intersperses this appetite for drama with comic relief. The novel itself ends in the most dramatic way possible, as Esmeralda gets hanged and Quasimodo chooses to die beside her body. But it offers plenty of slapstick moments in between, most notably through its focus on Gringoire. The hapless poet flees burning mattresses, initiates himself into the ranks of the homeless, and rambles about philosophy just as Claude Frollo prepares to abduct Esmeralda. Hugo’s work is melodramatic, on-the-nose, but also funny.
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