NOTRE DAME DE PARIS
By Victor Marie Hugo
PF Collier & Son Company, 1917, 531 pages
Review by Michael Beach
Many have heard of this work as The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The story is timeless, and nothing like any of the movies I’ve ever seen on the topic. Quasimodo is the protagonist who watches over Esmeralda, protecting her from the evil priest, Claude Frollo. Hugo originally published the 15th century story in 1829. This publication is in one volume of a series called The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction.
The story has a fairly pessimistic outlook on humanity. About the only two people who have positive motivations are Quasimodo and Esmeralda. Despite their motivations, their decisions seem just as foolhardy, or even destructive, as every other character in the story. Judgments by every character are always ill-informed, and influenced by personal preference, or personal benefit. In the end just about every character dies under unnecessary circumstances, including Quasimodo and Esmeralda. The ends of each character come by some combination of poor decisions of their own and others.
For example, Esmeralda’s mother has her daughter stolen from her as an infant. She repents of her promiscuous life, and removes herself to suffering in a convent cell. Eventually she sees Esmeralda from time to time through her cell window and curses the girl out of anger at the gypsies whom she blames for taking her child. Assuming Esmeralda to just be another gypsy and not suspecting her to be her own daughter, she reviles Esmeralda every time she sees her. When the two are reunited and the truth exposed near the end of the story, the mother holds her too long in her cell and is unsuccessful at keeping the king’s guard from capturing the girl. Esmeralda was accused and convicted in the death of her love, Pheobus, who is not dead, but only wounded. His attacker was not Esmeralda, but Claude Frollo. Claude continues to offer Esmeralda freedom if she will consent to marry him. She always refuses. Meanwhile, Phoebus avoids exposure around Esmeralda because despite taking her as a mistress for a few months, he remains betrothed to another and in the end abandons Esmeralda to the gallows.
Quasimodo it not much better in his judgments. He seeks to protect Esmeralda within Notre Dame. Because of his deafness, when the gypsies storm the cathedral to free her, and steal some of the riches within, he mistakes their attack as an attempt to kill Esmeralda. In his efforts at defending her he kills many of them from the towers above.
I found the story intriguing. It was hard not to follow to see the outcomes. Aside from that there was some disappointment in the ultimate resolution. Only one character seems to have escaped unscathed despite some of his own poor judgement, Pierre Gringoire. He is a failed playwright at the beginning. When he takes refuge with the gypsies and is almost executed by them, Esmeralda frees him by marrying him. She does not actually intend to honor the marriage in any way, but rather pines for Phoebus. She never gives herself to Gringoire, but does give herself unvirtuously to Phoebus leading to the attempted murder by Frollo, and the subsequent hanging of Esmeralda. Gringoire does help Esmeralda temporarily escape the gallows by cooperating with Frollo. He even helps her get to her mother, but he ultimately only manages to save Esmeralda’s goat. The two of them seem to be the only survivors among all the characters.
If the reader is hoping for hopeful outcomes, don’t read the story. If the reader is interested in the literary perspectives of French writers of the 19th century, then this work is surely a prime exemplar.
By Victor Marie Hugo
PF Collier & Son Company, 1917, 531 pages
Review by Michael Beach
Many have heard of this work as The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The story is timeless, and nothing like any of the movies I’ve ever seen on the topic. Quasimodo is the protagonist who watches over Esmeralda, protecting her from the evil priest, Claude Frollo. Hugo originally published the 15th century story in 1829. This publication is in one volume of a series called The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction.
The story has a fairly pessimistic outlook on humanity. About the only two people who have positive motivations are Quasimodo and Esmeralda. Despite their motivations, their decisions seem just as foolhardy, or even destructive, as every other character in the story. Judgments by every character are always ill-informed, and influenced by personal preference, or personal benefit. In the end just about every character dies under unnecessary circumstances, including Quasimodo and Esmeralda. The ends of each character come by some combination of poor decisions of their own and others.
For example, Esmeralda’s mother has her daughter stolen from her as an infant. She repents of her promiscuous life, and removes herself to suffering in a convent cell. Eventually she sees Esmeralda from time to time through her cell window and curses the girl out of anger at the gypsies whom she blames for taking her child. Assuming Esmeralda to just be another gypsy and not suspecting her to be her own daughter, she reviles Esmeralda every time she sees her. When the two are reunited and the truth exposed near the end of the story, the mother holds her too long in her cell and is unsuccessful at keeping the king’s guard from capturing the girl. Esmeralda was accused and convicted in the death of her love, Pheobus, who is not dead, but only wounded. His attacker was not Esmeralda, but Claude Frollo. Claude continues to offer Esmeralda freedom if she will consent to marry him. She always refuses. Meanwhile, Phoebus avoids exposure around Esmeralda because despite taking her as a mistress for a few months, he remains betrothed to another and in the end abandons Esmeralda to the gallows.
Quasimodo it not much better in his judgments. He seeks to protect Esmeralda within Notre Dame. Because of his deafness, when the gypsies storm the cathedral to free her, and steal some of the riches within, he mistakes their attack as an attempt to kill Esmeralda. In his efforts at defending her he kills many of them from the towers above.
I found the story intriguing. It was hard not to follow to see the outcomes. Aside from that there was some disappointment in the ultimate resolution. Only one character seems to have escaped unscathed despite some of his own poor judgement, Pierre Gringoire. He is a failed playwright at the beginning. When he takes refuge with the gypsies and is almost executed by them, Esmeralda frees him by marrying him. She does not actually intend to honor the marriage in any way, but rather pines for Phoebus. She never gives herself to Gringoire, but does give herself unvirtuously to Phoebus leading to the attempted murder by Frollo, and the subsequent hanging of Esmeralda. Gringoire does help Esmeralda temporarily escape the gallows by cooperating with Frollo. He even helps her get to her mother, but he ultimately only manages to save Esmeralda’s goat. The two of them seem to be the only survivors among all the characters.
If the reader is hoping for hopeful outcomes, don’t read the story. If the reader is interested in the literary perspectives of French writers of the 19th century, then this work is surely a prime exemplar.
RSS Feed