The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The movie starts off with a group gypsies sneaking into Paris, but get ambushed by the minister of justice. One gypsy tries to escape with a deformed baby, but the minister, Claude Frollo, chases and kills her outside Notre Dame. He tries to kill the baby, but is since he has killed the woman, he agrees to raise the child as his own son. He gives him the name Quasimodo, which literally means half formed. Twenty years later, Quasimodo is isolated in the bell tower of Notre Dame and rejected by the outside world. He decides to sneak out to the Festival of Fools where he is crowned the King of Fools, only to be humiliated by the crowd after the guards start throwing fruit at Quasimodo. A gypsy, named Esmeralda, helps the hunchback and using a trick to avoid being arrested. She follows Quasimodo, but she is followed by Captain Phoebus, who is one of Frollo’s guards. Phoebus refuses to arrest her and instead, has her trapped in the cathedral. Esmeralda finds Quasimodo, who helps her escape Notre Dame. Frollo then goes on a hunt to find Esmeralda and burns down many houses while looking for her. Phoebus defies a direct order from Frollo, who then orders him to be executed. He gets injured and falls into the river, but Esmeralda takes him to Quasimodo to hide him. Frollo tricks Quasimodo into leading him to Esmeralda and the other gypsies. Frollo tries to burn her, but Quasimodo rescues her and takes her back to the cathedral. The hunchback keeps Frollo’s men from entering the cathedral by pouring molten copper onto the streets, however, Frollo gets inside. Quasimodo, Esmeralda and Frollo all end up on the balcony where Frollo falls to his death. Quasimodo falls to, but Phoebus catches him. In the end, Quasimodo is accepted by the people and treated as a hero.

“The Bells of Notre Dame” is the opening song in the film, which seems to be a reoccurring theme throughout the movie. This is most likely because the bell tower in Notre Dame is where Quasimodo lives and he is the main character. This beginning piece also incorporates parts from other pieces, such as "Hellfire" in it's opening.

As the movie progresses, we meet a character called Esmeralda, who is a gypsy. Esmeralda and the gypsies seem almost magical at first. Even in the scene where Esmeralda evades arrest, the audience sees her use a magic trick to escape. “Taking into account the early fourteenth-century cultural milieu of Eurasian societies, the symbol might have alchemical and religious connotations associated with magic and spiritual practices widespread…” (Ward). The gypsies were associated with magic and spiritual practices throughout the movie, which Frollo also seemed to deem as witchcraft, while the religious aspects were portrayed by Frollo himself. Later in the movie, we see Esmeralda praying to God in the cathedral in the song “God Help the Outcasts”, which shows that she is human just like everyone else. It also shows the emotion in her voice about caring for the other gypsies.

This song is just one example of the religious references in this movie. Laced throughout the film are religious references, since Quasimodo living in a cathedral and Frollo is a minister of justice. About midway through the film, Frollo realizes he has feelings for Esmeralda and prays to the Virgin Mary, yet another reference, in the song “Hellfire” to have her accept his affections or for her to burn. He proceeds from here to try to burn Esmeralda later in the movie, but this represents a dark turning point in the movie. Up until this moment, we see the lighter side of each character, such as the kindness of Esmeralda, for example, but Frollo shows the darker side of himself by using darker lighting as well as flames all throughout the song. This also raises the discussion that this movie has “too many dimensions of tragic framing…included in the film, and the result is an uneasy confusion. Even with the upbeat ending, the tragic dimensions…establish conflicting emotions.” (Prazniak)

After the song, “Hellfire”, Quasimodo and Phoebus work together to help Esmeralda and the other gypsies from Frollo. In the end, the song, “The Bells of Notre Dame”, plays again as Quasimodo is accepted by the citizens for being a hero.

Works cited

Prazniak, Roxann. "Siena on the Silk Roads: Ambrogio Lorenzetti and the Mongol Global Century, 1250–1350." Journal of World History 21.2 (2012): 177-217. Project Muse. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_world_history/v021/21.2.prazniak.html>.

Ward, Annalee R. Mouse Morality: The Rhetoric of Disney Animated Film. N.p.: University of Texas, 2002. EBSOHost. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.