The+Hunchback+of+Notre+Dame

=The Hunchback of Notre Dame=

Paige Bjerke - Paris
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a novel that was written by Victor Hugo. It was published January 14, 1831 as part of the Romantic period. It is entirely based in Paris in the middle ages during the reign of Louis the XI. Notre Dame refers to the Cathedral at the center of the city. The main character, the Hunchback, is the bell-ringer of the cathedral that is forced to live there by his keeper, Claude Frollo.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame was also made into a Disney movie, which is the story that most of us are more familiar with. Though there are many similarities the endings are very different. The idea that Frollo holds a position of power and respect but seems to act like a child that is controlled by jealousy and his lust for Esmeralda is the same in both versions. Esmeralda also keeps her sweet and caring personality in both while being a powerful woman who is willing to fight for what she believes in, her endings are very different. She goes from being sentenced to death in the book, to living happily ever after in the Disney version. The hunchback or Quasimodo is ruled by Frollo and is he is trying to please him in both stories. However, it has a very different ending. He sees the good in Esmeralda and eventually falls in love with her only to die from starvation after holding her body for 18 months. I found that Disney tries to keep the moral of the story but make it much more child friendly. It would be a little weird for a children’s movie to have everyone die at the end.

Victor Hugo's story is centered in Paris. It talks about the underground tunnels and the beauty of Paris. It is believed that Hugo began writing this story to bring awareness to the value and beauty of Gothic architecture. He goes into detail about the beautiful architecture of the Notre Dame Cathedral which I hope we get a chance to see while we are there. Before Hugo wrote this story, Notre Dame was in terrible disrepair. His popular novel single-handedly brought the beautiful church back from the dead.