Notre Dame de Paris

Author: Victor Hugo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: The story in the novel takes place in 15th-century Paris. Gypsy girl Esmeralda, who performs on the streets, falls in love with the handsome nobleman Phoebus, whose heart is filled with guilt and lust. Out of jealousy, the Archdeacon Claude Frollo of Notre-Dame Cathedral kills Phoebus. With no hope of possessing the girl, he orders the ignorant judge to sentence the innocent girl to the gallows. However, the Archdeacon does not fare well in the end. Quasimodo, the bell ringer of Notre-Dame, is ugly in appearance but kind at heart. He does everything he can to protect the girl and ultimately dies of love. The work employs a striking contrast to fully demonstrate the conflict between true goodness and beauty versus false ugliness and evil. Through Esmeralda's tragic love story, it profoundly exposes the darkness and evil of feudal autocracy and the medieval church.