The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Book 1, Chapter 1  Summary & Analysis

Gothic  architecture, which includes the church bells, is immediately presented as central and integral to life in medieval Paris. The bells wake people up, tell the time, and signal public events. This suggests that architecture is not a purely practical or inanimate aspect of the city, but that it also shapes people’s lives. Meanwhile, the fact that riots are common suggests that the people are discontented or oppressed in some way. The prevalence of churches in the city, and the way in which the church bells organize people’s lives, also supports the idea that medieval life is not particularly free. The Church was heavily connected with the monarchy in the medieval period and people were subject to laws set by the Church and the king. Public executions were also common and were considered a form of entertainment. The “Feast of Fools” was a festival in which ordinary people could temporarily masquerade as monarchs and nobles.

Mystery plays were plays with religious themes, which were popular in the medieval period. As most people could not read, mystery plays were a way to educate the populace on moral and religious matters, as well as a form of entertainment. Ordinary people attend the play alongside foreign dignitaries, and this demonstrates the wide range of characters from different social classes that Hugo includes in his novel. These extremes of social class—from the peasants to the nobility—are parodied by the idea of the “fool’s pope” (a peasant who will pretend to be pope for the day). This role reversal, though comedic, suggests that although the divide between rich and poor seems vast, it is, in fact, something that can be reversed. Along similar lines, the fact that the “fool’s pope” is elected by the people subtly foreshadows the advent of democracy in Europe.

By comparing the crowd to the sea, Hugo suggests that groups of ordinary people in large numbers can be extremely powerful—just as the sea is a powerful natural force. Law enforcement is brutal and oppressive in medieval society, but Hugo suggests that this has not changed much in 19th-century France (the “today” from which Hugo is writing) and that the police in the 1800s still abuse their power.

The Palace of Justice is an example of Gothic architecture, which was the most popular architectural style in the medieval period. Common aspects of the Gothic style included high ceilings, pointed arches, and decorative stained-glass windows. Gothic architecture fell out of fashion after the medieval period. Hugo supports this with his note that the paint on the cathedral will not be maintained. Medieval society was superstitious and often believed in strange occurrences—like the fallen star—which have no basis in science. However, supernatural explanations could also be used to cover up corruption (such as the destruction of the evidence) because, in a time when people didn’t know much about natural science, rational explanations could not be provided to contradict supernatural claims.

Hugo contrasts the splendor of the medieval building with its modern condition. Rather than being renovated in its original style, the Palace has been updated by architects who sought to make it more fashionable. After the medieval period, when Gothic architecture fell out of fashion, rounded arches became popular as people sought to imitate the pre-medieval, classical periods, such as the architectural style of ancient Rome, because these periods were considered to be more civilized than the medieval.

The presence of the guards suggests that the crowd may get out of control and need to be forcefully subdued. This suggests that medieval society is oppressive, and that force is often used against members of the public who protest. However, the huge numbers in the crowd—compared with the four guards—also suggests that, if the people did decide to protest against oppression or injustice, they would be an extremely powerful force.

The idea that the king takes money from the people to fund favors for the nobility suggests that medieval Paris is an unjust society in which ordinary people are oppressed by unfair laws and taxes. Members of the audience contradict this idea, however, and this shows that ordinary people do not yet have the knowledge to unify against this injustice in medieval society; many still believe in the benevolence of the Church and king.

Although the rector appears very dignified and holy, the students contradict this image of him and claim he is a hypocrite and a gambler. Gambling was associated with sin in the medieval period. The invention of the printing press meant that, rather than being restricted to the few written manuscripts which existed (which the bookseller presumably sells), people could find printed literature from a variety of different sources. The bookseller’s words suggest that the medieval period is a society on the brink of change, which will be brought about by new technologies such as the printing press.

Although capital punishment was a sentence that was usually passed by a legal court, this incident suggests that the crowd are so numerous that they can (and will) hang people themselves if they are sufficiently irritated. This makes it clear that, although the state can threaten individuals with death, individuals in large numbers can also threaten members of powerful institutions, like the state and the Church, if they unite against them. Hugo seems to be hinting that when people live in cruel and unjust societies, they will behave in similarly cruel ways towards each other.

Jupiter is a powerful Roman God, but the actor playing him doesn’t feel powerful at all. The actor’s fear of the crowd (even though it is not his fault that the play has not started) suggests that the crowd will punish people indiscriminately if they are annoyed. The crowd’s fickle behavior mirrors the attitude of the state, which will hang people indiscriminately and often for very minor crimes, and this suggests that people learn by example and that a cruel society breeds a cruel populace.