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Book 1, Chapter 4
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gothic Architecture, History, and Art
Lust, Sin, and Misogyny
Appearances, Alienation, and Hypocrisy
Fate and Predestination
The Supernatural, Rationalism, and Knowledge
Justice, Punishment, and Freedom
Summary
Analysis
The face-pulling contest begins. The contestants take turns poking their heads through a broken window in a nearby chapel, which overlooks the great hall. Coppenole wins the crowd over completely and they fail to notice when the affronted Cardinal leaves the hall. The competitors pull spectacularly ugly faces and draw howls of laughter from the crowd. The faces make up a parade of amazing and varied expressions, like nothing the people have ever seen before.
The people’s decision on how to spend the festival offends the Cardinal because it symbolizes the triumph of the people’s will over the nobility. The faces the crowd pulls mirror the gargoyles on the walls of Notre Dame, which are carved in a range of hideous and bizarre shapes. This suggests that Gothic architecture accurately reflects the variety of people who live in Paris and the range of experiences that these people endure, rather than just appealing to the nobility.
Themes
Gringoire is dismayed to see such a spectacle distract from his play. He plans to join the contest so he can pull a face at the crowd as revenge for rejecting his work. He decides against it, however—he will not stoop to their level. A cheer goes up from the crowd, which signals that they have chosen the “fool’s pope.”
Gringoire is clearly a petty character; he despises the crowd for not appreciating his art. Hugo makes fun of Gringoire for this attitude and suggests that true art is something democratic, rather than elitist, in which a large range of people and experiences can and should be portrayed.
Themes
The face of the winner is terrible. He has one large eye, a welt on his brow that hides his other eye, and teeth that stick out at strange angles. The crowd draws back in surprise when they realize that this is the man’s real face. He is a hunchback and the crowd quickly recognizes him as Quasimodo, the bell-ringer of Notre Dame. Jehan shouts that pregnant women should not look at him and several women quickly hide their faces. Others cry out that Quasimodo is “vicious,” that he attends “witch’s sabbaths,” and that he has an “evil soul.” The crowd pulls back as he walks among them.
The crowd judges Quasimodo based on his ugly appearance, rather than his character. This suggests that medieval society is somewhat shallow and takes things at face value. Furthermore, many of these beliefs about Quasimodo are based on superstition rather than on evidence. This brings upt the idea that medieval people are quick to jump to supernatural conclusions and use these beliefs to explain things that seem inexplicable—such as Quasimodo’s deformity—because they do not have access to rational or scientific knowledge, which could explain these things in another way.
Themes
Robin Poussepain approaches Quasimodo and laughs in his face. Quasimodo picks Robin up and throws him into the crowd. Coppenole congratulates Quasimodo on his “beautiful ugliness.” Quasimodo is deaf, however, and he snarls at Coppenole. Amused, Coppenole announces that Quasimodo is “the perfect pope” and Jehan begins to tease Quasimodo from his perch above the hall.
Quasimodo is aggressive towards the crowd because they are aggressive with him, and this suggests that people respond to their environments and learn to behave based on the way they are treated. Extremes and things which seem contradictory are often brought together throughout The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Coppenole’s statement that Quasimodo is beautifully ugly is a contradiction, but it also suggests that things which are widely considered grotesque can also be beautiful. This is relevant to Hugo’s thesis about Gothic architecture, as Hugo suggests that, although 19th-century critics considered Gothic architecture ugly, there is something grand and beautiful about the way Gothic architecture captures a range of human emotions and experiences.
Themes
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The crowd dresses Quasimodo in his “fool’s pope” robes. They hoist him onto a litter to carry him through the streets. Quasimodo seems happy that the strong young men who bear the litter are forced to walk beneath him. He smiles bitterly as he is paraded through Paris.
Quasimodo has grown bitter towards society because they have ostracized him and treated him cruelly because of how he looks. This suggests that people are often products of their environment; they behave in ways that reflect how they themselves have been treated. Quasimodo is amused by the handsome men who are forced to carry him because beauty is usually celebrated, while ugliness is punished in medieval society. Quasimodo’s veneration in the parade, therefore, is a reversal of the usual order.
Themes
