The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Book 10, Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

Frollo and Quasimodo are opposites—Frollo is very intellectual and Quasimodo is very physical—and they represent that split between the mind and the body, which medieval scholars believed was natural because the intellect was divine, while worldly pleasures were sinful and corrupt. However, in Hugo’s novel, it is Quasimodo—the physical side of life—who is good and tries to protect Esmeralda, whereas Frollo—who tries to suppress his physical side in favor of intellect—is corrupt and tries to destroy Esmeralda. This suggests that suppression of physical urges is not a positive thing, as medieval scholars believed, and, in fact, it destroys good and beautiful things.

Quasimodo is alienated from society because people judge his appearance and treat him cruelly. Therefore, Quasimodo believes that society is cruel, and that people can only mean harm towards Esmeralda—though in reality, the crowd is coming to rescue her.

Quasimodo is afraid of the crowd because, after the procession, they turned on him and refused him water while he was being publicly beaten. Therefore, Quasimodo assumes that the crowd are malevolent because they have been cruel to him, and this shows that people come to expect the treatment they are shown.

Medieval society is very repressive. Kings were not elected but were born into power and the people got no say in how the country was governed. Therefore, people often rebelled against their lot in life, especially as they could be arrested and killed for breaking arbitrary laws set by the king. But while Paris seems unified under the rule of the king, in fact the noble class is divided and factions vie for power with each other. This suggests that, if the people united against them, they could overthrow the nobility.

There is a fatal misunderstanding between Quasimodo and Clopin, who both want the same thing—to save Esmeralda. As Quasimodo’s deafness is simply an accident of fate and keeps him from hearing Clopin, the novel suggests that Quasimodo is a tragic figure who cannot help or change the circumstances he finds himself in.

Quasimodo has to use the literal building blocks of Notre Dame to defend himself and the church from attack. In this sense, Hugo suggests that Notre Dame is destined to be destroyed by the inevitable onslaught of time and human carelessness, represented here by the army of truants. Although some of the truants want to save Esmeralda, others want to loot the church. This also happened during the French Revolution, when the people of Paris rebelled against the monarchy and destroyed and looted parts of Notre Dame. 

Quasimodo uses parts of the building to defend himself and the cathedral. This ties into the idea that Quasimodo is the spirit of Notre Dame and is intimately linked with the cathedral. Quasimodo represents the medieval period, which cherishes Gothic architecture and wishes to defend it from decay and political destruction—during the French Revolution, in which a mob overthrew the monarchy, parts of Notre Dame were destroyed to symbolize the triumph of the people over the establishment.

Quasimodo uses building materials to try and protect the church. In this sense, Quasimodo represents the preservation of Gothic architecture in the face of historical change—a cause which Hugo champions throughout the novel. The truants represent the passage of time, which destroys the cathedral, as well as the post-medieval architects, who do not appreciate the beauty of Gothic architecture and simply want to destroy it or to steal the valuable relics it contains.

Medieval society was highly superstitious and often used supernatural explanations to understand seemingly inexplicable events, but in thise case, the crowd’s belief is not far off; the church isn’t literally defending itself, but Quasimodo is using his own love for the church as motivation to defend it. Jehan’s announcement that he will scale the “Balcony of Kings” foreshadows the French Revolution, in which a group of peasants stormed Paris and overthrew the monarchy.

Jehan’s climb to the “Balcony of Kings” foreshadows the French Revolution in 1789, when a group of peasants stormed Paris and overthrew the monarchy. Jehan’s climb represents ordinary people’s ascension up the social ranks, which took place from the medieval period onwards, until, at last, ordinary people represented a real threat to the power of the nobility. However, in the medieval period, society is not yet at this point and Quasimodo, who means well by stopping the truant, but does not understand that he wants the same thing as them, represents the confusion of the medieval period and its inability to threaten powerful institutions in an organized way.

Jehan’s tragic end is the logical conclusion of his determination to lead a debauched and extreme existence. While some of the truants have a good reason to attack the church—they want to rescue Esmeralda—Jehan does so out of the simple desire to be rebellious and destructive, because he believes this is his destiny. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, however, and Jehan dies as a result of his (voluntary) involvement with the truants.

The attack on Notre Dame foreshadows the French Revolution (when a mob overran Paris and overthrew the monarchy), in which Notre Dame was badly damaged. It also hints at the gradual loss of interest in Gothic architecture after the medieval period, when Gothic churches began to be destroyed and neglected. Quasimodo represents the church, while the truants represent the people of France.  The people of France built Notre Dame, however, and Hugo suggests that it is ignorance which causes people to destroy historical buildings when, really, these buildings belong to the people’s own cultural heritage.