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Book 9, Chapter 5
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
Esmeralda wakes up and sees a man standing over her. She cries out when she sees that it is Frollo. Frollo climbs into bed beside her. She tries to fight him off, but he continues to caress her and beg her to love him. Finally, Esmeralda catches hold of the whistle that Quasimodo gave her and blows into it. Frollo finds himself being lifted off Esmeralda and screams at Quasimodo to stop. Quasimodo cannot hear Frollo, however, and it is dark in the cell. He drags Frollo outside and Frollo knows that Quasimodo will kill him.
Frollo tries to suppress his sexual attraction towards Esmeralda but this only makes the desire grow stronger and manifest in destructive and violent ways. Frollo tries to rape Esmeralda and refuses to listen to her protests because he misogynistically cares more about his own desires than her right to refuse him.
Themes
However, once they are outside, the moonlight reveals Frollo’s identity to Quasimodo. Quasimodo immediately lets Frollo go and falls on his knees before the priest. Esmeralda is horrified to see this and grabs a sword that Quasimodo has dropped in the struggle. Frollo tries to attack her again, but she brandishes the weapon and spitefully tells him that she knows Phoebus is alive. Frollo staggers back down the stairs and Esmeralda despairs because she knows that Frollo still pursues her.
Frollo and Quasimodo are extreme opposites of each other. Although Quasimodo can dominate Frollo physically, Frollo psychologically dominates Quasimodo, since Quasimodo has always been devoted to Frollo. Their struggle here is a version of the struggle that Frollo is undergoing within himself. He tries to suppress his physical urges with his mind, but he can only sometimes succeed in doing so; sometimes he is overpowered by desire, just as Quasimodo can physically overpower him.
Themes
