Lust, Sin, and Misogyny Theme Analysis

Lust is associated with sin in the medieval period, while purity is associated with holiness and spiritual rewards. Due to these attitudes, many of the characters in The Hunchback of Notre Dame try to repress their feelings of lust and desire. However, the repression of these urges, which Victor Hugo suggests are natural and healthy, does more harm than good to some of the characters, despite their beliefs in the power of purity.

Frollo represses his lustful urges (because he believes they are sinful) and this repression causes his sexual desires to manifest in unhealthy ways. In his early life, Frollo is a naturally passionate man and is prone to extreme emotions. At first, these passions manifest in generous ways. When he is 19, Frollo adopts his baby brother, Jehan, after their parents die, and makes it his sole aim to provide for him. This suggests that Frollo is prone to intense emotions, and, when these are expressed openly, they yield positive results. Furthermore, as a young man, Frollo is described as feeling a “lust for knowledge,” which leads to his success as a student and to his illustrious career. This suggests that passion can be a positive and motivating force when it is not repressed. Frollo does not try to repress his love for Jehan or his passion for knowledge, because these types of passion are sanctioned by the priesthood, of which Frollo is a member. As a priest, Frollo must remain celibate and cannot express desire towards women, because he (and the Church) considers this impure. Although Frollo actively believes that lust is sinful, he becomes sexually obsessed with Esmeralda after he sees her dance in the square. Whereas his affection for Jehan causes Frollo to behave generously, his lust for Esmeralda causes him to behave destructively—he hounds Esmeralda to death because he cannot satisfy his lust and destroys himself in the process. This suggests that, when passionate emotions are repressed, they do not disappear, but instead grow more intense and reemerge in destructive ways.

Purity is believed to be a protective force in the novel: several of the characters fight to preserve their purity because they believe this will bring them rewards and protect them from punishment. Although Frollo actively persecutes Esmeralda, he does so partly because he believes that his attraction to her is a sign of his own spiritual damnation. Frollo wants to retain his purity because he believes that this will protect his soul and that he will, ultimately, be rewarded in Heaven for his abstinence. Similarly, Esmeralda tries to maintain her sexual innocence because she believes that she will be rewarded (she will be reunited with her parents, whom she was separated from as a baby) if she remains pure. This is demonstrated by her vow of chastity and the amulet she wears around her neck. This amulet contains a baby’s shoe and is the only clue she has to the identity of her parents. When Phoebus, a handsome young soldier whom Esmeralda is in love with, tries to seduce her, Esmeralda resists his advances because she believes that, if she has sex with him, she will never see her family again. Again, lust is clearly associated with punishment. Lust, or allegations of sexual behaviour, could also incite literal punishment, especially for women. Although Esmeralda does remain pure throughout the novel, she is accused of witchcraft and of using her magic to incite lustful thoughts in men, and she is eventually executed for this. This demonstrates that, although the characters believe they will be rewarded or protected if they stay pure, this is not really the case. In fact, Esmeralda’s purity does not help her avoid punishment (because no one believes she is pure) and Frollo’s attempts to remain pure actively lead to his own demise and moral disintegration, as his repressed sexual urges lead him to extreme and immoral behaviour. This suggests that a quest for purity often does more harm than good, even for those who believe deeply in it.

What’s more, misogynistic beliefs in the medieval period mean that women are held responsible for men’s sexual urges. Although Frollo actively pursues Esmeralda, even when she tells him explicitly that she is not interested, Frollo holds Esmeralda accountable for his sexual interest in her—he believes she has cast a spell on him. Frollo’s refusal to listen to Esmeralda, and to take her seriously when she refuses him, reflects his misogynistic attitude to women in general and suggests that he does not respect Esmeralda’s decisions or feel the need to examine his own behavior. Instead, Frollo simply blames Esmeralda, not only for his sexual desire, but also for the tragic turn his life takes, which is the result of his own destructive behavior. Although Esmeralda never encourages Frollo’s affections, his inability to take responsibility for his own desires (which he feels a deep shame for experiencing because he considers lust impure) leads to Esmeralda’s death and demonstrates the terrible consequences that these misogynistic beliefs can have for women. In contrast to Frollo, who tries to bully Esmeralda into loving him, Quasimodo also falls in love with her but allows her to choose how she feels about him. Unlike Frollo, Quasimodo takes responsibility for his attraction to Esmeralda and does not blame her for his suffering when she rejects him. Unlike the other characters in the novel, Quasimodo has not grown up among society and has not learned that purity is considered virtuous, whereas lust is considered sinful. This suggests that the desire to repress natural emotions, such as lust, is socially learned. Overall, Hugo suggests that repressing natural desires, or holding others accountable for those desires, is extremely damaging to both men and women.