just so i can get at it at school
Samm Bettis
GEMS I 7th hr.
11/20/06
Analysis of La Esmeralda
Sometimes, a person is not as the may seem. Victor Hugo’s novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, takes place in medieval Paris, France, in times of gypsies, alchemy and the Catholic Church’s reign. In the novel, the character, la Esmeralda, is a beautiful, young gypsy girl, with who Dom Claude Frollo, Quasimodo and Captain Pheobus all fall in love with. However, the character La Esmeralda isn’t the typical love interest.
Esmeralda and Claude Frollo’s relationship is not one you would typically see. First, Claude Frollo is obsessed with Esmeralda enough to abandon his beliefs. How he feels about her is complicated in that he is a Catholic archdeacon, so he has sworn to a life of celibacy. He believes Esmeralda is a temptation from the devil, and that loving her is a test from God. So when he finds he can not pass this “test”, he becomes very angry and frustrated and just can’t do it. He says to Esmeralda, “I’m a priest, yet I make my missal a pillow of lust and spit in the face of my God! And all for you, enchantress; to be more worthy of your hell!” (279). Also, after finding out that Quasimodo is Esmeralda’s protector, he gets insanely jealous and declares, “No one will have her!” (216). In driving Frollo away from God, his love for Esmeralda and his longing for her, drives him towards believing in fate and predestination. When Frollo witnesses a spider devouring a fly in it’s web, it gets him thinking. He comes to the conclusion that him and Esmeralda are meant to be together, and fate will make her fall into one of his traps sooner or later. Another way to see that Claude Frollo and Esmeralda’s relationship is not a normal one, is that despite Claude’s insane love for her, La Esmeralda hates Claude Frollo more than anything. When Frollo saves Esmeralda, and tells her to choose between being hung and going with him, she says, “I feel less horror of this [gibbet] than of you.” (278). Every time Frollo comes around Esmeralda, she gets really scared. You can just tell that she hates him, because she thinks he hates her. And even after finding out that he loves her, she is frightened of him. When she is waiting to be hung in the dungeon, she realizes it’s all the priest’s fault that she’s there when she says, “If it weren’t for him, oh, God, how happy I’d be! he’s the one who cast me into this abyss! He’s the one who killed...who killed him! My Pheobus!” (170). She hates him because he’s the one who stabbed Pheobus and she knows it and hates him for it. As one can see: saying that Frollo and Esmeralda’s relationship isn’t a typical one would be an understatement.
Esmeralda’s relationship with Captain Pheobus is a very unhealthy one as well. First, Esmeralda’s love is a more teenage obsession than anything else. Around her neck, she carries an amulet, from which she gets her name, and, supposedly, if she keeps her virtue and innocence, it will make her find her mother. But when Pheobus and her meet in a hotel room, she is willing to give up the hope of finding her mother in order to be with Pheobus. She says, “It was because I’m breaking a vow. I’ll never find my parents now, the amulet will lose its power...but it doesn’t matter! I have no need of parents now!” (147). Towards the end of the book, the king’s army, led by Captain Pheobus nonetheless, is looking for Esmeralda in the recluse’s cell-The recluse, which we find out, is Esmeralda’s mom- and when Esmeralda hears Pheobus’s voice, despite revealing her hiding spot and risking getting found, calls out to him. Pheobus, unfortunately, has gone around the corner already and doesn’t hear her. However, another soldier does, and she is found and dragged out of the cell. When Esmeralda is in prison, waiting to be hanged, she can’t wait to be hanged so she won’t have to suffer anymore and she will get to be with Pheobus, because at this time, she still believes he’s dead
GEMS I 7th hr.
11/20/06
Analysis of La Esmeralda
Sometimes, a person is not as the may seem. Victor Hugo’s novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, takes place in medieval Paris, France, in times of gypsies, alchemy and the Catholic Church’s reign. In the novel, the character, la Esmeralda, is a beautiful, young gypsy girl, with who Dom Claude Frollo, Quasimodo and Captain Pheobus all fall in love with. However, the character La Esmeralda isn’t the typical love interest.
Esmeralda and Claude Frollo’s relationship is not one you would typically see. First, Claude Frollo is obsessed with Esmeralda enough to abandon his beliefs. How he feels about her is complicated in that he is a Catholic archdeacon, so he has sworn to a life of celibacy. He believes Esmeralda is a temptation from the devil, and that loving her is a test from God. So when he finds he can not pass this “test”, he becomes very angry and frustrated and just can’t do it. He says to Esmeralda, “I’m a priest, yet I make my missal a pillow of lust and spit in the face of my God! And all for you, enchantress; to be more worthy of your hell!” (279). Also, after finding out that Quasimodo is Esmeralda’s protector, he gets insanely jealous and declares, “No one will have her!” (216). In driving Frollo away from God, his love for Esmeralda and his longing for her, drives him towards believing in fate and predestination. When Frollo witnesses a spider devouring a fly in it’s web, it gets him thinking. He comes to the conclusion that him and Esmeralda are meant to be together, and fate will make her fall into one of his traps sooner or later. Another way to see that Claude Frollo and Esmeralda’s relationship is not a normal one, is that despite Claude’s insane love for her, La Esmeralda hates Claude Frollo more than anything. When Frollo saves Esmeralda, and tells her to choose between being hung and going with him, she says, “I feel less horror of this [gibbet] than of you.” (278). Every time Frollo comes around Esmeralda, she gets really scared. You can just tell that she hates him, because she thinks he hates her. And even after finding out that he loves her, she is frightened of him. When she is waiting to be hung in the dungeon, she realizes it’s all the priest’s fault that she’s there when she says, “If it weren’t for him, oh, God, how happy I’d be! he’s the one who cast me into this abyss! He’s the one who killed...who killed him! My Pheobus!” (170). She hates him because he’s the one who stabbed Pheobus and she knows it and hates him for it. As one can see: saying that Frollo and Esmeralda’s relationship isn’t a typical one would be an understatement.
Esmeralda’s relationship with Captain Pheobus is a very unhealthy one as well. First, Esmeralda’s love is a more teenage obsession than anything else. Around her neck, she carries an amulet, from which she gets her name, and, supposedly, if she keeps her virtue and innocence, it will make her find her mother. But when Pheobus and her meet in a hotel room, she is willing to give up the hope of finding her mother in order to be with Pheobus. She says, “It was because I’m breaking a vow. I’ll never find my parents now, the amulet will lose its power...but it doesn’t matter! I have no need of parents now!” (147). Towards the end of the book, the king’s army, led by Captain Pheobus nonetheless, is looking for Esmeralda in the recluse’s cell-The recluse, which we find out, is Esmeralda’s mom- and when Esmeralda hears Pheobus’s voice, despite revealing her hiding spot and risking getting found, calls out to him. Pheobus, unfortunately, has gone around the corner already and doesn’t hear her. However, another soldier does, and she is found and dragged out of the cell. When Esmeralda is in prison, waiting to be hanged, she can’t wait to be hanged so she won’t have to suffer anymore and she will get to be with Pheobus, because at this time, she still believes he’s dead