The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (French: Notre-Dame de Paris, “Our Lady of Paris”) is a novel by Victor Hugo. The French title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered.

Hugo began writing The Hunchback of Notre-Dame in 1829 and published in 1831. The agreement with his original publisher, Gosselin, was that the book would be finished that same year, but Hugo was constantly delayed due to the demands of other projects. By the summer of 1830, Gosselin demanded  Victor Hugo to complete the book by February 1831. Beginning in September 1830, Hugo worked nonstop on the project thereafter. The book was finished six months later.

The original French title, Notre-Dame de Paris (the formal title of the Cathedral) indicates that the Cathedral itself is the most significant aspect of the novel, both the main setting and the focus of the story’s themes. With the notable exception of Phoebus and Esmerelda’s meeting, almost every major event in the novel takes place in the cathedral, atop the cathedral or can be witnessed by a character standing within or atop the cathedral. The Cathedral had fallen into disrepair at the time of writing, which Hugo wanted to point out. The book portrays the Gothic era as one of the extremes of architecture, passion, and religion. The theme of determinism (fate and destiny) is explored as well as revolution and social strife. The severe distinction of the social classes is shown by the relationships of Quasimodo and Esmeralda with higher-caste people in the book. One can also see a variety of modern themes emanating from the work including nuanced views on gender dynamics. For example, Phoebus objectifies Esmerelda as a sexual object. And, while Esmeralda is frequently cited as a paragon of purity- this is certainly how Quasimodo sees her- she nonetheless is seen to create her own objectification of the archer captain, Phoebus, that is at odds with reader’s informed view of the man.

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