Title: Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
Theme:
do not judge a person by appearance;
architecture can represent society’s culture and values
Genre:
literary—(works that offer commentary on social issues, and/or explore some
part of the human condition.)
Audience Engagement:
Draw audience sympathy on poor Quasimoto and his ostracism due
to his birth defects. Bring in Esmeralda’s beauty and lightness and
kindness to the sad Q. Show history of cathedral from its full glory
to its deterioration in order to represent peoples’ decaying morals.
Mood:
Darkness, dankness, sadness, fearfulness
Characters/Relationship/Situations:
Quasimodo is the bell-ringer of Notre Dame and a barely verbal
hunchback. Ringing the church bells has made him deaf. Abandoned
as a baby, he was adopted by Claude Frollo. He rarely goes out of
the cathedral since people despise and shun him for his appearance.
He does take part in the Festival of Fools — during which he is
elected the Pope of Fools due to his perfect hideousness. At this
event, he attempts to kidnap Esmeralda, the rescue her from the
gallows and his attempt to bring Phoebus to Esmeralda.
Frollo, the novel's main antagonist, is the Archdeacon of Notre
Dame. He is Quasimodo’s master and is a hateful man. His
attraction to Esmeralda sets off a chain of events, including her
attempted abduction and Frollo almost murdering Phoebus in a
jealous rage, leading to Esmeralda's execution.
Esmeralda is a beautiful young gypsy street dancer who is naturally
compassionate and kind. She is the center of the human drama
within the story. She is loved by both Quasimodo and Claude Frollo,
but falls deeply in love with Captain Phoebus, a handsome soldier
who she believes will rightly protect her but who simply wants to
seduce her. She is one of the few characters to show Quasimodo a
moment of human kindness, as shown when she gives him water
after the hunchback's flogging.
Black Slide
(a church bell rings three times)
(Picture of Q rises up from darkness, while quietly menacing music rises.)
Zoom into his face.
It’s Paris in the middle ages and living at the Cathedral of Notre Dame
are MONSTERS. Stone monsters. Along with
Quasimoto, a human born with deformities so severe, Parisians fear him as a
monster.
And fear breeds cruelty. He is often jeered and whipped and mistreated.
And released back into the darkness of the bell tower of Notre Dame.
(a lonely chuch bell tolls)