The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
Think you know the story of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame because you’ve seen the 1996 Walt Disney film? Think again. The film adaptation is basically skim milk, and this is how Nick Offerman feels about it...
Truly, the watered-down Disney version barely resembles Victor Hugo’s original 1831 publication. The Disney classic is a musical drama in which the good, handsome man ends up with the good, beautiful girl. The Hugo creation is a Gothic depiction of love and loss. It shares characters’ most vulnerable moments and asks what extremes will they go to in defense of their love?
Hugo demonstrates all different kinds of “loves”. Some conflate love and lust. Some develop a one-track love-mind, so they’re blinded to anything that contradicts their elevated vision of their lover. Some love is unreciprocated, and the unloved harbors a bitterness that bursts into a rage. Some love is unremitting, and loyalty persists no matter the costs. You get the picture—people love other people, and sometimes that works out, but most of the time it doesn’t.
Plenty of nineteenth-century tales discuss love, so what makes Hugo’s novel any different? Like his contemporary, Charles Dickens, Hugo writes stories that comment on the history of his birthplace—Paris, France. Hugo portrays the Norte Dame cathedral as a sanctuary for citizens. His reasoning is less religious and more artistic; he laments that architecture is a dying art form and he hopes to remind Parisians that their buildings leave behind a historical imprint, defining who they are as a culture. Unfortunately (for me, at least) this means Hugo goes wayyyyy too heavy on architectural description.
Looking past that, I see a well-crafted narrative with a disturbing ending. On the other hand, I am disappointed by the lack of character growth, and therefore the predictability of their actions. Quasimodo is an intriguing character; he’s a horrifically ugly, deaf orphan, who clings to the cathedral for refuge. He’s generally kindhearted, but he’s often misunderstood. This unique background and temperament allow for a vast array of narrative opportunities. In my opinion, Hugo puts him in a corner and then lazily confines him to that role. In the rare moments he deviates from expectations, his defiance becomes a footnote, overshadowed by other events. I feel that Hugo spread himself too thin; instead of having several main characters compete for the reader’s attention, I wish he had explored the depth of Quasimodo further.
Overall, his dramatic prose does not sufficiently sweep me away, and I give the novel 2 out of 5 flames. Don't get me wrong-- I love sad endings-- but I don't love numerous literal architectural barriers keeping me from getting there.
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