The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
(eBook)

By the time Victor Hugo published "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" (originally titled "Notre-Dame de Paris") he was already an established novelist, poet and playwright. With this work, however,Hugo was catapulted into the stratosphere of French literature and he was thereafter considered the finest living writer in France until the end of his days. This Gothic novel tells the tale of the Romani girl, Esmeralda, whose bewitching looks draws the unwelcome attention of the Archdeacon of Notre-Dame cathedral, the sinister Claude Frollo. Frollo is the guardian of the cathedral's deformed bell-ringer, the titular hunchback Quasimodo, who is ordered to kidnap Esmeralda so that Frollo can possess her. When Quasimodo is captured in this attempt and sentenced to be publicly flogged for his crime, Esmeralda steps in and offers him relief, setting the stage for a dramatic and deadly conflict between the young soldier Phoebus, Esmeralda, the now-infatuated Quasimodo and the dastardly Frollo. A smash hit when it was first published, "Hunchback of Notre-Dame" has gone on to become a classic of world literature and has been adapted numerous times to the stage and screen. It is presented here in its original and unabridged format, translated by Isabel F. Hapgood.