From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article deals with a character from the novel. For the character in the 1996 Disney adaptation, see Esmeralda (Disney).

Illustration of Esmeralda from 'Victor Hugo and His Time'. 1882.

La Esméralda is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She is a gypsy girl from Andalusia. She constantly attracts men with her seductive dances, and is rarely seen without her clever goat Djali (pronounced Dahl-ya). She is often noted to be around 16 years old.

As a baby, Esméralda was kidnapped, then raised by Gypsies in exchange for the deformed infant Quasimodo, who was later left in a trough where unwanted children and donations were given for the orphanage at Notre Dame. At the age of sixteen, the beautiful orphan serves as a public dancer, captivating the hearts of many key male characters, including Notre Dame's Archdeacon Claude Frollo. Her pet goat Djali also performs counting tricks with a tambourine, an act later used as courtroom evidence that Esmeralda is a witch.

Frollo sends his adopted son Quasimodo to kidnap Esméralda from the streets. In the process both men fall for her and both are unrequited and cruelly teased and insulted. Esméralda is rescued by Captain Phoebus, whom she then instantly loves to the point of obsession. Later that night, Clopin prepares to execute a failed poet named Pierre Gringoire for trespassing the Beggars' territory known as The Court of Miracles. In a compassionate act to save his life, Esméralda agrees to marry Gringoire.

When Quasimodo is sentenced to the pillory for his attempted kidnapping, it is Esméralda, his victim, who pities him and serves him water. There, Sister Gudule an anchoress, curses Esméralda, claiming she and the other Gypsies ate her lost child. Later, she meets with Phoebus and nearly drives him away with her naive attempts at romance by boring and confusing him; she also asks him to teach her about Christianity so they can be married. He nearly rapes her, only to be ambushed by Frollo, who was watching from behind a door, who then stabs the man and flees. Esméralda soon finds herself framed for murder, for a miscommunication makes the jury believe that Phoebus is in fact dead. After the trial, she is found guilty and Frollo visits her to express a long love confession to her and offers to save her from her death sentence. She refuses, speaking only of Phoebus and is unable (throughout the book) to spare kindness, even in the form of a lie, to him. Minutes before she is to be hanged, Quasimodo dramatically arrives from Notre Dame, takes Esméralda, and runs back in, leading her to a sanctuary where the law cannot touch her. While she stays in the cell of Notre Dame, she mistreats both Quasimodo and Frollo, both intentionally and due to her shallowness and vanity. Still obsessed with Phoebus, she asks Quasimodo to have him meet her and insults the hunchback when he returns alone. Later, after the archdeacon professes his love for her a second time, she intentionally teases him.

However, the Court of Parliament votes to strip her of her sanctuary and send her to the gallows. Clopin leads all the Parisian Gypsies to Notre Dame to rescue Esméralda. Mistakenly responding to this assault, Quasimodo retaliates as the King's troops also arrive to fight the mob. During the attack, Frollo helps Esméralda escape Notre Dame and offers to free her entirely, not in exchange for love, but in exchange for her not to speak of Phoebus. Again she insults him and demands Phoebus. Angry, Frollo casts her into the arms of Gudule. There, the two realize that Esméralda is in fact Gudule's lost child. The guards arrive, and Gudule pleads for them to show Esmeralda and herself mercy. Gudule is a very old woman and a guard pushes her, causing her to hit her head, resulting in her death. Esméralda dies by hanging, watched both by a maniacal Frollo, a distraught Quasimodo, and an indifferent Phoebus.

The book often compares Esméralda to Quasimodo. When she is rescued, it mentions them both as the lowliest outcasts. Phoebus gives her a nickname, 'Similar,' which can be compared to Quasimodo's name meaning of 'Almost.'

Many film adaptations of The Hunchback of Notre Dame have been made, which take various degrees of liberty with the novel, let alone the character. Among the actresses who have played her over the years are:

• Patsy Ruth Miller, in the 1923 silent film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
• Maureen O'Hara, in the 1939 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
• Gina Lollobrigida, in the 1956 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Notre Dame de Paris).
• Lesley-Anne Down, in the 1982 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
• Demi Moore, voice actor in the 1996 Disney animation The Hunchback of Notre Dame and its sequel.
• Salma Hayek, in the 1997 television feature The Hunchback.
• Hélène Ségara, the on-stage French musical of Notre-Dame de Paris in the late 1990s.

v • d • e The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
Characters	Esmeralda • Esmeralda (Disney) • Claude Frollo • Claude Frollo (Disney) Quasimodo • Captain Phoebus • Clopin Trouillefou • Pierre Gringore
Films	Esmeralda (1905 film) • The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film) • The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939 film) Notre Dame de Paris (1956 film) • The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982 film) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film) • The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002 film)
Other Adaptations	La Esmeralda (1844 ballet) • Notre Dame de Paris (1998 musical) • Der Glöckner von Notre Dame (1999 musical)