Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

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Esméralda is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She is a gypsy girl and a Bohemian 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, whom they left at the steps of 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.

Frollo sends his adopted son Quasimodo to kidnap Esméralda from the streets. Fortunately, Esméralda is rescued by Captain Phoebus, whom she then instantly admires. Later that night, Clopin prepares to execute a poet named Pierre Gringoire for trespassing the Gypsies' territory known as The Court of Miracles. In a compassionate act to save his life, Esmeralda 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 curses to Esmeralda, claiming she and the other Gypsies ate her lost child. Events later, the gypsy is arrested and sentenced to death for murdering Phoebus, framed by Frollo. Minutes before she is to be hanged, Quasimodo dramatically arrives from Notre Dame, takes Esmeralda, runs back in, leading her to a sanctuary where the law cannot touch her.

However, the Court of Parliament votes to strip her of her sanctuary and send her to the gallows. Clopin leads all of the Parisian Gypsies to Notre Dame to rescue Esmeralda. Mistakenly responding to this assault, Quasimodo retaliates as the King's troops also arrive to fight the mob. During the attack, Frollo finds Esmeralda and requests her love in exchange for her freedom. She refuses. Angered, he locks her in a cell and brings in Sister Gudule to curse the gypsy. There, the two realise that Esméralda is in fact Gudule's lost child. But it is too late for them to reconcile as the guards arrive, wrench them apart, and hang Esméralda.

[edit] Modern portrayal

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.
• 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.
• Hélène Ségara, the on-stage French musical of Notre-Dame de Paris in the late 1990s.