LIST OF CHARACTERS

Major Characters

Quasimodo

A deformed "hunchback" who has only one eye and cannot hear. He lives in the bell tower of Notre-Dame, where he is responsible for ringing the bells. As an infant, he was rescued from an orphanage by Claude Frollo, a priest at Notre-Dame, and raised within the walls of the cathedral. He is vilified by the entire city of Paris simply because of his deformities. During the course of the novel, he proves that he is a brave and kind character with a noble heart.

Claude Frollo

A priest of Notre-Dame and the archdeacon of Josas. He adopts Quasimodo as an infant and becomes the hunchbackÂ’s master. During the course of the novel, he develops an obsession for La Esmeralda and determines that if he cannot have her, no one will have her. He stabs Phoebus, her lover, and tries to do away with Gringoire, her husband. When he learns that La Esmeralda will never love him, he allows her to die on the gallows. He becomes a melodramatic villain whose evil passion destroys everyone.

La Esmeralda

A gypsy girl who is beautiful, kind-hearted, and charming. She is a street entertainer who performs tricks with her pet goat, named Djali. Because of her loveliness, men cannot resist her. Gringoire becomes her husband and gives up being a philosopher; Phoebus, a captain in the KingÂ’s army, has an affair with her; Frollo, the priest, is obsessed with her; and Quasimodo genuinely loves and protects her.

A poet and philosopher who studies with Claude Frollo. When La Esmeralda marries him to save him from the gypsies, he gives up his studies and becomes a street performer with her. During the course of the novel, he becomes a pawn of the evil Claude Frollo, leading an attack by the gypsies on Notre-Dame as they try to free La Esmeralda.

Captain Phoebus

The captain of the archers in the KingÂ’s army. He seduces La Esmeralda, which causes Claude Frollo to stab him. When the priest leaves Phoebus to die in a pool of blood, La Esmeralda is found near his body and arrested for the crime. Throughout the rest of the novel, she is madly in love with Phoebus, even though she believes him to be dead. In truth, Phoebus recovers from his wounds and eventually leads the attack on the gypsies who are storming Notre-Dame. He, therefore, is instrumental in the arrest and subsequent hanging of La Esmeralda, who loves him until the end.

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