However, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the rare case in which the protagonist, Quasimodo, does not get the girl at the end, at least not in Hugo's novel. Quasimodo is in love with Esmeralda in the novel, but unfortunately, she is hanged at the end of the novel.
Did the Hunchback of Notre Dame end up with the girl?
Phoebus, realizing Quasimodo's feelings for Esmeralda, stands aside so Quasimodo can be with her. However, Quasimodo realizes their feelings for each other and interlocks their hands, having finally accepted their love and the two kiss.
There could be many reasons. The most widely used theory, at least for the Disney film, is the idea of the trinity used for the plot: Frollo sees her as evil, Quasimodo sees her as angelic, and Phoebus sees both the good and the bad. Out of all three, Phoebus saw her as the most human.
She's the love interest of both Quasimodo, the protagonist, Captain Phoebus, the tritagonist and Frollo, the villain. Although Esmeralda ends up with Phoebus and not Quasimodo, she is one of the few heroines not to be obtained by the main character; the first being John Smith.
Quasimodo sneaks out of the cathedral during the Festival of Fools, where he is crowned the "King of Fools". While there, he meets Esmeralda, with whom he falls in love.
Quasimodo falls in love with Esmeralda for her kindness. Later, Esmeralda is arrested for the murder of the soldier Phoebus (which she did not commit) and sentenced for murder via supposed witchcraft.
Charmolue sentences her to death after she falsely confesses to witchcraft and to murdering Phoebus. (Esmeralda is unaware that Phoebus is alive.) Quasimodo attempts to shelter Esmeralda in Notre-Dame, but he is ultimately unable to save her.
Frollo's belief in fate becomes fanatical when he falls in love with Esmeralda and becomes sexually obsessed with her. Although Esmeralda does nothing to invite his attention, Frollo believes that she has bewitched him and thinks that it is his destiny to either seduce her or kill her.
Esmeralda's greatest wish is to see outcasts like Quasimodo and her fellow Romani be accepted to society and be treated as people. She returns in the 2002 animated sequel, where she is married with Phoebus and they both have a son named Zephyr.
A major reason why the plot and characters weren't as good this time around is because the short is far too short at a meagre 63 minutes. On the other hand, the main positive was a surprisingly good performance from Jennifer Love-Hewitt, as Quasimodo's love interest, Madelleine, I just loved her personality.
What is the original ending of The Hunchback of Notre Dame?
In the original work, Esmeralda, Quasimodo, and Frollo all die at the end of the novel. Esmeralda is hung on charges of attempted murder, Frollo is murdered by Quasimodo, and Quasimodo commits suicide by wasting away at Esmeralda's grave.
Of course, white Roma exist and it is obvious that in Hugo's mind, Agnès/Esmeralda was nothing but a white woman “with a tan”. But the recurring use of actresses, in later adaptations, whose whiteness is portrayed as approximate points to a commodification of Romani ethnicity.
It depicts the moment when Quasimodo rescues Esmeralda, who has been sentenced to hang for a crime she did not commit. Carrying the Egyptian over his shoulder, her neck bare, he is about to enter the cathedral in search of refuge.
Esmeralda is a good friend to Quasimodo, and was his first love. She rescued him from the abuse of the Festival of Fools (thus prompting his attraction to her), and he in turn helped her escape the cathedral.
Until the sequel (as well as a few points during the first movie), the gargoyle trio was a blend of fantasy and reality in the movie, being the main character's only friends and regarded by the main antagonist as nothing more than inanimate objects, suggesting Quasimodo imagined they were alive to cope with loneliness ...
The first is during the Festival of Fools, where she performs on stage in a rather sexy red dress. Some compare her to a stripper in this scene (especially when she twirls around a spear she uses as a makeshift pole).
Gazing off into the distance, he sees the figure of La Esmerelda in a white dress hanging from the scaffold. He bellows out in despair and grabs Frollo by the neck. Holding him up in the air, Quasimodo sighs with grief and then throws Frollo down to his death.
In his rage, Frollo finally admits that he killed Quasimodo's mother when she attempted to save her baby, much to Quasimodo's shock and horror. As such, Frollo decides to kill Quasimodo himself like he "should have done 20 years ago".
She was a ravishing young Gypsy girl living a vagabond life as a prostitute. Taunted, despised and even envied by fellow Parisians, her services were lusted after by the wealthy and powerful with obsessive fervor.
Everything is a business, and the Disney Princesses world is one. Esmeralda was removed as she wasn't marketable enough for the franchise's standards, as the sales of The Hunchback of Notre Dame's products weren't good, and because the movie dealt with themes that were not entirely suitable for children.
Specifically, some passages in Hugo's novel suggest that a form of mucopolysaccharidosis, a deformity associated with many congenital and hereditary changes affecting the skeletal system, could explain Quasimodo's somatometric characteristics.
He is born with what is described as a “hunchback” (medically known as kyphosis), and he is also described as having a large wart covering most of his right eye (Mayo Clinic, 2020). Quasimodo also becomes deaf as he lives and works in the bell tower.
Love, often based upon physical appearance, contradicts the love of the pure heart that sees beyond looks, e.g., men in the story are mesmerized by Esmeralda's beauty, only Quasimodo loves her because of her kindness. Nevertheless, kindness and beauty could not save Esmeralda or Quasimodo from suffering.
Gregorian chant notation (from the Liber Usualis) of the incipit of this day's introit, from which this day gets the name "Quasimodo Sunday." The name Quasimodo (or Quasimodogeniti) originates from the incipit of this day's traditional Latin introit, which is based on 1 Peter 2:2.
