The stage show explains that Quasimodo is actually Claude Frollo's nephew - Jehan, Claude's brother, fell in love with a Romani woman. So he's half-Romani but passing for white.
Why is Quasimodo white when his parents are gypsies?
Well, the answer is simple. According to the writers of the film, Tab Murphy and Irene Mecchi, these two are NOT Quasimodo's real parents. Incidentally, the gypsy woman carrying Quasi at the beginning of the film was actually the midwife and good friend of Quasi's birth mother, a white Frenchwoman.
Quasimodo was born deformed, possessing a hunched back (from which the film takes its name) among other abnormalities. Because of his ghastly appearance, the kind-hearted bell-ringer of Notre Dame was condemned to the cathedral's highest tower by his cruel caretaker, Claude Frollo.
Scientifically, being hunchbacked is known as 'kyphosis', which can be brought about by various ailments, but the novel does not specify the specific syndrome he has (likely because it was not known at the time). Given that Quasimodo was born a hunchback, it would be broadly called 'congenital kyphosis'.
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.
The VERY Messed Up Origins of Hunchback of Notre Dame | Disney Explained - Jon Solo
Is hunchback a disability?
If you or your child has been diagnosed with the condition, you might be eligible to collect Social Security disability for Scheuermann's disease. Scheuermann's disease, or juvenile kyphosis, is a skeletal disorder that develops during childhood.
Quasimodo was born to the Romani, but was switched with a baby Agnes/Esmeralda for his deformity, which is similar to how his mother in the Disney version was a Romani herself.
Madellaine is the deuteragonist of the 2002 film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II. In the end of the sequel, she becomes Quasimodo's girlfriend and potential wife.
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.
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.
She is a French Roma girl (near the end of the book, it is revealed that her biological mother was a French woman). She constantly attracts men with her seductive dances, and is rarely seen without her clever goat Djali. She is around 16 years old and has a kind and generous heart.
He was born to a tribe of Romani people (in the novel called égyptienne or 'gypsies'), but due to his monstrous appearance he was switched during infancy with an able-bodied baby girl, Agnes.
While she was a born Romani in the Disney version, she is the daughter of a French prostitute in the novel whose real birth name was Agnes and was stolen as a baby by Romani people, who renamed her Esmeralda.
Why was The Hunchback of Notre Dame so controversial?
This is one of Disney's darkest films, with themes of lust, genocide and the consequences of unchecked religious power. Despite overall being a success upon release, the film was controversial for many different reasons. Parents felt that the film's mature themes were too dark for children to see.
Although Esmeralda has been raised by gypsies and is thought of as a gypsy by the people of Paris, she is in fact the daughter of Paquette la Chantefleurie (or Sister Gudule), a recluse who believes that her baby (Esmeralda) was killed by gypsies.
Esmeralda, for her part, has fallen hopelessly in love with Captain Phoebus. When he asks her to meet him in secret late one night, she enthusiastically agrees. That night Phoebus tries to persuade Esmeralda to sleep with him. From a closet in Phoebus's room, a disguised Frollo spies on the couple.
She helps Quasimodo when he is being publicly humiliated at the Festival of Fools because of his unattractive looks, which leads to Quasimodo developing strong romantic affections for her to which she is unaware.
Aside from his political authority, Frollo is a religious zealot with intolerance for sinners. He believes the Romani people to be the most heinous of all malefactors, and therefore dedicates twenty years of his life to eradicating them.
Whereas his affection for Jehan causes Frollo to behave generously, his lust for Esmeralda causes him to behave destructively—he hounds Esmeralda to death because he cannot satisfy his lust and destroys himself in the process.
The inspiration for Hugo's Quasimodo is unknown, but many believe the character to be based on Monsieur Trajan, a stonemason with a hunched back who worked on Notre Dame de Paris in the 1820s.
According to Whittington-Walsh, “People with physical and mental disabilities have been displayed for human entertainment and profit as human oddities for hundred of years” (696). Ableism, the practice of discriminating against another based on his or her physical disabilities is meted out on Quasimodo.
Is the Hunchback of Notre Dame based on a true story?
No, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is not a true story. It is usually classified as a historical fiction novel or as a tragedy. However, it is possible that Quasimodo was loosely based on a carver who worked on the restoration of the Notre Dame Cathedral around the time Hugo was working on this book.
While some children are born with kyphosis, most cases develop during adolescence. Some degree of front-to-back curve of the spine is normal and healthy. However, if a child's spine curves forward 50 degrees or more, they should be seen by a spine specialist. Most cases of adolescent kyphosis are mild.
