: A beautiful and compassionate Romani dancer. Her kindness toward Quasimodo earns his unwavering loyalty, but her beauty also attracts the dangerous obsession of other men.
Hugo uses the novel as a vehicle for profound social and philosophical commentary: The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Simon & Schuster Canada
: The deformed, deaf bell-ringer of the cathedral. Abandoned as an infant, he lives in isolation, finding sanctuary and companionship in the cathedral's bells and stone gargoyles.
The plot culminates in tragedy: Frollo's obsession leads to Esmeralda’s wrongful execution for witchcraft. Heartbroken and enraged, Quasimodo kills Frollo by pushing him from the cathedral towers and subsequently dies beside Esmeralda’s body in a crypt.
The story follows three central figures whose lives are inextricably linked by the grand cathedral of Notre Dame:
: Quasimodo’s guardian and the primary antagonist. A man of high intellect and religious stature, he is driven to moral ruin by his obsessive, unrequited lust for Esmeralda.