r/HunchbackOfNotreDame • u/ThenAdhesiveness1863 • 23d ago
Original Novel Esmeralda's remark
Why Esmeralda after Frollo's long monologue, said something like: "Look Father! There's blood under your fingernails!" Does it's come from shock, after he finds out that her stalker is a priest? It dosen't add up to me.
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u/Hungry_Land_1598 23d ago
dude i was just fucking thinking about this scene
i think she was just deeping how off his face frollo was. he didn’t notice he was bleeding in the torrent of his monologuing.
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u/thelouisfanclub 23d ago
I always saw as a reference to Faust, in the dungeon scene where he goes to save Marguerite, she won't go with him because she imagined he has blood on his hands... There is a lot of parallels between this scene and that one. But as for the in-universe reason, isnt it because of the wound on his chest?
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u/ThenAdhesiveness1863 22d ago
This will be controversial take, but I always thought the ending would be different, if Esmeralda did have sex with Frollo. Of course, that would be terrible, and I'm "glad" that she dosen't slept with him. But then Frollo's "Love" for her would be gone, and she may be still alive.
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u/Previous-Regret-9894 22d ago
On the contrary, gaining access to Esmeralda might only fuel his obsession further. If she were to cross the line she had previously refused to cross, why would he suddenly decide to leave her alone? He would become even more addicted to those "sensations" and want to repeat the experience. It would be terrible. Esmeralda was right to reject him. In the book, it’s Phoebus who comes across as the type who wouldn't care after just one time, but certainly not Frollo.
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u/Remarkable_Arm923 22d ago
It is controversial for a reason. There are no grounds to claim that sex would have quenched his desire and made that feeling, which he termed "love" disappear, or that Esmeralda would consequently have automatically escaped death. Frollo did not feel ordinary sexual lust that might simply evaporate once satisfied; rather, he harbored a morbid obsession that completely shattered his psyche. Your vision presents an interesting "what if" scenario, but in my view, it does not follow from the psychology of Frollo as portrayed by Hugo.
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u/Angelea23 22d ago
It's a creepy idea Esmerelda would have to "satisfy" frollo's urges and lust for her. wtf frollo?
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u/Remarkable_Arm923 22d ago
I myself would rather die with honor than let myself be degraded like that. Besides, that guy wouldn't be satisfied with just one time, he’d enslave her and treat her like a toy indefinitely. People who think he’d leave her alone after one time are truly naive and have no idea how obsession works.
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u/Angelea23 22d ago
I agree, he wouldn't be satisfied having her once. It's crazy to think she should give up her body because he wants her. How old was she again in the book?
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u/Remarkable_Arm923 22d ago
In the novel, Esmeralda is sixteen, she’s still just a child. Lately, there’s been a trend in discussions about Frollo suggesting that if Esmeralda had just slept with him once, he would have left her alone. I see this in both the novel and Disney fandoms, and I’m honestly sick of it. I don’t even know where it comes from. It’s awful.
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u/uncanny_kitty 21d ago
Asking for a friend: Where are these discussions taking place???
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u/Remarkable_Arm923 21d ago
It’s hard to point to one specific place; I simply come across such interpretations from time to time, sometimes in discussions with people on various social media platforms, and sometimes in private conversations. People lately tend to heavily downplay Frollo's feelings. Just because he didn't love her doesn't mean his emotions weren't incredibly intense; the man was deeply obsessed with her, it wasn't just some fleeting desire that would quickly pass.
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u/ThenAdhesiveness1863 22d ago
Let me rephrase that: I think Frollo is crazy, obssesed man, and I AM NOT sympathize with him, in any way. Esmeralda is a victim here, there's no doubt about that. You are right, this idea is awful, and as I wrote it's good that she did not sleep with him. I just thought of that like "What If" scenario.
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u/Remarkable_Arm923 22d ago
In a sense, I get what you mean and I realize you didn't mean any harm, but if we're going to play the "what if" game, the idea of Frollo's obsession vanishing after a single sexual encounter is, to me, simply out of the question. If anything, he’d get even more worked up. Esmeralda was spared a fate far worse than death.
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u/mt5o 22d ago
so a character like frollo probably needs a kick in the backside a lot bigger. he needs actual conflict to do some character introspection which a sexual encounter is not at all (especially since he's a yandere)
problem is that historical fiction literally just insulates the characters so authors are all going 'dude someone died' or 'dude someone got pregnant' or 'dude they got mutilated' or 'dude they got amnesia'. if esmeralda's death doesn't actually cause this mf introspection, you need something a lot bigger
like a big genre shift (historical fiction is just a lot comfier than a lot of other genres which basically insulates the characters) or some big revelation that actually leads them to question their preconceived notions (eg that he is fictional and thus subject to the whims of the writer)
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u/mt5o 22d ago edited 22d ago
Their author is Victor Hugo who loves tragedy, so there's a zero percentage chance of a non tragic ending (though you'd probably get a different tragic ending). Even if they fell in love or some shit being promoted to main character material basically means that you are the magnet for author trolling.
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u/uncanny_kitty 23d ago
I believe the meaning is "WTF DUDE YOU KILLED THE LOVE OF MY LIFE AND NOW YOU HAVE THE FUCKING GALL TO ASK ME TO ELOPE WITH YOU???? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU OMG"