Familiar character: Esmeralda

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Many people in the world know this female character - Esmeralda. This is the heroine of the famous novel "Notre Dame Cathedral" by Victor Hugo. Esmeralda is a beautiful girl, a dancer who was kidnapped and raised by gypsies. Her naivety and beauty, as well as Claude Frollo, who was in love with her, ruined her. Let's take a closer look at what kind of character Esmeralda is.

Childhood

A little girl was stolen from her mother Paquette by Spanish gypsies. In return, they left behind a child known as Quasimodo. It was they who gave her the name Esmeralda. The character was named Agnes from birth.

Return to Paris

After growing up in a gypsy camp, the girl returned to Paris, where she began to earn money by dancing and demonstrating her trained goat named Jalli. She had to live in a very disadvantaged area, the population of which was gypsies, thieves, professional beggars and other rabble. But she was there in absolute safety, since all the inhabitants loved her forkindness, beauty and spontaneity.

Beauty

What kind of character is Esmeralda? This is a girl of extraordinary beauty. In the work, the author compares her with an angel or a fairy. Everyone who saw her was fascinated. Despite the fact that the girl's height was small, she still seemed tall because of the harmony of her camp. Her skin was swarthy in the evening, and during the day she shone with a wonderful golden hue, which was characteristic of the Romans or Andalusians. She had very small feet. She walked very gracefully. In motion, she seemed to be dancing, spinning and fluttering. Whenever her sweet face appeared in front of someone, everyone was blinded like lightning by her big black eyes.

Love

Despite all the beauty that the character possesses, Esmeralda is a girl with a limited mind. Although she had life experience behind her, she remained very naive. Esmeralda didn't understand people at all. That is why she fell in love with Captain Phoebus, who was an empty man. He, being the head of the patrol, saved her from Quasimodo. Phoebus also had feelings for the girl, but they were of a different kind and were simple lust.

Despite the fact that the beauty of the girl brought income and attracted many people to the performances, she ruined her. The priest Claude Frollo and his adopted son, a hunchback named Quasimodo, also fell deeply in love with her.

The priest was a very strong personality. He tried with all his might to fight the temptation that gripped him, but the passion was stronger than the desireto knowledge and faith in God. In a rage, he stabbed Phoebus, and suspicion of murder fell on Esmeralda. In addition, she was accused of witchcraft. And at the time it was worse than any other crime.

Death Sentence

The girl was seized, tortured and judged. The priest offered her his help, but on the condition that the girl would love him. Esmeralda, who loved Phoebe very much, refused him. After she was tortured, unable to bear the pain, the girl agreed with the charges and confessed to witchcraft. She was sentenced to death, but Quasimodo saved her by pulling her out of the noose. He hid it behind the walls of that same Notre Dame Cathedral.

The beggars and robbers who were Esmeralda's brothers decided to save her from the monastery, because they thought that she was imprisoned there. Thus, a situation arose that was disastrous for Esmeralda. The brothers began to take the cathedral by storm, and Quasimodo defended himself, because he thought that they wanted to grab and hang the girl. He successfully fought back, and the king's troops later dispersed the crowd.

As a result, Esmeralda was hanged anyway. Fate before her execution brought her together with her real mother, who could not save her. At an inopportune moment, the girl saw Phoebus passing by and called him. This attracted attention to herself, and she was found.

Character on screen

The film of the same name, which appeared in 1956, became the most successful on-screen incarnation of the girl. Actress Gina Lollobrigida appeared in a bright way. In the film, the girl was not hanged, butkilled with an arrow.

And this is not the only film adaptation. For example, in the 1996 cartoon, the girl was not killed - Esmeralda is such a bright character. Disney, the company that made the animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, decided to keep the girl alive and make her happy with Phoebus. She later appeared in the animated series.