Quasimodo - who is this? The love story of the hunchback and Esmeralda. The compositional role of Notre Dame Cathedral in the novel of the same name by V. Hugo

QUASIMODO

QUASIMODO (French Quasimodo) - central character novel by V. Hugo “Notre Dame de Paris”. An image of amazing power, bright and powerful, simultaneously repulsive and attractive. Perhaps, of all the characters in the novel, it is K. who most closely corresponds to the aesthetic ideals of romanticism: he, like a gigantic giant, rises above a series of rather ordinary people, absorbed in their everyday activities. It is customary to draw parallels between K. and Esmeralda (physical deformity and beauty); K. and Claude Frollo (selflessness true feeling and selfishness); K. and Phoebus (the greatness of the spirit of a man from the bottom and the petty narcissism and deceit of an aristocrat). In terms of its impact, the image of K. can only be compared here with the image of the cathedral itself, which on the pages of the novel exists on equal terms with the living characters. And the author repeatedly emphasizes the relationship between K., who grew up at the temple, and Notre Dame itself. “Strong ties connected the bell-ringer with the cathedral. The protruding corners of his body seemed to be created in order to fit into the concave corners of the building.”

K.'s life story is extremely simple from the point of view of the series of events. It is known that sixteen years ago he was thrown into the very cradle from which little Agnes (Esmeralda) was kidnapped, who was then about four years old. Already in childhood, the baby was distinguished by amazing ugliness and caused only disgust in everyone. “A double misfortune befell Quasimodo,” writes Hugo, “ugliness and dark origin.” The baby was baptized, thus expelling the “devil,” and sent to Paris, to Notre Dame Cathedral. There they were ready to throw him into the fire as a wicked man, but the young priest Claude Frollo stood up for the unfortunate child, adopted him and gave him the name Quasimodo (Catholics call this the first Sunday after Easter, and it was on this day that the boy was discovered). Since then, he lived in the cathedral, eventually becoming its bell ringer. People did not like K. for his ugliness, they insulted and laughed at him, not wanting to see the noblest, selfless soul behind his ugly appearance. Bells became his passion, replacing with their sound the joy of communicating with loved ones.

And it was they who led to a new misfortune: from the constant ringing of the bells, Quasimodo became deaf. an unusual hero occurs at the moment when he is elected the pope of jesters for his ugly appearance. “... A tetrahedral nose, a horseshoe-shaped mouth, a tiny left eye, almost covered by a bristly red eyebrow, while the right one completely disappeared under a huge wart... A huge head... a huge hump between the shoulder blades, and another balancing it, - on the chest" - this is not a complete list of signs of Quasimodo’s deformity. On the same day, only late in the evening, Quasimodo tried, at the request of his mentor, to kidnap Esmeralda, for which he was put on trial. The judge was as deaf as K., and, fearing that his deafness would be revealed, he decided to punish the bell-ringer more severely, without even knowing why he was punishing him. As a result, K. ended up with pillory. The assembled crowd mocked him as best they could, and no one wanted to let him drink except Esmeralda. Two destinies are intertwined, the fate of a beauty and the fate of a rootless freak.

When Esmeralda, saved from the gallows, asks K. why he saved her, she hears an answer that fully reflects his gigantic nature: “For this drop of water, for this drop of pity, I can only pay with my whole life.” He gives the rescued Esmeralda both his cell and his food, and noticing how she reacts to his ugly appearance, he tries to catch her eye less often. K. sleeps on the stone floor at the entrance to the cell, protecting Esmeralda’s peace, and allows himself to admire her only when she is sleeping. Seeing how Esmeralda is suffering, K. is ready to bring Phoebus to her. Jealousy, like any other manifestation of egoism and selfishness, is alien to K. Moreover, K.’s image changes as the novel progresses, becoming more and more attractive. If at first it was mentioned about his viciousness and savagery, then in the future there is no basis for such characteristics. K. even begins to write poetry, trying with their help to open Esmeralda’s pelvis to what she does not want to see: “Don’t look at the face, girl, but look into the heart. The heart of a beautiful young man is often ugly, and there are hearts where love does not live.”

In the name of saving Esmeralda, K. is ready to destroy everything and everyone, even the cathedral. His hand has not yet risen only to Claude Frollo, to the root cause of troubles. K. considered it possible to speak out against his patron after he saw him laughing triumphantly at the moment of Esmeralda’s execution. And then he “with his mighty hands pushed the archdeacon into the abyss.” Hugo doesn't describe last moments hero's life. But tragic end predetermined already at the moment when he utters the phrase: “This is everything I loved!” - looking from the height of the cathedral at the lifeless white figurine of Esmeralda in a noose and the black silhouette of Claude Frollo spread out on the stone square.

O.G. Letrova

Literary heroes. - Academician. 2009 .

See what "QUASIMODO" is in other dictionaries:

- (an ugly, very ugly person). Wed. The father, in view of the deformity of the rescued dog, wanted... to nickname him “Quasimodo.” Grigorovich. City and village. 1, 1. Wed. How disgusting it was for me to look at his eternal mocking smile. It was… … Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

1) the first Sunday after Easter among Catholics, so called after the first words of the Latin exclamation. Mass on this day: Quasi modo geniti infantes alleluia. 2) synonym for physical. and moral monster, which has come into use since the publication of the novel... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

From the novel "Cathedral" Notre Dame of Paris"(1831) French writer romance of Victor Hugo (1802 1885). Quasimodo is a hunchbacked, ugly bell ringer. The name is a Latin phrase Quasi modo (quasi modo) Something, like... that is, it in this... ... Dictionary winged words and expressions

Murlo, scarecrow, scarecrow, ugly, scary, face, image, monster, like death itself, scary, muzzle, ugly, hunchback, freak Dictionary of Russian synonyms. quasimodo see freak 1 Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. M.:... ... Synonym dictionary

quasimodo- uncl., m. quasimodo m. 1. Ugly man. On behalf of one of the heroes of Hugo's novel Notre Dame Cathedral. SIS 1954. In Rus', not everything is fashion, Only there are no sound ideas: Quasimodo is assigned to educate the people, To make it more strange.… … Historical Dictionary Gallicisms of the Russian language

This term has other meanings, see Quasimodo (meanings). Quasimodo Quasimodo ... Wikipedia

Salvatore Quasimodo Date of birth: August 20, 1901 Place of birth: Modica, Italy Date of death: June 14, 1968 Place of death: Amalfi, Italy Citizenship: Italy ... Wikipedia

Ugly, very ugly person Wed. The father, in view of the deformity of the rescued dog, wanted... to nickname him Quasimodo. Grigorovich. City and village. 1, 1. Wed. How disgusting it was for me to look at his eternal mocking smile. It was a monster... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary

- (Quasimodo) Salvatore (20.8.1901, Syracuse, 14.6.1968, Naples), Italian poet. In the 30s adjoined the direction of Hermeticism with its motifs of melancholy and loneliness (collections “Water and Earth”, 1930; “The Drowned Oboe”, 1932; “Erato and ... ... Big Soviet encyclopedia

- (Qusimodo): 1) in Catholic. church the Sunday following Easter; The name comes from the first words of the exclamation that begins the Latin Mass on this day: Quasi modo geniti infantes, alleluia. Also called Sunday in White (Dominica in... ... encyclopedic Dictionary F. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

Many people wonder what Quasimodo syndrome is and how it manifests itself. In medicine, this disease is called dysmorphophobia. This is a pathological belief that the patient's body has a lot of defects and diseases. Quasimodo syndrome usually appears in adolescence when a girl or guy notices certain changes in the appearance of the body and face. Flaws in appearance can be real, but more often they are fictitious and unfounded. Dysmorphia is accompanied by depression and stress. The main danger of this diagnosis is the likelihood of suicide attempts.

The Quasimodo complex is based on real or imagined defects in appearance

Causes

Experts identify several factors that can cause the Quasimodo complex: biological, psychological, social, personal.

1. Biological reasons. Disturbances in the exchange of neurotransmitters, a genetic predisposition to the appearance of complexes, a constant state of anxiety, pathologies of certain areas of the brain, disturbances in the processing of information received from the visual organs.
2. Psychological reasons. Regular criticism from not only peers, but also from parents, ridicule of the child in childhood. Dysmorphic disorder is also caused by the manner of parenting: parents devote a lot of time to their appearance, the child begins to think that he is uninteresting to his loved ones only because he has some flaws in his face and body. The child believes that he does not receive the necessary attention because of his external inferiority. During adolescence, this problem only gets worse. The teenager thinks: “They don’t love me because I don’t live up to the external ideal of my parents.”
3. Social reasons. On television, on magazine covers, and on the Internet, photographs of girls and men with model appearance are shown. Teenagers develop a model of the standard of beauty, which, alas, does not correspond to. Then serious facial dysmorphophobia and body disorder arises. All complexes cause young people an irresistible desire to commit suicide.
4. Personal reasons. If the child is overly timid, unsure of himself and modest, then the syndrome in question will come to him much faster. This person is especially sensitive to criticism and is sensitive to even the slightest reproaches.

Varieties

Body dysmorphia is a psychological disorder in which a person is dissatisfied with even the slightest imperfections in his body. Professionals call this pathology “gloss disease.” In the creation of man, an ideal body is formed, which he does not possess. Against this background, bodily disorder arises. The worst thing is if the patient looks for problems even when they do not exist.

The situation is similar in patients with facial dysmorphia. Today in fashion plump lips, long eyelashes, expressive eyes and well-shaped eyebrows. If a person does not have these characteristics, he seeks help from plastic surgeons at the first opportunity.

Unscrupulous plastic surgeon may disfigure the face, but the person will still be satisfied with the changes and will continue to change his appearance beyond recognition.

Men are characterized by muscle dysmorphia. They want to become more pumped up and powerful, gain broad shoulders and six-pack abs. Representatives of the stronger sex try to eliminate such a disorder through endless trips to Gym, harmful sports nutrition techniques and even hormones.

The patient often resorts to plastic surgery to eliminate imperfections in appearance

Deliverance

Quasimodo syndrome, closely associated with certain parts body, easy to cure. If you have a bodily disorder, then you should simply pay more attention to the source of the problem. If the problem really exists, you should devote more time to exercise in the gym. This will reset excess weight and correct your figure.

If you have muscle dysformia, a man needs to watch his diet, join a gym and use the services of a professional trainer who will develop an individual exercise program.

Treatment for facial dysmorphia is the simplest. Today there are a lot of cosmetics and procedures that will hide facial imperfections and highlight its advantages.

All this will remove bodily disorder, facial and muscle dysmorphophobia. If there are no problems, but the person is still not confident in himself, then the treatment should be reproduced with the help of a psychotherapist. Treatment of the problem should be based on the symptoms. In cases of severe depression, Quasimodo syndrome must be treated with antidepressants prescribed by a doctor. Often psychotherapeutic treatment is not enough. In this case, the specialist must teach the patient to live with his deficiency and not pay attention to it. A psychologist must teach a person not to demonstrate dissatisfaction with his body to the people around him. Thus, the disorder gradually disappears.

Plastic surgery to overcome the problem is prohibited. Treatment of dysmorphophobia will be ineffective if the problem is corrected artificially. Having corrected one shortcoming in this way, you can find a new one, and this can continue for a long time.

Dysmorphia is inherent in almost every person. In order to get rid of the problem, you need to contact a professional psychotherapist.

What is stigma? Reasons leading to stigmatization of mentally ill people.

Stigma in Latin means “sign, stigma, open wound” and comes from the Greek “prick”, “burn”, “brand”. In ancient times, there was a custom to brand slaves and criminals by burning a brand on their body. Starting from the second half of the 19th century century, the word "stigma" began to be used in figuratively as "mark, mark, label". In medieval medicine, the word “stigma” was used as a synonym for the concept “symptom” (we still sometimes talk about hysterical stigmas).

IN modern world The concepts of “stigma” and “stigmatization” are most often used in a sociological sense. This phenomenon has two components. Firstly, a certain group of people is unreasonably assigned a certain negative characteristic(for example, “all Finns are slow”, or “all policemen take bribes”). Secondly, if a particular person belongs to this group according to the main characteristic, then the corresponding characteristic is also assigned to him (every Finn is certainly considered slow, and every policeman is considered a bribe-taker, although in specific cases this may not be the case at all).

Information that an individual suffers from a mental disorder (sometimes even simply that he has consulted a psychiatrist) determines whether this individual belongs to social group mentally ill. Stable negative ideas prevail in society regarding this group.

A few years ago, a sociological survey was conducted at the National Center for Health Protection of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. All questions concerned "a person who was treated in a psychiatric hospital." No other information (how long has this person been treated for a long time, what were the results of treatment, what diagnosis was he treated with, etc.) was intentionally not given. People were asked whether such a person could occupy any leadership position; whether he can be elected as a deputy of the All-Russian or local legislative body; can he work in the law enforcement system; can he work with children? In the first case, 68% of respondents gave a negative answer, in the second - 72%, in the third - 80%, in the fourth - 84% of respondents.

It should be emphasized again that respondents did not know whether this hypothetical person was seriously or mildly ill; Is he still ill or has he already recovered? However, none of them tried to clarify anything. “He was treated in a psychiatric hospital” - such information seemed to people quite sufficient for a categorical judgment.

This is social stigma. “Mentally ill people cannot hold leadership positions, they cannot work in law enforcement, and they cannot raise children” is a dominant characteristic in society attributed to the entire group of mentally ill people, and if someone is mentally ill, this characteristic is automatically applied to him ( just like any Finn is automatically assigned slowness).

It is known that the majority of patients with mental disorders and their families (the latter often indirectly) are subject to such discrimination from society; Almost all of them, to one degree or another, had to face stigmatization. Someone began to be treated poorly by their superiors and colleagues after seeing a sick leave issued in a psychiatric hospital; Friends stopped communicating with someone after hospitalization; someone was denied work or help because they feared they were “crazy”; someone was subjected to various kinds of insults and humiliation, etc.

When discussing the problem of social stigmatization, it is very important to understand that not every negative attitude towards a person who is mentally ill is due to stigmatization. For example, at work, employees may treat a sick person poorly because he is a bad worker and cannot cope with his responsibilities, because he often conflicts in the team, etc. This has nothing to do with stigma, because the negative attitude towards such a person is explained by his personal qualities, and not by characteristics attributed to the group.

The consequences of stigma are quite serious and severe. The patient and his relatives are in a situation of strong moral and psychological stress, subjected to insults, various kinds of unjustified deprivations and restrictions, and infringement of rights. As a result, patients and their families begin to feel “not like everyone else,” “bad,” constantly feel guilty, and are forced to deny or hide the fact of the disease for fear of “exposure.”

In such conditions, it becomes scary and difficult to seek help from a psychiatrist, because this will only “confirm” the accusations of others. This is how alienation from acquaintances, colleagues, friends, and society as a whole grows. This leads to a deterioration in the quality of life and social maladjustment.

A little history. Prevalence of stigma across cultures

Stigma has been known since ancient times; it is common in both primitive and developed societies. Its roots are different - more superficial and deeper, some are easier to influence, others more difficult. The basis of stigmatization is public opinion and the stereotypes that exist in it.
Generally speaking, stereotypes are necessary in society. Public opinion is called upon and obliged to encourage certain acceptable models of behavior and “not reinforce” unacceptable ones. Rituals of rejection, provoking feelings of guilt in those whose behavior is unacceptable, are designed to ensure the safety of society.

Any stereotype contains a “useful” information part, which should regulate the relationships of others with a given person or situation. For example, research into the content of the concept “disabled” in public consciousness showed that, thanks to a persistent stereotype, people associate with this word the need to care for and help people who fall under this concept.

In accordance with this, the stereotypical image of a mentally ill person contains not only negative information. This idea also includes the need for sympathy, the association between mental illness and genius, etc. However, when talking about stigma, of course, first of all we mean negative sides this phenomenon.

Public opinion changes extremely slowly, and this fact determines the persistence of stigmatization. Stereotypical ideas about the mentally ill were mainly formed during the times of asylums, when psychiatric institutions were not hospitals, but were places for keeping insane people with severe behavioral disorders.

People's ideas are not just knowledge, they are linked to ideological, mystical, religious ideas, as well as with emotions. In the case of illnesses, these are different kinds of fears. Since the causes of the most important mental illnesses are unknown, and the illnesses themselves look unusual, fertile ground arises for many myths, for example, about punishment for sins, damage, “possession,” etc.

In addition, there are often misconceptions about the causes of mental illness, which also increase stigma.

For example, in the recent past, the occurrence of schizophrenia was attributed to a certain type of parenting or behavior of mothers (there was even the concept of a “schizophrenogenic mother”). Although this theory has already been proven wrong, many parents of patients still suffer from feelings of guilt today.

Stigmatization continues to exist due to the ignorance of society, the lack of popular and at the same time reliable sources of knowledge about mental illnesses and their treatment. The existence of many incompetent publications and articles that relish shocking facts from the lives of mentally ill people supports and strengthens the negative stereotypes existing in society. For example, we owe a great deal to journalists for propagating the myth of the danger and unpredictability of the mentally ill. In fact, healthy people commit crimes much more often than sick people. The general intolerance of modern society contributes to the fact that words related to the description of the diagnosis and condition of the patient are used in a figurative sense, as a metaphor, and often as a curse: “sick”, “crazy”, “crazy”, etc., and A psychiatric hospital is almost never called anything other than a “psychiatric hospital.” Besides, in oriented towards prestige, even diseases are divided into “prestigious” (for example, heart disease) and “non-prestigious” (for example, hemorrhoids). These latter include mental illnesses.

Various types of social and cultural aspects. In particular, in Russia, patients complain of discrimination associated with social stigmatization less often than patients from countries Western Europe. This is surprising because for many years such discrimination in our country was very severe. It is possible that this paradox is associated with the lower demands of Russian residents on their living conditions.

This was convincingly shown in a survey of patients in psychiatric hospitals in Moscow and Wisconsin (USA); the survey was conducted during a joint study by the National Center for Health Protection of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and the University of this state. The essence of the study was to try to find out what needs to be done to make a stay in a psychiatric hospital as less painful as possible. 1 It should be noted that this is mainly the point of view of Russians and Americans; patients (as well as doctors and nurses) almost completely coincided. However, in some (minor?) details the differences were very impressive.

To the question: “What opportunity do you dream about while in the hospital?” Americans responded that they would like to take their favorite cat or dog with them from home. The Russians said that, firstly, it would be good to separate the smoking room from the restroom, and secondly, they would like to be able to use the shower more often than once every 10 days.

Of course, patients in Russian psychiatric hospitals know about the tasteless food, the lack of attentiveness of doctors, and the rudeness of middle and junior staff. However, very often, when you talk to them about this, they say: “What do you want? This is a hospital, not a sanatorium...”

Could this be an explanation for the fact that Russian patients are less likely to complain of discrimination due to stigma?

Self-stigmatization.

The above is directly related to the phenomenon called self-stigmatization. Naturally, mentally ill people share all the stereotypes existing in society, because they were born and raised in this same society. This also applies to stereotypes regarding mental illness. Therefore, having fallen ill, many begin to treat themselves as “second-class citizens.” They are ashamed to be in society healthy people, for fear of saying something wrong; it seems to them that even appearance you can guess that they are sick. Often this leads to the fact that the patient stops striving to improve his life (“I can’t do anything because I’m mentally ill”).

Self-stigma maintains prejudice against the mentally ill and the tendency to discriminate against them.

Anti-stigma programs

Public opinion is changing, albeit slowly. Many are beginning to understand the heavy burden of stigma. Experts are sounding the alarm. World Health Organization and numerous national societies different countries, uniting patients and their relatives, are trying to provide positive influence on society’s understanding of mental illness, the possibilities and state of modern psychiatry, and actively conduct educational activities.

Attempts to overcome prejudice against the mentally ill have varied. Thus, in many countries (including Russia) they tried to disguise the terminology, avoiding the word “psychiatry”. Until now, both in the USA and here, some psychiatric institutions are called clinics or “mental health” centers. Some psychiatric departments began to be called “departments of functional neurology,” and at one time they tried to rename psychiatric dispensaries into psychiatric consultations. Psychiatrists are still often called neuropsychiatrists and psychotherapists.

Such methods turned out to be completely ineffective. Most researchers come to the conclusion that in real work to overcome stigma, you need to start with overcoming self-stigma. First of all, this is work with the patients themselves and their loved ones, associated with increasing their level of awareness in the field of their own illness and treatment.

Work with public opinion includes changing inappropriate representations of mental illness and patients in the media. Numerous studies show that both television and the press create a grotesque image of the mentally ill. To rectify the situation, people are invited to participate in such programs famous people who have encountered mental illness in their lives and who share their experiences without fear of exposure. This has an extremely positive effect on public opinion.

The anti-stigma program in Norway, for example, is comprehensive. The annual forum “Schizophrenia Days” (just think about the name!) attracts both specialists in the field of mental health to discuss issues of treatment and assistance to patients, and the patients themselves, holding special seminars, performances, and concerts. Special trainings are organized for schoolchildren on what illnesses look like and how to help people, in particular children, if they are faced with mental health problems.

• Raise awareness. The main weapon in the fight against internal stigma is increasing your level of awareness in this area, overcoming fears and prejudices.


• Look for allies. As in any struggle, allies are important. As the psychiatric literacy of patients and their relatives increases, relationships with professionals (psychiatrists, rehabilitation therapists, psychotherapists) become more and more partnership-based. An important task is to find and join various public organizations, uniting people with similar problems. This is a source of moral and psychological support throughout the entire path of treatment and rehabilitation.


• Learn to talk about your problems with others. Anecdotally, sharing information about your condition with other people (such as colleagues or neighbors) can be helpful. It does not lead to alienation, but only helps people better understand you and your problems, and thus also get rid of prejudices. Personal sympathy also helps in such communication.


• Don't consider yourself the most unfortunate person in the world. It is important for patients and their families to understand that they are not the only ones affected by the misfortune of mental illness. There are many other families who suffer just like yours, and just like you think that they are the exception. Try to get to know such families and discuss your problems together. It is much easier to overcome them together, and the very opportunity to discuss them is already a blessing.

Although changes and results will not be immediate, since it takes time to replace some stereotypes with others and change the mentality of society. IN in this case We can talk about several decades and the well-coordinated work of many people. Therefore, it is very important throughout the world to celebrate Mental Health Day on October 10th every year to highlight the importance of mental health issues.

The fight against prejudice and discrimination is a long process, changes happen slowly, but they happen the sooner the more actively patients and their families participate in this!

V. G. Rotshtein M.N. Bogdan
FUNDAMENTALS OF PSYCHIATRIC LITERACY.

Esmeralda

The beautiful Esmeralda personifies everything good, talented, natural and beautiful that the great soul of the people carries within itself, and the opposite of the gloomy medieval asceticism forcibly instilled in the people by church fanatics. It’s not for nothing that she is so cheerful and musical, she loves songs, dance and life itself so much, this little street dancer. It is not for nothing that she is so chaste and at the same time so natural and straightforward in her love, so carefree and kind with everyone, even with Quasimodo, although he inspires her with insurmountable fear with his ugliness. Esmeralda is a true child of the people, her dancing gives joy ordinary people, she is idolized by the poor, schoolchildren, beggars and ragamuffins from the Court of Miracles. Esmeralda is all joy and harmony, her image just begs to be staged, and it is no coincidence that Hugo reworked his novel for the ballet “Esmeralda,” which still does not leave the European stage.

“...Whether this young girl was a human being, a fairy or an angel, this Gringoire, this skeptical philosopher, this ironic poet, could not immediately determine, he was so fascinated by the dazzling vision.

She was short in stature, but seemed tall - that was how slender her figure was. She was dark-skinned, but it was not difficult to guess that during the day her skin had that wonderful golden hue that is characteristic of Andalusian and Roman women. The little foot was also the foot of an Andalusian - she walked so lightly in her narrow, graceful shoe. The girl danced, fluttered, twirled on an old Persian carpet carelessly thrown at her feet, and every time her radiant face appeared in front of you, the gaze of her large black eyes blinded you like lightning.

The eyes of the entire crowd were glued to her, all mouths agape. She danced to the rumble of a tambourine, which her round, virgin hands raised high above her head. Thin, fragile, with bare shoulders and slender legs occasionally flashing from under her skirt, black-haired, quick as a wasp, in a golden bodice that tightly fitted her waist, in a colorful billowing dress, shining with her eyes, she truly seemed like an unearthly creature...”

Quasimodo

Another democratic hero of the novel, the foundling Quasimodo, rather personifies the terrible force hidden in the people, still dark, shackled by slavery and prejudice, but great and selfless in their selfless feeling, formidable and powerful in their rage. Which sometimes rises like the wrath of a rebel titan throwing off centuries-old chains.

Claude Frollo “baptized his adopted son and named him “Quasimodo” - either the memory of the day when he found him (for Catholics the first Sunday after Easter, Fomino Sunday; and in Latin it means “as if”, “almost.”), then whether wanting to use this name to express how unfortunate little creature imperfect, no matter how rough it is done. Indeed, Quasimodo, one-eyed, hunchbacked, was only almost a man."

The image of Quasimodo is the artistic embodiment of the theory of the romantic grotesque. The incredible and monstrous prevail here over the real. First of all, this refers to the exaggeration of ugliness and all sorts of misfortunes that befall one person.

“...It is difficult to describe this tetrahedral nose, horseshoe-shaped mouth, tiny left eye, almost covered by a bristly red eyebrow, while the right one completely disappeared under a huge wart, broken crooked teeth, reminiscent of the battlements of a fortress wall, this cracked lip, over which it hung, as if an elephant’s tusk, one of the teeth, that cleft chin... But it’s even more difficult to describe the mixture of anger, amazement, and sadness that was reflected on this man’s face. Now try to imagine it all together!

The approval was unanimous. The crowd rushed to the chapel. From there the venerable pope of jesters was brought out in triumph. But now the amazement and delight of the crowd reached its highest limit. The grimace was his real face.

Or rather, he was all a grimace. A huge head covered with red stubble; a huge hump between the shoulder blades and another, balancing it, on the chest; his hips were so dislocated that his legs could meet at the knees, strangely resembling two sickles in front with connected handles; wide feet, monstrous hands. And, despite this ugliness, in his entire figure there was some kind of formidable expression of strength, agility and courage - an extraordinary exception to that general rule which requires that strength, like beauty, comes from harmony..."

Quasimodo "is all grimace." He was born “crooked, hunchbacked, lame”; then the ringing of the bells burst his eardrums - and he became deaf. In addition, deafness made him seem mute (“When necessity forced him to speak, his tongue turned clumsily and heavily, like a door on rusty hinges”). His soul, chained in ugly body, the artist figuratively presents it as “twisted and decayed” like the prisoners of Venetian prisons who lived to old age, “bent over in three death in too narrow and too short stone boxes.”

At the same time, Quasimodo is the limit of not only ugliness, but also rejection: “From his very first steps among people, he felt and then clearly realized himself as a being rejected, spat upon, branded. Human speech for him was either a mockery or a curse.” Thus, the humanistic theme of outcasts, guilty without guilt, damned by an unjust human court, is developed already in Hugo’s first significant novel.

Hugo's grotesque is a "standard of comparison" and a fruitful "means of contrast." This contrast can be external or internal or both. Quasimodo's ugliness, first of all, contrasts sharply with Esmeralda's beauty. Next to him, she seems especially touching and charming, which is most effectively revealed in the scene at the pillory, when Esmeralda approaches the terrible, embittered and tormented by an unbearable thirst Quasimodo to give him a drink (“Who would not be touched by the sight of beauty, freshness, innocence, charm and fragility, which came in a fit of mercy to the aid of the embodiment of misfortune, ugliness and malice! At the pillory, this spectacle was majestic.”

Quasimodo's ugliness contrasts even more with his inner beauty, which is manifested in his selfless and devoted love for Esmeralda. The culminating moment in the revelation of the true greatness of his soul is the scene of the kidnapping of Esmeralda, who was sentenced to hanging - the same scene that delighted the crowd surrounding them both: “... in these moments Quasimodo was truly beautiful. He was beautiful, this orphan, a foundling , ... he felt majestic and strong, he looked into the face of this society, which had expelled him, but in whose affairs he had so imperiously interfered; , these bailiffs, judges and executioners, all this royal power, which he, insignificant, broke with the help of almighty God."

Moral greatness, devotion and spiritual beauty Quasimodo will once again appear in all his strength at the very end of the novel, when, having failed to protect Esmeralda from her main enemy - Archdeacon Claude Frollo, who nevertheless achieved the execution of the unfortunate gypsy, Quasimodo comes to die near her corpse, finding his beloved only in death.

It is significant that the moral idea of ​​the novel, associated mainly with Quasimodo, was perfectly understood and highly appreciated by F.M. Dostoevsky. Proposing to translate “Notre Dame Cathedral” into Russian, he wrote in 1862 in the magazine “Time” that the idea of ​​​​this work is “restoration dead person, crushed unfairly by the oppression of circumstances... This thought is a justification for the humiliated and rejected pariahs of society... Who would not think, - Dostoevsky further wrote, - that Quasimodo is the personification of the oppressed and despised medieval French people, deaf and disfigured, gifted only with terrible physical strength, but in which love and the thirst for justice finally awakens, and with them the consciousness of one’s truth and one’s still untouched infinite powers... Victor Hugo is almost the main herald of this idea of ​​“restoration” in the literature of our century. By at least, he was the first to express this idea with such artistic force in art."

Thus, Dostoevsky also emphasizes that the image of Quasimodo is a symbol associated with Hugo’s democratic pathos, with his assessment of the people as bearers of high moral principles.

Quasimodo received his name from the name of the Catholic holiday of the Octave of Easter (lat. Quasimodo; the first Sunday after Easter, in Orthodoxy - Fomino Sunday), which, in turn, is named after the first words of the introit - “Quasi modo geniti infantes, rationabile, sine dolo lac concupiscite ut in eo crescatis in salutem si gustastis quoniam dulcis Dominus" (“like newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow to salvation; for you have tasted that the Lord is good” 1 Pet.).

Artistic image

Quasimodo was born with physical disabilities. Victor Hugo writes that his whole body was irregular shape, he was hunchbacked, lame and had a huge wart on his left eye. Instead of her first-born, Quasimodo was thrown to Paquette Chantfleury, but the unfortunate mother almost went crazy at the sight of him, and the boy was taken away. Right there, in Reims, he was baptized and sent to Paris, where he was found in the foundling manger of Notre Dame Cathedral by the twenty-year-old priest Claude Frollo, who named him in honor of the feast of the Octave of Easter (lat. Quasimodo), on which Quasimodo was found. When the boy was fourteen years old, Claude Frollo gave him the position of bell-ringer of the Cathedral, but due to the loud ringing of the bells, Quasimodo's eardrums burst and he became deaf. Quasimodo hated his ugliness, but at the same time he had kind hearted. He adored the Cathedral; the building replaced his family, home, and society. Quasimodo obeyed his adoptive father in everything, when he ordered Esmeralda to be stolen for him, he agreed to the theft, but was caught by a detachment of the night watch. He was later tried, but because Quasimodo was caught by a deaf judge, the punishment was much harsher than it should have been: he was sentenced to lashes, as well as several hours in the pillory (due to the fact that he was rude to the judge , as it seemed to the latter). It is noteworthy that Claude Frollo, when he noticed Quasimodo in the pillory, pretended that he did not know his adopted son. When Quasimodo began to ask for a drink, and the crowd only laughed at him in response, Esmeralda came and gave water to the condemned man. At that moment he cried for the first time in his life; this episode also awakened in him tender feelings for the girl. Later, when Esmeralda was sentenced to execution, he saved her by bringing her into the Cathedral and thus taking advantage of the right of asylum. But the beauty did not reciprocate the hunchback’s feelings, since he only aroused fear in her. Quasimodo also defended Notre Dame Cathedral from vagabonds for Esmeralda's sake.