Book VII Analysis
Analysis
Esmeralda has two secrets. The first she carries in the satchel on the goat's neck and when the secret is revealed Fleur-de-Lys learns that she has a competitor for Phoebus' affections. The other secret Esmeralda carries in an amulut around her neck that she believes, so long as she is chaste, will some day help her find her mother. When Gringoire tells the priest of Esmeralda's self-enforced chastity is awakes great feelings in the priest who seeks to dominate the girl even as his own baser passions have come to dominate him. Thus, he likens their relationship to that of a spider ensnaring a fly each unable to overcome their nature and the deadly, fated result of their interaction. This section of the novel chronicles Claude Frollo's growing madness born of intense physical desire for Esmeralda. His passions explode when he learns that the gypsy is willing to sacrifice her virtue to a man, in Frollo's estimation, as unworthy as Phoebus. He stabs Phoebus and flees knowing full well that Esmeralda will be accused of the crime.
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