The Hunchback of Notre-Dame: Novel Summary: Book XI Analysis

Analysis
This section of the novel brings to fruition the tragedy of Esmeralda. Her long suffering mother becomes, in part, the means of her destruction as does her unyielding love of Phoebus. Equally tragic, is Quasimodo's realization that the person to blame for Esmeralda's capture is his master. Quasimodo is unable to feel hatred for the priest and so his rage turns to sorrow at the knowledge that the man who once saved him has turned cruel and merciless. Still, he is unwilling to act until he sees Frollo laugh at the sight of Esmeralda's death. This is too much even for the completely servile hunchback. Like Frollo who cannot bring himself to deliver Esmeralda directly to her death, trusting the Sachette to hold her, Quasimodo pushes Frollo over the parapet but simply watches as the priest loses his grip and falls to his death. True to his word, Quasimodo kills himself soon after Esmeralda's death as the entwined skeleton attests.