Overview

In 1482, during the reign of Louis XI, the gypsy Esmeralda captures the hearts of many men, especially Quasimodo and his guardian Archdeacon Frollo. Frollo is torn between his obsessive lust for Esmeralda and the rules of Notre Dame Cathedral. When Frollo orders Quasimodo to kidnap Esmeralda, the plot takes an unexpected twist. What follows is a story of love, jealousy, attempted murder, and a struggle to escape the clutches of the king's men. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame portrays the Romantic era as one of extremes in architecture, passion, and religion. The theme of determinism (fate and destiny) is explored, as well as revolution and social strife. Hugo introduced with this work the concept of the novel as Epic Theatre. A giant epic about the history of a whole people, incarnated in the figure of the great cathedral as witness and silent protagonist of that history, and the whole idea of time and life as an ongoing, organic panorama centered on dozens of characters caught in the middle of that history. This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

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9781772269024

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Victor Hugo (26 February 1802 - 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers. In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry and then from his novels and his dramatic achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Legende des siecles stand particularly high in critical esteem. Outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Miserables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831 (known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame). He produced more than 4,000 drawings, which have since been admired for their beauty. He also earned widespread respect as a campaigner for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment. Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism; his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. He is buried in the Pantheon. His legacy has been honoured in many ways, including his portrait being placed on French franc banknotes.

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