Esmeralda Hugo. Notre Dame Cathedral (TV)

Esmeralda- the main character of Victor Hugo's novel Notre-Dame de Paris.

Characteristics of Esmeraldi

In Victor Hugo's novel, Esmeralda's story is revealed gradually. Esmeralda first appears as a beautiful young girl living in the Parisian “Court of Miracles” (an abode of beggars and criminals), earning money by dancing and performing with a trained goat, Jalli. The poet Pierre Gringoire, the priest Claude Frollo and the ugly bell-ringer Quasimodo fall in love with her. Frollo, with the help of Quasimodo, tries to steal Esmeralda, but she is saved by officer Phoebus de Chateaupert. Esmeralda falls in love with her savior.

In the novel we see detailed description appearance of the heroine: “She was short in stature, but she 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 acquired a wonderful golden hue, characteristic of Andalusians and Romans. The little foot was also the foot of an Andalusian woman - 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 crowd's eyes 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 seemed like a truly unearthly creature...”

The image of Esmeralda in the novel is complex and tragic. She is the embodiment of chastity and naivety, completely different from the other inhabitants of the “Court of Miracles”. Even the fact that she has to dance for a living does not corrupt her. She has kind heart: she brings water to Quasimodo when he is tied to the pillory; In order to save Gringoire, a stranger to her, from death, she agrees to formally be called his wife. But her openness and naivety almost lead to disaster: having fallen in love for the first time in her life, she is ready to give herself to Captain Phoebus, even though she is sure that with the loss of her innocence, the opportunity to ever meet her parents will go away.

The girl knows that the gypsies who raised her are not her parents, she passionately wants to find her real mother and wears an amulet around her neck, in which is stored a tiny child's embroidered shoe - the only thing that she inherited from her real mother: Esmeralda hopes to someday find it, but, according to the order given to her with the shoe, for this she must preserve her virginity. Gradually, the story of Esmeralda's origin is revealed to the reader.

The girl's mother's name was Paquette Chantfleury, she was the daughter of a famous minstrel from Reims. But the minstrel died, leaving his little daughter and wife without funds. They made a living by embroidery and lived extremely modestly. Paquetta blossomed early and began to attract the attention of noble men. She fell in love with one of them and became his mistress when she was barely 14 years old. But the flighty signor soon abandoned the girl, and she “went from hand to hand,” sinking lower and lower: from aristocrats to simpler men. Paquette, who had become an ordinary prostitute, was saved from complete degradation by pregnancy: at the age of 20, she gave birth to a lovely girl, whom she named Agnes. After giving birth, the girl who had once faded became very prettier, and her “services” were again valued. She spent everything that Paquetta earned on clothes for her beloved baby.

One day I arrived in Reims gypsy camp, and Paquette, like many other mothers, could not resist and went with her daughter to the gypsies to find out the future of their child. Beautiful girl delighted the gypsies, and a few days later they stole it, throwing Paquette into the cradle of an ugly, hunchbacked and lame boy of about four years old. Unhappy Paquette turned gray from grief overnight and lost her mind: having found traces of fires and blood stains in the place where the camp that disappeared one night stood, she decided that the gypsies had eaten her child.

Paquette soon disappeared from Reims. Some said that she drowned herself, others that she was seen on the road to the capital. The Archbishop of Reims ordered the deformed foundling to be sent to Paris and placed in a nursery near the orphanage (this child was Quasimodo).

...Esmeralda is sentenced to death on false charges: Claude Frollo, tormented by jealousy, wounds Phoebus during his meeting with Esmeralda, and goes into hiding. Quasimodo takes her out of the loop and hides her in the Cathedral. She lives there for some time, never stopping to think about Phoebus (whose wound turned out to be minor, but who had already forgotten the gypsy). Quasimodo understands that she will never be able to reciprocate his feelings, but he is happy because he can protect her.

Claude Frollo and Gringoire rescue the girl from the besieged cathedral, thereby saving her from death. They take it across the Seine. Claude gives her a choice: either she agrees to be with him, or she will be hanged. Esmeralda refuses to flee the city with the “murderer” of Phoebus. The archdeacon leaves her to the old woman Gudula, and goes after the guards to hand over the gypsy. Gudula, a recluse who fiercely hates the gypsies because they once stole her only daughter, holds Esmeralda. Gudula curses the girl and shows her her daughter’s shoe, at this moment Esmeralda shows exactly the same bootie. Here it turns out that Gudula is Paquetta Chantfleury, Esmeralda’s mother, but it turns out too late. Paquetta hides the girl from the soldiers, but seeing Phoebus among them, Esmeralda, not thinking about the consequences, naively calls him. The girl was immediately hanged, and her mother died, unable to bear the second loss of her daughter.

France

Date of death: Place of death:

Paris, Place de Greve

Family:

Paquette Chantfleury (mother, deceased), father unknown (possibly Gypsy)

Occupation:

Dancer

Role played by:

Patsy Ruth Miller, Maureen O'Hara, Gina Lollobrigida, Demi Moore (voice actress)

Esmeralda(fr. Esmeralda) - the main character of Victor Hugo's novel Notre Dame de Paris, as well as films, plays, musicals, ballets and poems based on this work.

Esmeralda in the original novel

In the novel we see a detailed description of the heroine’s appearance: “She was short in stature, but she seemed tall - that’s how slender her figure was. She was dark-skinned, but it was not difficult to guess that during the day her skin acquired a wonderful golden hue, characteristic of Andalusians and Romans. The little foot was also the foot of an Andalusian woman - 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 crowd's eyes 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 glimpsed 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 eyes, she seemed like a truly unearthly creature..." (" Notre Dame Cathedral, III. Besos para golpes (18)

The image of Esmeralda in the novel is complex and tragic. She is the embodiment of chastity and naivety, completely different from the other inhabitants of the “Court of Miracles”. Even the fact that she has to dance for a living does not corrupt her. She has a kind heart: she brings water to Quasimodo when he is tied to the pillory; In order to save Gringoire, a stranger to her, from death, she agrees to formally be called his wife. But her openness and naivety almost lead to disaster: having fallen in love for the first time in her life, she is ready to give herself to Captain Phoebus, even though she is sure that with the loss of her innocence, the opportunity to ever meet her parents will go away.

The girl knows that the gypsies who raised her are not her parents, she passionately wants to find her real mother and wears an amulet around her neck, which contains a tiny child's embroidered shoe - the only thing that she got from her real mother: Esmeralda hopes for it someday find, but, according to the instructions given to her with the shoe, for this she needs to preserve her virginity. Gradually, the story of Esmeralda's origin is revealed to the reader.

One day a gypsy camp arrived in Reims, and Paquette, like many other mothers, could not resist and went with her daughter to the gypsies to find out the future of their child. The beautiful girl delighted the gypsies, and a few days later they stole her, throwing Paquette into the cradle of an ugly, hunchbacked and lame boy of about four years old. Unhappy Paquette turned gray from grief overnight and lost her mind: having found traces of fires and blood stains in the place where the camp that disappeared one night stood, she decided that the gypsies had eaten her child.

In productions and film adaptations of the novel, the details of the heroine's birth are usually omitted and she is portrayed as a gypsy (only in the 1923 film adaptation with Patsy Ruth Miller in leading role the details of the heroine’s birth are preserved, and the image of her character from the original source is also preserved, except that she is not afraid of her pursuer). The image of brilliant purity and innocence invented by Hugo is often omitted; instead, Esmeralda appears in the image of a fatal beauty.

Esmeralda in the musical "Notre Dame de Paris"

Esmeralda in the musical is not a stolen French girl, but a gypsy orphan girl from Spain. If the novel implied that everything positive in her is from French origin, then in the musical these are her personal qualities, which are also possible for a simple gypsy. In the musical, she does not have a trained goat; she earns money only by dancing. Many researchers of Hugo's work [Who?] They believe that the presence of Djali in the musical is fundamentally important, because there is an opinion that the goat embodies tragedy (“tragedy” in Greek is “goat song”).

Esmeralda in film adaptations

In the film Notre Dame (1956)

Gina Lollobrigida in this film is considered the most successful screen embodiment of Esmeralda. One of the reasons for the success, apparently, is serious work on the external component of her image: on the one hand, it uses associations with gypsyism (bare feet, a bright scarf, a torn hem), on the other hand, it reflects her character (both of Esmeralda’s dresses are pure “ fiery" colors, red and yellow, their style emphasizes her youthful fragility and the impetuosity of her movements). The ending is partially changed compared to the original source: Esmeralda was killed with an arrow during the storming of the cathedral. Her last words: “Life is beautiful” (fr. C'est beauty, la vie).

Many years later, Lollobrigida created a sculpture depicting Esmeralda in dance.

In the 1996 Walt Disney Studios cartoon

In the cartoon, Esmeralda is a purebred gypsy. She is a beautiful girl who dances for a living. It is believed that the prototype of her image was two famous actresses: Gina Lollobrigida and Demi Moore (voice actor of the heroine in the original). It is also interesting that in the first sketches (during work on creation) Esmeralda looked exactly 14-16 years old, in the final version she was depicted a little older (in fact, she is 16 years old in the book, and in the cartoon she is 18-19 years) perhaps because the heroine does not look more fragile in comparison with other characters (Judge Claude Frollo and Captain Phoebus). In the cartoon, she is slender, has bronze skin, blue-black long, curly hair and green eyes; in the book version, her skin is also bronze, but lighter - this may indicate that her father could be a gypsy. She has a lively and independent character. She is brave, smart, proud and strong, very kind and fair. If you look closely, you will notice that with her hair down, Esmeralda looks much younger than with her hair in a ponytail. It is also one of the most beautiful girls living in France.

Write a review about the article "Esmeralda (character)"

Notes

Excerpt characterizing Esmeralda (character)

- When will you sleep? - answered another voice.
- I won’t, I can’t sleep, what should I do! Well, last time...
Two women's voices they sang some kind of musical phrase that constituted the end of something.
- Oh, how lovely! Well, now go to sleep and that's the end.
“You sleep, but I can’t,” answered the first voice approaching the window. She apparently leaned out of the window completely, because the rustling of her dress and even her breathing could be heard. Everything became quiet and petrified, like the moon and its light and shadows. Prince Andrei was also afraid to move, so as not to betray his involuntary presence.
- Sonya! Sonya! – the first voice was heard again. - Well, how can you sleep! Look what a beauty it is! Oh, how lovely! “Wake up, Sonya,” she said almost with tears in her voice. - After all, such have a lovely night never, never happened.
Sonya reluctantly answered something.
- No, look what a moon it is!... Oh, how lovely! Come here. Darling, my dear, come here. Well, do you see? So I would squat down, like this, I would grab myself under the knees - tighter, as tight as possible - you have to strain. Like this!
- Come on, you'll fall.
There was a struggle and Sonya’s dissatisfied voice: “It’s two o’clock.”
- Oh, you're just ruining everything for me. Well, go, go.
Again everything fell silent, but Prince Andrei knew that she was still sitting here, he sometimes heard quiet movements, sometimes sighs.
- Ah... My God! My God! what is this! – she suddenly screamed. - Sleep like that! – and slammed the window.
“And they don’t care about my existence!” thought Prince Andrei as he listened to her conversation, for some reason expecting and fearing that she would say something about him. - “And there she is again! And how on purpose!” he thought. In his soul suddenly arose such an unexpected confusion of young thoughts and hopes, contradicting his whole life, that he, feeling unable to understand his condition, immediately fell asleep.

The next day, having said goodbye to only one count, without waiting for the ladies to leave, Prince Andrei went home.
It was already the beginning of June when Prince Andrei, returning home, again entered that birch grove, in which this old, gnarled oak struck him so strangely and memorably. The bells rang even more muffled in the forest than a month and a half ago; everything was full, shady and dense; and young spruce trees scattered throughout the forest did not disturb the overall beauty and, imitating general character, gently green with fluffy young shoots.
It was hot all day, a thunderstorm was gathering somewhere, but only a small cloud splashed on the dust of the road and on the succulent leaves. The left side of the forest was dark, in shadow; the right one, wet and glossy, glistened in the sun, slightly swaying in the wind. Everything was in bloom; the nightingales chattered and rolled, now close, now far away.
“Yes, here, in this forest, there was this oak tree with which we agreed,” thought Prince Andrei. “Where is he,” Prince Andrei thought again, looking at left side road and without knowing it, without recognizing him, he admired the oak tree that he was looking for. old oak, completely transformed, spread out like a tent of lush, dark greenery, was thrilled, slightly swaying in the rays of the evening sun. No gnarled fingers, no sores, no old mistrust and grief - nothing was visible. Juicy, young leaves broke through the tough, hundred-year-old bark without knots, so it was impossible to believe that this old man had produced them. “Yes, this is that same oak tree,” thought Prince Andrei, and suddenly a causeless, spring feeling of joy and renewal came over him. All best moments his lives suddenly came back to him at the same time. And Austerlitz with the high sky, and the dead, reproachful face of his wife, and Pierre on the ferry, and the girl excited by the beauty of the night, and this night, and the moon - and all this suddenly came to his mind.
“No, life is not over at the age of 31, Prince Andrei suddenly finally, permanently decided. Not only do I know everything that is in me, it is necessary for everyone to know it: both Pierre and this girl who wanted to fly into the sky, it is necessary for everyone to know me, so that my life does not go on for me alone So that they don’t live so independently of my life, so that it affects everyone and so that they all live with me!”

Returning from his trip, Prince Andrei decided to go to St. Petersburg in the fall and came up with the idea various reasons this decision. A whole series reasonable, logical arguments why he needed to go to St. Petersburg and even serve, he was ready for his services every minute. Even now he did not understand how he could ever doubt the need to take an active part in life, just as a month ago he did not understand how the thought of leaving the village could have occurred to him. It seemed clear to him that all his experiences in life would have been in vain and would have been meaningless if he had not applied them to action and taken an active part in life again. He did not even understand how, on the basis of the same poor reasonable arguments, it had previously been obvious that he would have humiliated himself if now, after his life lessons, he again believed in the possibility of being useful and in the possibility of happiness and love. Now my mind suggested something completely different. After this trip, Prince Andrei began to get bored in the village, his previous activities did not interest him, and often, sitting alone in his office, he got up, went to the mirror and looked at his face for a long time. Then he turned away and looked at the portrait of the deceased Lisa, who, with curls whipped up a la grecque [in Greek], tenderly and cheerfully looked at him from the golden frame. She no longer told her husband the previous scary words, she simply and cheerfully looked at him with curiosity. And Prince Andrei, clasping his hands back, walked around the room for a long time, now frowning, now smiling, reconsidering those unreasonable, inexpressible thoughts, secret as a crime, connected with Pierre, with fame, with the girl on the window, with the oak tree, with feminine beauty and love that changed his whole life. And at these moments, when someone came to him, he was especially dry, strictly decisive and especially unpleasantly logical.
“Mon cher, [My dear,],” Princess Marya would say when entering at such a moment, “Nikolushka can’t go for a walk today: it’s very cold.”
“If it were warm,” Prince Andrei answered his sister especially dryly at such moments, “then he would go in just a shirt, but since it’s cold, we need to put warm clothes on him, which were invented for this purpose.” That’s what follows from the fact that it’s cold, and not like staying at home when the child needs air,” he said with particular logic, as if punishing someone for all this secret, illogical happening in him, internal work. Princess Marya thought in these cases about how this mental work dries out men.

Prince Andrey arrived in St. Petersburg in August 1809. This was the time of the apogee of the glory of the young Speransky and the energy of the revolutions he carried out. In this very August, the sovereign, while riding in a carriage, fell out, injured his leg, and remained in Peterhof for three weeks, seeing daily and exclusively Speransky. At this time, not only two such famous and alarming decrees were being prepared on the abolition of court ranks and on examinations for the ranks of collegiate assessors and state councilors, but also an entire state constitution, which was supposed to change the existing judicial, administrative and financial order of governing Russia from state council to the volost government. Now those vague, liberal dreams with which Emperor Alexander ascended the throne were being realized and embodied, and which he sought to realize with the help of his assistants Chartorizhsky, Novosiltsev, Kochubey and Strogonov, whom he himself jokingly called comite du salut publique. [committee of public safety.]
Now everyone has been replaced by Speransky on the civil side and Arakcheev on the military side. Prince Andrei, soon after his arrival, as a chamberlain, came to the court and left. The Tsar, having met him twice, did not honor him with a single word. It always seemed to Prince Andrei that he was antipathetic to the sovereign, that the sovereign was unpleasant about his face and his whole being. In the dry, distant look with which the sovereign looked at him, Prince Andrei found confirmation of this assumption even more than before. The courtiers explained to Prince Andrey the sovereign's lack of attention to him by the fact that His Majesty was dissatisfied with the fact that Bolkonsky had not served since 1805.
“I myself know how much we have no control over our likes and dislikes,” thought Prince Andrei, and therefore there is no need to think about personally presenting my note on the military regulations to the sovereign, but the matter will speak for itself.” He conveyed his note to the old field marshal, a friend of his father. The field marshal, having appointed an hour for him, received him kindly and promised to report to the sovereign. A few days later it was announced to Prince Andrei that he had to appear before the Minister of War, Count Arakcheev.
At nine o'clock in the morning, on the appointed day, Prince Andrei appeared in the reception room of Count Arakcheev.
Prince Andrey did not know Arakcheev personally and had never seen him, but everything he knew about him inspired him with little respect for this man.
“He is the Minister of War, the confidant of the Emperor; no one should care about his personal properties; he was instructed to consider my note, therefore he alone can give it a go,” thought Prince Andrei, waiting among many important and unimportant persons in the reception room of Count Arakcheev.
Prince Andrei during his mostly The adjutant service saw a lot of receptions of important persons and the different characters of these receptionists were very clear to him. Count Arakcheev had a very special character in his reception room. A sense of shame and humility was written on the unimportant faces waiting in line for an audience in Count Arakcheev’s reception room; on more official faces one thing was expressed general feeling awkwardness, hidden under the guise of swagger and ridicule of oneself, one’s position and one’s expected face. Some walked thoughtfully back and forth, others laughed in whispers, and Prince Andrei heard the sobriquet [mocking nickname] of Andreich’s forces and the words: “uncle will ask,” referring to Count Arakcheev. One general (an important person), apparently offended that he had to wait so long, sat crossing his legs and smiling contemptuously at himself.

Gypsy Esmeralda gives pleasure to the crowd with her art and her entire appearance. She is far from pious and does not give up earthly pleasures. This image most clearly reflects the revival of interest in man, which becomes main feature worldview in new era. Esmeralda is inextricably linked with the people. Hugo uses romantic contrast, highlighting the girl’s beauty with images of the lower classes of society, in the depiction of which he uses the grotesque. Esmeralda is a gypsy (though only by upbringing) and French (by origin).

Her unique beauty drove Frollo crazy, and he destroyed her because he could not understand and could not appropriate her. Esmeralda embodies Hugo's ideal. This is his subjective, romantic vision of freedom and beauty, which always go hand in hand. The beautiful dancer bears the features of the new Renaissance culture (nationality, unity of spiritual and physical, humanity), which is replacing medieval asceticism, and this cannot be changed (the first scene of the novel has a symbolic content, which shows the inevitable loss of the church of its former authority). The opposite image in the novel - the image of the gloomy scoundrel, Archdeacon Claude Frollo (created after the cardinal-executioner from Marion Delorme), reveals Hugo's many years of struggle against the church.

The royal power and its support - the Catholic Church - are depicted in the novel as forces hostile to the people. The judiciously cruel Louis XI is very close to the gallery of crowned criminals from Hugo's dramas. Claude Frollo's feelings are distorted: love, parental favor, thirst for knowledge are blocked by selfishness and hatred. He also expresses one of the characteristics of the people of the Renaissance, but first of all he is a man of the Middle Ages, an ascetic who treats all the pleasures of life with contempt. He protected himself from folk life the walls of the cathedral and his laboratory, and therefore his soul is in the grip of dark and evil passions. Claude Frollo would like to suppress all earthly feelings, which he considers shameful, and devote himself to studying the complete summary of human knowledge.

But despite the objection of human feelings, he himself fell in love with Esmeralda. This love is destructive. Without the strength to overcome it, Claude Frollo takes the path of crime, dooming Esmeralda to torment and death. Retribution comes to the archdeacon from his servant, the cathedral bell ringer, Quasimodo. To create this image, Hugo makes especially extensive use of the grotesque. Quasimodo is an extraordinary freak. His face and figure are both funny and scary at the same time. Grotesque Quasimodo, ugly, mentally disabled, incredibly strong physically, all his life he knew only insults and cruelty.

And he responded with cruelty to cruelty. Even Frollo, who supposedly raised the orphan, cannot look at the unfortunate man with anything other than disgust. Quasimodo looks like chimeras - fantastic animals whose images adorn the cathedral. Quasimodo is the soul of the cathedral. The ugly monster also fell in love with the beautiful Esmeralda, but not for her beauty, but for her kindness. And his soul, which awakens from the sleep into which Claude Frollo plunged him, turns out to be beautiful. A beast in appearance, Quasimodo is an angel at heart. Quasimodo's love for Esmeralda is a high love for the Renaissance Madonna. This is how Dante loved Beatrice, this is how Petrarch treated Laura. Before meeting Esmeralda, Quasimodo did not know that love, beauty and goodness exist in the world. The kind deed of the girl from the Court of Miracles became a “sincere event” for Quasimodo and turned his life around. Quasimodo embodies the author's understanding of the nature and fate of the people, downtrodden and powerless, unreasonable and slavishly obedient. But not always. Before meeting Esmeralda, Quasimodo's life passed as if in a state of sleep. He saw in front of him only the huge structure of the cathedral, he served it and was part of it. Now he has seen something else and is ready to give his life for this something else.

Quasimodo's protest is an unconscious, cruel, and even terrible protest. But it’s hard to blame him, you can only sympathize with him. Thus, Hugo, through the means of romantic art, expresses his own attitude towards revolutionary events, towards a people who have awakened and can no longer be different. The image of Claude Frollo is complemented by a section that has the expressive title “The Dislike of the People.” From the outside, with brilliance, but in reality, the heartless and devastated high society is embodied in the image of Captain Phoebus de Chateaupert, who, like the archdeacon, is incapable of selfless feelings.

Spiritual greatness and high humanism are inherent only to disadvantaged people from the bottom of society; they are the real heroes of the novel. Street dancer Esmeralda symbolizes moral beauty common man, the deaf and ugly bell-ringer Quasimodo is the eternity of the social fate of the oppressed. At the center of the novel is Notre Dame Cathedral, a symbol of the spiritual life of the French people. The cathedral was built by the hands of hundreds of nameless craftsmen; the description of the cathedral becomes the occasion for an inspired prose poem about French national life. The cathedral provides shelter for the folk heroes of the novel; their fate is closely connected with it; around the cathedral there are living people who do not stop fighting. The cathedral, eternal and immovable, is the main character of the novel. This is not just a huge structure on the Ile de la Cité, which unites university Paris and bourgeois Paris, it is a living creature that observes the life of Claude Frollo, Esmeralda, Quasimodo.

The Council embodies the eternal law, the eternal law of necessity, the death of one and the birth of another. At the same time, the cathedral is a symbol of the enslavement of the people, a symbol of feudal oppression, dark superstitions and prejudices that hold the souls of people captive. It is not without reason that in the darkness of the cathedral, under its vault, merging with strange stone chimeras, deafened by the roar of bells, Quasimodo, the “soul of the cathedral,” lives alone, grotesque image represents the Middle Ages.

In contrast, the magical image of Esmeralda embodies the joy and beauty of earthly life, the harmony of body and soul, i.e. ideals of the Renaissance. The dancer Esmeralda lives among the Parisian crowd and gives the common people her art, fun and kindness. Victor Hugo did not idealize the Middle Ages; he truthfully showed the dark sides of feudal society. At the same time, his work is deeply poetic, filled with ardent patriotic love for France, for its history, for its art, in which, as Hugo believed, the freedom-loving spirit and talent of the French people lives. The concentration of opposing traits and the intensification of passions create a powerful pictorial effect and make Hugo’s work one of the brightest in the history of world literature.

Esmeralda

ESMERALDA (French: Esmeralda) - the heroine of V. Hugo’s novel “The Cathedral” Notre Dame of Paris"(1831). E. is truly a genius of pure beauty in world literature. It's not just her appearance that is perfect - from her small, impeccably shaped legs to her dark, huge eyes and lush black hair. Hugo repeatedly emphasizes that when E. appears, everything is illuminated with some kind of magical radiance: “She was like a torch brought from the light into the darkness.” But the heroine’s soul is no less beautiful. It is impossible to imagine that she could deliberately cause harm to anyone. She without hesitation saves the mystery writer Gringoire from the gallows, agreeing to gypsy laws recognize him as your husband for four years; she was the only one from the huge crowd who took pity on the unfortunate Quasimodo, dying of thirst pillory, and gave him a drink from her flask. If E. has a small flaw, it relates to the sphere of reason and intuition. She is completely unsighted and very trusting; it is not difficult to lure her into the placed nets. The heroine is too carried away by her fantasies and dreams to really look at things and foresee danger. The ending is terrible. The heroine's real name is Agnes Chantfleury, and she is not a gypsy at all. Gypsies kidnapped her at the age of one. They gave her this too strange name- after the name of the bead that adorns the amulet on her neck. E. learned to sing and dance from the gypsies and, once in Paris, earns a living by giving performances (her faithful companion, the goat Djali, invariably participates in them). The good old gypsy woman predicted to E. that she would find her mother using a tiny shoe kept in an amulet, and this really happened, but only on the day of the heroine’s death. She turned out to be the evil old woman Gudula, who hated the gypsies and so many times sent curses to the careless dancer. First and only love The heroine, by a tediously boring irony of fate, became the empty fanfare of Phoebus de Chateaupert, a creature astonishingly primitive, ordinary and deceitful. In general, love in this novel does not bring happiness to anyone. Quasimodo's enormous selfless feeling is not noticed by E. (she is unable to overcome her disgust for his ugly appearance). The perverted, lustful attraction of Archdeacon Claude Frollo to her became the cause of her tragic death. Before the fateful meeting with Phoebus, everything was in a state of external peace. E. lived her dreams and hopes. Quasimodo only admired her from afar. The terrifying face of Claude Frollo appeared in front of her quite often, but only frightened her without causing significant harm. The archdeacon was forced to take decisive action by jealousy - first towards Phoebus, and then towards Quasimodo. Claude Frollo decided to destroy E. so that no one would get her. It is by his will recent months The heroine's life turned into a living hell. At first, he arranged everything in such a way that E. would be accused of killing Phoebus (although he did not die at all, but was only wounded by the evil archdeacon). E. ended up in prison, was subjected to horrific torture there, but still chose death over the love of Claude Frollo. Only by a miracle did Quasimodo manage to save Esmeralda, literally snatching her from the hands of the executioner. He took the condemned woman to the cathedral, where, by law, no one had the right to touch her, and asked her never to leave there. But Claude Frollo again managed to deceive E. Using her friend Gringoire, he lured her onto the street. And this was the end for the unfortunate heroine. This time she was hanged. Hugo's novel is built on contrasts and oppositions: E. and Quasimodo - beauty and physical deformity; E. and Phoebus - sincerity and deceit, selflessness and narcissism; E. and Claude Frollo - selfless, sacrificial love and selfish, lustful murderous attraction... Pride and feeling self-esteem are inherent in E. She is beautiful when she dances or sings, “sings like a bird, jubilantly and carefree.” But, having fallen in love with Phoebus, she forgets that she is organic property her free nature. She is almost pathetic when she says to her insignificant lover: “I am your slave... Let me be disgraced, stained, humiliated, what do I care.” Love for Phoebus, beautiful in its essence, sometimes makes her cruel to those around her and to the people who truly love her. E. is ready to force Quasimodo to spend all day and all night waiting for Phoebus, shows dissatisfaction when he sees that the hunchback has returned alone, and even drives him away in irritation, completely forgetting what she owes to Quasimodo. Moreover, she does not want to believe the obvious and appreciate the delicacy of her ugly guardian angel: after all, Phoebus simply did not want to come to her and Quasimodo is absolutely not to blame for what happened. E. also forgets about the mother she so unexpectedly found. The distant sound of Phoebus's voice is enough, and E. reveals his presence, predetermining his own death, the death of his mother, and the death of Quasimodo, so devoted to her. The image of E. became the main one in what Hugo himself wrote opera libretto“Esmeralda”, the music for which was composed by many composers, including A.S. Dargomyzhsky. E. became the main character ballet of the same name Italian composer K.Puni.

Lit.: Treskunov M.S. Victor Hugo. Essay on creativity. M., 1961.

Il est venu le temps des cathédrales
Le monde est entre
Dans un nouveau millénaire
L`homme a voulu monter vers les étoiles
Écrire son histoire
Dans le verre ou dans la pierre

I never thought that a musical could impress me so much. I have always treated this genre ironically, even in some way condescendingly. I thought it was impossible not to get tired during the couple of hours it lasted.

But as soon as I started watching Notre-Dame de Paris, I realized that this is a masterpiece!

Actors, music, scenery, incredibly beautiful French And atmosphere Atmosphere Notre Dame! You are immersed in the action, as if you are participating in everything that happens on stage

On stage? What are you talking about? These are the streets of Paris! And I was there!

I danced with Esmeralda, suffered with Quasimodo. I visited the courtyard of miracles with Clopin, and Grenoire led me through the valley of love. Frollo told me about his mental torment, Phoebus showed me what he really is. Well, Fleur De Lys for her own sake beautiful knight I was ready to do anything.

And this is for the 150 minutes that the musical lasts! After watching it, it’s impossible not to fall in love with these voices, these songs and these actors.

Speaking of actors, I can’t help but say my opinion about each of them individually.

So, Esmeralda.

Helen Segara did not want to fit in with my image of the young black-haired gypsy that I imagined her to be. The shock of red hair and the young woman’s face confused me a little at first. But as soon as she began to sing No, there can be no doubt! Hélène Segara is a true Bohémienne!

Frollo.

Priest, played Daniel Lavoie, suffers like no one else. His love for Esmeralda is saturated with such pain, such internal torment that you involuntarily feel sorry for Frollo, despite the inhumanity of his actions. And “Tu vas me détruire” is a confession into which he puts his whole soul.

Grenoir.

Oh, this Grenoir, I tell you! Such a voice, such an appearance King of the Parisian streets, minister of rhyme, troubadour. No one can play him the way Bruno Pelletier did. He ties the parts of the story together, leads us, takes us into the thick of things. And all this with an ironic smile and head held high. Bravo!

The lover of Esmeralda and Fleur De Lys, tormented from within. Bruno Pelletier's hero finds it difficult to make a choice. Should you choose the one for love or the one for life? Dechire! Romantic hero, the king's soldier, a knight in shining armor, but also a rake and a ladies' man. In any case, Il est beau comme le soleil.

Clopin.

Luke Merville's character leads an army of foreigners. Illegals. Homeless. Listening to his voice, you believe that there will indeed soon be a million of them, a million of these beggars who ask for shelter, standing at the gates of Notre Dame. What bitterness, what inner strength hidden in this hero, Clopin worries about each of his flock of illegal immigrants. For the homeless. For thieves. For the tramps. Played flawlessly, I believe and once again believe Luke Merville.

Fleur De Lys.

Julie Zenatti is simply the embodiment of her heroine. Young, innocent, but internally so strong and collected, capable of both forgiveness and acceptance.

Celui que mon coeur aime
Est un beau chevalier
Qui ne sait pas lui-même
Combien je peux l`aimer

Fleur De Lys's movements on stage are very spare, but her gaze and voice convey all her inner experiences. Julie Zenatti makes you fall in love with herself, makes you feel the drama of her love for Phoebus.

And finally Quasimodo.

I am eternally grateful to Gar for playing Quasimodo. His hoarse, deep voice and the soul-penetrating gaze of his light eyes are enchanting. All his songs resonate in the heart of the listener. From Quasimodo’s confessions, his experiences, internal hesitations, endless pain and melancholy, everything inside you begins to tremble. Only Garou could show his tender love for Esmeralda, devotion to Frollo and hostility to Phoebus! I am ready to give him an endless standing ovation for this role! He is brilliant like no other in his play on the strings of the viewer’s soul. How persistent a person do you have to be in order not to cry from his songs?..

Dieu que le monde est injuste
Lui si beau et moi si laid
Je te donnerais la lune
Tu ne voudrais pas m`aimer

Forever in love with Quasimodo, played by Garou. And I can’t add anything to this.

In conclusion I would like to say that everyone who has at least once plunged into the world of Notre-Dame de Paris has taken away something undoubtedly important, deep, and kind. Once you watch this musical, you will never forget it. You will return to the music, songs and characters time after time. You will love them as much as I loved them.