Esmeralda - main character Victor Hugo's novel "The Cathedral" Notre Dame of 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 “Courtyard 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 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.
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 Paquette earned on clothes for her beloved baby.
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. 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. There she lives for some time, without stopping to think about Phoebus (whose wound turned out to be minor, but who had already managed to forget 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 is 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
Paris, Place de Greve
Paquette Chantfleury (mother, deceased), father unknown (possibly Gypsy)
Dancer
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 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 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 embroidered children's 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.
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 faded became very prettier, and her “services” were again in value. She spent everything that Paquette earned on clothes for her beloved baby.
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.
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. There she lives for some time, without stopping to think about Phoebus (whose wound turned out to be minor, but who had already managed to forget 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.
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 in the novel it was implied that everything positive about her came from her French origin, then in the musical these were her personal qualities, which are also possible in 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. This beautiful girl who makes a living by dancing. 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. She is also one of the most beautiful girls living in France.
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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 a lovely night has 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. The old oak tree, completely transformed, spread out like a tent of lush, dark greenery, was melting, 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 the best moments of his life 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 various reasons for 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 in words, secret as a crime thoughts associated with Pierre, with fame, with the girl on the window, with the oak tree, with female 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 Andrei 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 with 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 government of Russia from the state council to the volost board. 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 civilian 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 Andrey 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 Andrei 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 adjutant service, saw a lot of adopted important persons and different characters these receptions were very clear to him. Count Arakcheev had a very special character in his reception room. A feeling of shame and humility was written on the unimportant faces waiting in line for an audience in Count Arakcheev’s reception room; on the more official faces one common feeling of awkwardness was expressed, 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 ( important person) apparently offended by the fact that he had to wait so long, he sat crossing his legs and smiling contemptuously at himself.
Esmeralda is 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.
Name
The name Esmeralda has Greek roots and goes back to the word “smaragdos”, which passed into the Latin language as “smaragdus”. This word means "green" gem", or rather "emerald". There was male name Emerald. Subsequently, the word underwent some phonetic changes; only female name, which began to sound like Smeralda, Smeraldina, and later as Emerald, Esmeralda. The Slavs also had a female name Izmaragda, which came from the Greek name for the emerald stone, and the male name sounded like Izmaragd.
Esmeralda in the original novel
Esmeralda is the heroine of V. Hugo’s novel “The Cathedral of Notre Dame of Paris” (1831). Esmeralda was stolen from her mother, Paquetta Chantfleury, by Spanish gypsies, leaving behind in return the child we know as Quasimodo. They gave her this name. From birth her name was Agnes. Having grown up in a gypsy camp, Esmeralda returned to Paris and began earning money by dancing and demonstrating her trained goat, Jalli. She lived in a disadvantaged neighborhood, whose population included thieves, professional beggars, gypsies and other rabble. She was completely safe there because everyone loved her for her beauty. But 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 Esmeralda 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 writer of mysteries, Gringoire, from the gallows, agreeing, according to gypsy laws, to recognize him as her husband for four years; She was the only one from the huge crowd who took pity on the unfortunate Quasimodo, dying of thirst in the pillory, and gave him a drink from her flask.
If Esmeralda 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.
First and only love The heroine, by a tediously boring irony of fate, became the empty fanfare of Phoebus de Chateaupert. Before the fateful meeting with Phoebus, everything was in a state of external peace. Esmeralda 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 Esmeralda so that no one would get her. It was by his will that the last months of the heroine’s life turned into a living hell. At first, he arranged everything in such a way that Esmeralda would be accused of killing Phoebus (although he did not die at all, but was only wounded by the evil archdeacon). Esmeralda ended up in prison, suffered 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 Esmeralda, using her friend Gringoire, he lured her outside. And this was the end for the unfortunate heroine. This time she was hanged.
Kuznetsov Evgeniy - Esmeralda
The meaning of the heroine's image
Pride and self-esteem are inherent in Esmeralda by nature. She is beautiful when she dances or sings, “singing like a bird, jubilantly and carefree.” But, having fallen in love with Phoebus, she forgets about what is an organic property of 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.
But Hugo’s novel is precisely built on similar contrasts and oppositions: Esmeralda and Quasimodo - beauty and physical deformity; Esmeralda and Phoebus - sincerity and deceit, selflessness and narcissism; Esmeralda and Claude Frollo - selfless, sacrificial love and selfish, lustful, deadly attraction.
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 in the novel it was implied that everything positive about her came from her French origin, then in the musical these were her personal qualities, which are also possible in 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 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 the film
One of the most popular is the 1956 film adaptation of Notre Dame. In which actress Gina Lollobrigida quite successfully played the main character. 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.” Many years later, Lollobrigida even created a sculpture depicting Esmeralda in dance.
Esmeralda in the cartoon by Walt Disney Studios, 1996
Character Creation
The prototype for the heroine's image was two actresses: Gina Lollobrigida and Demi Moore (the actress voiced the cartoon). Demi Moore was invited to voice the role because the creators wanted the main protagonist to have an unconventional voice.
Initially, they wanted to portray the girl as a 14-16 year old girl with a kind, naive character and not 100% gypsy. But the authors decided to make the heroine unconventional - in the cartoon, Esmeralda is 18 years old, she is a purebred gypsy with a daring, independent, brave and fair character. Such changes (age) were made so that the girl did not look fragile in comparison with her “cavaliers” (Judge Claude Frollo, Quasimodo and Captain Phoebus) and in order to avoid hints.
Character
“Did you see what he did in the square? He let the crowd torture the poor guy. I thought that if at least someone stood up for him, then... Why don’t people like those who are not like them?”
Esmeralda is a verbally powerful, wise, cunning and fighting girl. She was the only person in all of Paris to openly rebel against Frollo during his reign, and was outspoken against his accusations that the gypsies were a band of thieves engaged in the unholy practice of witchcraft.
Description of appearance
Esmeralda is an attractive young girl with a slender figure and dark skin. She has curly, thick black hair, emerald green eyes (possibly related to the meaning of her name), and dark red lips.
Basically, she wears a white blouse that exposes her shoulders, a dark green corset, a purple scarf with coins on her belt, a lilac skirt, a pink ribbon that the girl uses to tie her hair into a ponytail, jewelry on each hand, a bracelet on her leg, and an earring on her left ear. During the dance at the Festival of Fools, she wore a wine-colored dress with purple stripes on the waist and arms (the dress also exposes the girl's shoulders), a tiara and a lilac gauze scarf (or scarf), which Frollo gives to Claude. It can be seen that the dress is made of expensive fabrics, so Esmeralda could have received the dress as a reward for dancing from noble people.
During the burning she wore the so-called “suicide bomber clothes” white. In the second film, she wears the same thing as in the first, which is quite interesting - when they were caught, Frollo could have destroyed her clothes, but did not, perhaps still hoping that Esmeralda would still love him. Esmeralda's birthday is considered to be January 26th (sign Aquarius).
Appearances
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
At the beginning of the cartoon, Esmermalda dances on the streets of Paris, trying to earn money for food. Suddenly two guards appear and begin to pester her, but with the help of Djali and Phoebus passing by, she manages to escape. Throughout the film, Esmeralda seeks justice for her people. She falls in love with Captain Phoebus and helps Quasimodo understand that the gypsies are good people.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2
The action takes place 6 years after the events of the first cartoon. By that time, Esmeralda and Phoebus are already married and have a son named Zephyr.
House of Mouse
In the animated series, Esmeralda appears as a cameo character.
Video
Sources
- https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esmeralda_(character)
Many people in the world know this female character- Esmeralda. This is the heroine famous novel"Notre Dame Cathedral" by Victor Hugo. Esmeralda is a beautiful girl, a dancer, who was kidnapped and raised by gypsies. She was ruined by her naivety and beauty, as well as who was in love with her. Let's take a closer look at what kind of character Esmeralda is.
Childhood
The little girl was stolen from her mother Paquetta by Spanish gypsies. In exchange, they left behind a child known as Quasimodo. It was they who gave her the name Esmeralda. The character was named Agnes from birth.
Return to Paris
After the girl grew up in a gypsy camp, she returned to Paris, where she began to earn money through dancing and showing off her trained goat named Jalli. She had to live in a very disadvantaged area, whose population consisted of gypsies, thieves, professional beggars and other rabble. But she was absolutely safe there, since all the residents loved her for her kindness, beauty and spontaneity.
Beauty
What kind of character is Esmeralda? This is a girl of extraordinary beauty. In the work, the author compares her to an angel or fairy. Everyone who saw her was fascinated. Despite the fact that the girl’s height was small, she still seemed tall due to the slenderness of her figure. Her skin was dark in the evening, and during the day it shone with a wonderful golden hue, which was characteristic of the Romans or Andalusians. She had a very small leg. She walked very gracefully. In movement, she seemed to be dancing, spinning and fluttering. Whenever her sweet face appeared in front of someone, everyone was blinded like lightning by the look of her big black eyes.
Love
Despite all the beauty that the character possesses, Esmeralda is a girl of limited intelligence. Even though she had behind her life experience, she remained very naive. Esmeralda didn't understand people at all. That is why she fell in love with Captain Phoebus, who was an empty man. He, being the head of the patrol, saved her from Quasimodo. Phoebus also had feelings for the girl, but they were of a different kind and were simple lust.
Despite the fact that the girl’s beauty brought income and attracted many people to the performances, it ruined her. The priest Claude Frollo and his adopted son, a hunchback named Quasimodo, also fell very much in love with her.
The priest was a very strong personality. He tried with all his might to fight the temptation that gripped him, but his passion was stronger than the desire for knowledge and faith in God. In a rage, he stabbed Phoebus, and suspicion of murder fell on Esmeralda. In addition, she was accused of witchcraft. And at that time it was worse than any other crime.
Sentence to death
The girl was captured, tortured and tried. The priest offered her his help, but on the condition that the girl would love him. Esmeralda, who loved Phoebus very much, refused him. After she was tortured and unable to withstand the pain, the girl agreed with the charges and confessed to witchcraft. She was given a death sentence, but Quasimodo saved her by pulling her out of the loop. He hid her behind the walls of the same
The beggars and robbers who were Esmeralda's brothers decided to rescue her from the monastery, because they thought that she was imprisoned there. Thus, a situation arose that was disastrous for Esmeralda. The brothers began to take the cathedral by storm, and Quasimodo defended himself, because he thought that they wanted to grab the girl and hang her. He successfully fought back, and the king’s troops later dispersed the crowd.
In the end, Esmeralda was hanged anyway. Before her execution, fate brought her together with her real mother, who could not save her. At the wrong moment, the girl saw Phoebus passing by and called him. This attracted attention and she was found.
Character on screen
The film of the same name, which appeared in 1956, became the most successful on-screen incarnation of the girl. Actress Gina Lollobrigida appeared in a striking image. In the film, the girl was not hanged, but killed with an arrow.
And this is not the only film adaptation. For example, in the 1996 cartoon the girl was not killed - Esmeralda is such a bright character. Disney is the company that produced animated film“The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” she decided to let the girl live and make her happy with Phoebus. She later appeared in the animated series.
Abstract on the topic:
Esmeralda (character)
Plan:
- Introduction
- 1 Esmeralda in the original novel
- 2 Esmeralda in the musical "Notre Dame de Paris"
- 3
Esmeralda in film adaptations
- 3.1 In the film Notre Dame (1956)
- 3.2 In Walt Disney Studios cartoons (1996 and 2002)
Introduction
Esmeralda and Quasimodo
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.
1. Esmeralda in the original novel
In Victor Hugo's novel, Esmeralda is the illegitimate daughter of a French prostitute from Reims, Paquette Chantfleury, who is stolen by Spanish gypsies. The kidnappers gave the girl the name Esmeralda, which means “Emerald,” but from birth her name was Agnes. In case the girl ever has to leave the camp, her adoptive mother gives her her baby shoe, which will help her find her real parents if she remains chaste.
It is interesting that the residents of Reims, who knew about Paquette’s tragedy, assumed that the gypsies ate little Agnes. The myth of gypsy cannibalism was indeed very widespread in Western Europe.
In the novel, Esmeralda appears as a beautiful girl already matured and earns money for the camp by dancing and performing with the trained goat Jalli. The poet Pierre Gringoire, the priest Claude Frollo and the ugly bell-ringer Quasimodo, who was once given to Paquette Chantfleury instead of his stolen daughter, fall in love with her. Frollo, with the help of Quasimodo, tries to steal Esmeralda, but she is saved by officer Phoebe de Chateaupert. Esmeralda falls in love with her savior.
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 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 Phoebus, even though she is sure that with the loss of her innocence, the opportunity to ever meet her parents will go away.
Esmeralda is sentenced to death on a false charge: 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. There she lives for some time, without stopping to think about Phoebus (whose wound turned out to be minor, but who had already managed to forget the gypsy). Quasimodo understands that she will never be able to reciprocate his feelings, but he is happy because he can protect her.
In the end, Claude Frollo manages to kidnap the girl from the Cathedral and he gives her a choice: either she agrees to be with him, or she will be hanged. Esmeralda refuses. The archdeacon leaves her to the recluse Gudula, who fiercely hates the gypsies because they once stole her only daughter, to await her fate. Here it turns out that Gudula is Esmeralda’s mother, but it turns out too late. Gudula (aka Paquette Chantfleury) 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 trying to protect her.
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. The image of brilliant purity and innocence invented by Hugo is often omitted; instead, Esmeralda appears in the image of a fatal beauty. Often the meaning of her name is played on in Esmeralda's appearance, making her green-eyed or dressing her in a green dress.
2. Esmeralda in the musical “Notre Dame de Paris”
Esmeralda in the musical is not a stolen French girl, but a gypsy orphan girl. If in the novel it was implied that everything positive about her came from her French origin, then in the musical these were her personal qualities, which are also possible in 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?] 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”).
3. Esmeralda in film adaptations
3.1. 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 that the actress was the first to decide to play a barefoot gypsy, as in the novel. 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.
3.2. In Walt Disney Studios cartoons (1996 and 2002)
In these cartoons, Esmeralda, as in the musical, is a gypsy. She is a beautiful girl who dances for a living. She has keen sense social injustice and is ready to defend her beliefs. She has a kind character and is sensitive to people. As a tribute to her name, Esmeralda from the cartoon has green eyes.
downloadThis abstract is based on an article from Russian Wikipedia. Synchronization completed 07/15/11 16:39:41
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