  the hunchback of notre-dame (french: notre-dame de paris) is a french romantic/gothic novel by victor hugo published in 1831. the title refers to the notre dame cathedral in paris, on which the story is centered. ==background== victor hugo began writing the hunchback of notre-dame in 1829, largely to make his contemporaries more aware of the value of the gothic architecture, which was neglected and often destroyed to be replaced by new buildings, or defaced by replacement of parts of buildings in a newer style. for instance, the medieval stained glass panels of notre-dame de paris had been replaced by white glass to let more light into the church. this explains the large descriptive sections of the book, which far exceed the requirements of the story. a few years earlier, hugo had already published a paper entitled guerre aux dÃ©molisseurs (war to the demolishers) specifically aimed at saving paris' medieval architecture. the agreement with his original publisher, gosselin, was that the book would be finished that same year, but hugo was constantly delayed due to the demands of other projects. in the summer of 1830 gosselin demanded that hugo complete the book by february 1831. beginning in september 1830, hugo worked nonstop on the project thereafter. the book was finished six months later. ==synopsis== the story begins on epiphany (6 january), 1482, the day of the feast of fools in paris, france. quasimodo, a deformed hunchback who is the bell-ringer of notre dame, is introduced by his crowning as the pope of fools. esmeralda, a beautiful gypsy street dancer with a kind and generous heart, captures the hearts of many men, including those of captain phoebus and pierre gringoire, a poor street poet, but es
1831_novels 19th-century_French_novels 19th-century_novels Cathedrals_in_fiction French_novels_adapted_into_films Notre_Dame_de_Paris Novels_about_cities Novels_by_Victor_Hugo Novels_set_in_Paris Novels_set_in_the_Middle_Ages