Victor Hugo’s novel is set in 15th-century Paris around the Notre-Dame Cathedral. It tells the tragic story of Quasimodo, a deformed bell-ringer who lives inside the cathedral and is isolated from society.
He falls in love with Esmeralda, a kind young dancer, who is also desired by the priest Claude Frollo and the soldier Phoebus. Frollo’s obsessive love leads to betrayal and violence.
Esmeralda is wrongly accused of a crime and sentenced to death. Quasimodo tries to save her, but fails. In the end, tragedy unfolds as jealousy and injustice destroy the main characters.