Josie Azzam
English, Dance
Period 4
April 27th, 2003
“Sic Transit Sanitas”
In 15th century France, the time and place that Victor Hugo set his book “The Hunchback of Notre Dome” in, the role of religion played a major role, and those men and women of the church were respected, recognized and revered such as “Archdeacon of Josas, second acolyte of the bishop, in charge of two deanships and one hundred and seventy four parish priests” (66). Archdeacon Claude Frollo was a model man of the church in his subtle, thoughtful and solemn demeanor along with the many responsibilities of those in his charge. However, despite his vows to the church and his position of respectability within it, Claude Frollo is not what one expects of a priest; he is, in fact, an evil man.
Even before that fateful day he saw his love dancing mesmerizing-like in the square, Claude Frollo was not what one would call a kindred spirit. From early childhood he was raised to be “a melancholy, solemn boy who studied ardently and learned quickly” (56). From then on always had a very studious manner; which is a surprising way for a child, who’s supposed to be near opposite, such as Claude’s brother, Jehan, who provides a perfect foil to his straight-arrow brother. With Claude’s early upbringing as a scholar and the undertaking of Jehan’s future, “From then on the weight of his responsibility made him take life very seriously” (58). Such seriousness led until his very old age, and “he therefore became more and more learned and, as a natural consequence, more and more rigid as a priest and more and more melancholy as a man” (67), who struck fear in one glance and “more than one choirboy had fled in terror on meeting him…so strange and fiery was his look” (70).
