Vol.
20 No.
Agustus 2019: 61-69 Mary.
Esmeralda, and Frollo: A Hermeneutic Reading of AuThe Hunchback of Notre Dame Ae The MusicalAy Chrysogonus Siddha Malilang1
Malmy Universitet
ABSTRACT
This essay aims to analyze the multimodal storytelling involving songs in The Hunchback of Notre Dame Ae The Musical.
Two songs.
AuGod Helps the OutcastsAy and AuHellfireAy, are chosen to be analyzed The primary analysis is done through the scrutiny over the juxtaposition of different musical styles in the said songs.
Comparisons to Victor HugoAos original text and the Disney animated version Ae in which the musical is based on Ae is also done to shed more light on the new layers of Keywords: musical juxtaposition.
musical theater.
liturgical music.
multimodal storytelling ABSTRAK Mary.
Esmeralda, dan Frollo: Pembacaan Hermeneutik tentang AuThe Hunchback of Notre Dame Ae The MusicalAy.
Artikel ini bertujuan untuk mempelajari dan menganalisis multimodal story telling dalam rangkaian lagu-lagu pada The Hunchback of Notre Dame Ae the Musical.
Dua lagu.
AuGod Helps the OutcastsAy dan AuHellfireAy dipilih sebagai fokus penelitian hermeneutik.
Analisis utama dilakukan melalui studi jukstaposisi gaya musik yang berbeda dalam lagu-lagu tersebut.
Perbandingan dengan text asli karangan Victor Hugo dan versi animasi Disney Ae yang menjadi dasar naskah drama musikal ini Ae juga dilakukan untuk menggali interpretasi baru yang dihasilkan lebih dalam.
Kata kunci: jukstaposisi musik.
teater musikal.
musik liturgis.
multimodal storytelling Introduction As the writer began writing this essay, the news outlet from every corner of the world reported the big fire in Notre Dame.
Paris.
One online content creator was quick to juxtapose the image of Notre Dame Fire with the scene from one of the iconic songs in DisneyAos AuThe Hunchback of Notre DameAy.
AuHellfireAy.
Over the years, the said song has gained notoriety as the most sexual and adult song in DisneyAos repertoire Ae commonly associated with children.
The creepy nuance is elevated by the juxtaposition of FrolloAos words of desire and iconic pieces of liturgical songs.
It also marks the first attempt of Disney in incorporating liturgical music and composition in their soundtrack.
When Disney re-wrote AuThe Hunchback of Notre DameAy into a musical performance, several other songs from the animated version received the same treatment as AuHellfireAy.
They were juxtaposed with notable pieces of liturgical music, such as Salve Regina in AuGod Helps the OutcastsAy and Judex Crederis in AuFinaleAy.
At the same time, the storyline also shifted in tone, from the comedic and uplifting Disney stories to that of Victor HugoAos sombre storytelling style.
It becomes a darker interpretation of the animated version.
The question is thus raised, to what extent do these newly juxtaposed liturgical music change the meaning of the songs and the musical as a whole.
This essay is, therefore, trying to address the question through the means of hermeneutical reading focusing on two songs Ae Correspondence: Malmy Universitet.
Swedia.
Phone: 46 735169023.
E-mail: chrysogonus.
malilang@mau.
Naskah diterima: 3 Mei 2019 | Revisi akhir: 20 Mei 2019 C.
Malilang.
A Hermeneutic of The Hunchback of Notre Dame AuGod Helps the OutcastsAy and AuHellfireAy Ae as both singular entities and interconnected elements in the bigger narrative of the musical.
The Hunchback.
of Notre Dame The story of Quasimodo Ae one of the most famous hunchbacks in literature Ae was made known to the public when Victor Hugo published NotreDame de Paris .
ater known as The Hunchback of Notre Dame in the English translatio.
HugoAos initial intention for his novel was to raise public awareness of the value of the Gothic architecture in Paris, where some were neglected and often destroyed to give way for new buildings.
It is reflected in the sizeable descriptive section of the book, which sometimes felt a bit too much and far exceeding the requirement of the story.
It is perhaps appropriate to regard the cathedral herself as a heroine in this novel due to her significance to the story (Simaika, 1962.
Wildgen, 1.
Its presence looms around every character, creating intricate connections between them that revolves around the church of NotreDame.
Quasimodo, the titular character of this story, is a deformed 20-year old bell ringer of Notre Dame who spends most of his life lurking under the shadow of bell towers.
He finds his way into the very bosom of this Gothic structure through his adoption by the archdeacon.
Claude Frollo.
Just like Quasimodo.
Frollo spends his life under the stone roof of Notre-Dame.
He seeks solace in the clerical life after losing Jehan, his younger brother, and his parents.
It is the similar fate of being orphans and growing up alongside Notre-DameAos stained glass that bonds Frollo to Quasimodo, strengthening their father-son on the Despite his position as an archdeacon.
Frollo himself cannot win the affection of the Parisians.
He is instead alienated due to his dour attitude and fascination with alchemy, suffering the fate of being distant, if not mythical, and the presence behind the churchAos stones.
When a gipsy girl.
La Esmeralda, enters the narrative and enamours Frollo.
Quasimodo proceeds to abduct her at the behest of his adoptive The kidnapping ends up as a failure while Quasimodo is caught and pilloried in public.
Despite being the victim.
Esmeralda unexpectedly takes mercy on him and offers him a drink of water Ae an act of kindness that leads Quasimodo to fall in love with her.
The competition for EsmeraldaAos hand is further complicated with the arrival of Captain Phoebus to the scene.
After a night of passion.
Esmeralda becomes infatuated with Phoebus.
Frollo, who spies on her, sees this and stabs the handsome military man out of jealousy.
He blames Esmeralda, condemning her to march off to the Not wanting to see EsmeraldaAos demise.
Quasimodo sweeps down from an upper balcony in Notre Dame and rescues her by taking her up to the top of the cathedral.
Quasimodo shelters Esmeralda in Notre Dame, invoking her right of sanctuary from the church.
Despite his attempt to save her.
QuasimodoAos deformed appearance continues scares Esmeralda.
She keeps longing for Phoebus Ae who survives the stabbing and decides to stay away from her for good.
It is not until QuasimodoAos rescue when Frollo attempts to assault her that Esmeralda starts to befriend the hunchback.
Feeling rejected.
Frollo decided to get rid of Esmeralda by handing her to the authorities.
After a chaotic riot following the news that French monarchy has ordered Esmeralda to be taken from Notre Dame and hanged, the Archdeacon of Notre Dame issues Esmeralda his ultimatum: to accept his lust or to be hanged.
The gipsy rejects him again, leading her to meet her demise by the gallows.
Frollo watches the execution calmly from Notre Dame, unaware that Quasimodo stands behind Enraged by his adoptive fatherAos laughing while Esmeralda breathes her last breath.
Quasimodo sends him falling off the cathedral.
After lamenting the death of both his adoptive father and a woman he loves.
Quasimodo leaves Notre Dame and never to return.
He lies next to EsmeraldaAos corpse and dies of starvation while still clutching on EsmeraldaAos remains.
When an excavation group exhumes them years later, both skeletons have become intertwined.
In 1996.
Walt Disney Pictures released their version / re-interpretation of HugoAos Notre-Dame Vol.
20 No.
Agustus 2019 de Paris as an animated film.
As the animated release is intended to be a family consumption, the violence and religious contents are toned This phenomenon, as Gruner .
1, .
argues, is due to the fact that childrenAos literature is rarely overtly religious in the sense of direct engagement with faith, religion, and churches because of childrenAos literatureAos vexed relationship with didacticism that keeps fantasy writers for children from engaging directly with religious language and concepts.
This premise leads some characters to undergo some changes, both in their characterization and in their storyline.
Claude Frollo suffers the most change in order to bench the religious elements.
He is relegated to a more secular position as a judge, while the position of Archdeacon of Notre Dame is given to someone As opposed to HugoAos portrayal of himself as a grey character.
DisneyAos Frollo is instead simplified as the typical villain.
Instead of taking the abandoned baby Quasimodo in out of the goodness of his own heart, he is a bloodthirsty and xenophobic judge who kills QuasimodoAos parents Ae just because they are gipsy.
Quasimodo enters his life as a form of punishment given to him by the Archdeacon of Notre Dame.
The audience is never given FrolloAos backstory as an orphan who tries to survive the harshness of Paris together with Jehan.
From being a once-pious priest who is also capable of lust and vengeance.
Claude Frollo is distilled into the epitome of evil, a maniac and a slave to his lust.
The treatment of Disneyfication also befalls Quasimodo and Esmeralda.
Similar to the change the company did to the original tragic ending of The Little Mermaid.
Quasimodo and Esmeralda are given a second chance in life.
Esmeralda is spared from the death in the gallows and given a happy ending with Phoebus.
The animated version even disregards the fact that Phoebus is a vain womanizer who cheats on her fiancy.
Fleur-deLys de Gondelaurier, with Esmeralda.
Quasimodo finds acceptance from the Parisians and welcome hands that lead him out of the life of isolation under Notre DameAos stone.
Following the tradition of Disney movies, the music in The Hunchback of Notre Dame plays an essential role in building the setting.
Di Giovanni .
3, p.
describes the opening as Auintroduced by zoom in on the cathedral appearing amidst the fog and clouds, accompanied by bells ringing and Gregorian chants which become increasingly Ay The scene shifts into the streets of medieval Paris and Clopin Ae taking the role as the medieval bard Ae singing the narrative.
The musical style also shifted from Gregorian-liturgical into pop music style.
It is also interesting to note that the Notre-Dame school Ae an outstanding group of composers and singers working under the patronage of the magnificent cathedral during the late 12th and early 13th century Ae is the leading reformist in liturgical music by introducing the earliest repertory of polyphonic .
The juxtaposition of these two different styles can thus be read as two voices trying to tell the story from different perspectives and relational setting, such as dialogic, complementary, commentary, irony, or many others.
In their classification of musical narrative functions in film and other multimedia.
Wingstedts et al.
0, p.
194 Ae .
refer to this as the informative function.
In this capacity, the music evokes particular cultural setting or periods, clarifying ambiguous situations and represent a character or phenomenon through the use of leitmotif Ae short, regularly recurring musical phrase associated with a particular person or idea (Meyer, 2012.
BribitzerStull, 2.
It further justifies the argument that the cathedral herself is treated as a character, with Gregorian chant attributed as her leitmotif.
Thus, this opening scene introduces Gregorian chant as the leitmotif of Notre Dame, or Authe sacredAy, while popular music is attributed to Authe profane.
Ay These two different voices come together during the narrative of Frollo and the massacre of QuasimodoAos parents.
While the cantus firmus is sung in a pop style (Judge Claude Frollo longed / to purge the world / of vice and si.
, the Gregorian chant of Kyrie Eleison (Lord have merc.
comes in as the motet Ae providing commentary and ironic counterpoint to the violence.
After the death of QuasimodoAos father and the escape of the mother (Stolen goods, no doubt / Take them from her / She ra.
, the Gregorian-liturgical chant takes over as cantus firmus with AuDies IraeAy as follow.
Malilang.
A Hermeneutic of The Hunchback of Notre Dame AuDies irae, dies illa Solvet saeclum in favilla Teste David cum Sibylla Quantus tremor est futurus Quando Judex est venturusAy (Day of wrath, that day Shall consume the world in ashes As prophesied by David and the Sibyl What trembling is to be When the Judge is com.
With this shift, the Gregorian chant voices the main narrative.
It is no longer a commentary of secular music.
It instead narrates the on-screen action Ae QuasimodoAos mother frantic run in search of a sanctuary after seeing her husband slew under the wrath of FrolloAos sword.
The interaction and dialogic nature between these two voices are expanded further in the musical The musical based on the animated version was first premiered in 1999 in Berlin as Der Glyckner von Notre Dame.
The English translation and performance debuted several decades after the German version, in California in 2014.
While the play retains core songs from the Disney animated, several new songs are added, and some songs from the movie are expanded.
It is deemed necessary due to the change in the story Ae approaching HugoAos original novel.
The tone, in general, is darker and the comic relief Ae the three gargoyles in the 1996Aos animated version Ae is taken out and replaced by a choir of saints, imparting a stronger presence of religious elements in the play.
The juxtaposition of Gregorian chant and pop music is used more extensively in the musical The format of live performance allows the Gregorian chant to manifest as a Greek chorus.
The chorus generally represents the ideal observer, a hidden character such as the Cathedral herself, whose participation is telling the story together with the actor (Maricic & Milanovic, 2016.
Weiner, 1980.
Foley, 2.
It confirms the previous premise of the Gregorian chant as the representation of Notre Dame herself, the centre of Paris that oversees everything.
Through the eyes of her gargoyles and stone saints, the Cathedral observes everything.
After all.
Notre Dame herself means AoOur MotherAo, the one who watches and takes care of everyone.
In the musical version.
Claude Frollo receives another overhaul in personality.
His depiction is closer to HugoAos vision in his book.
AuThe Bells of Notre DameAy is expanded to accommodate this change, featuring more of FrolloAos backstory.
is described in a more three-dimensional manner, leaving the audience to judge his character through what he says and does concerning Jehan, his brother and QuasimodoAos father.
His motivation to take Quasimodo under his wing is his love for his family.
Being an orphan who is protected by Notre Dame, he could not doom his only nephew to suffer the same fate as his.
It is a stark contrast to the animated versionAos description of Frollo in the same song.
AuAa figure whose clutches were iron as much as the bells.
Judge Claude Frollo.
Judge Claude Frollo longed to purge the world of vice and sin And he saw corruption, evAorywhere except withinAy The musical version of the song also returns Frollo to his intended position as an archdeacon, revoking DisneyAos attempt to involve less religious references and symbols in the climax of the story.
While it might have something to do with the changing perspective of religion over time, the musical format allows explicit Aodual audienceAo presentation Ae where both children and adults interpret the text differently (Alvstad, 2010.
Beckett, 2.
Ae as childrenAos audience needs to be accompanied by adults in going to a theatre hall.
The animated version, however, has a higher risk of the children watching it alone.
The musical also sees the return of EsmeraldaAos tragic demise at the end of the play.
While she does not breathe her last breath by the glow as in HugoAos original text, the gipsy still meets her demise because of smoke inhalation after being saved from the pyre.
Driven by his affection to Esmeralda.
Quasimodo carries her body away Ae as opposed to his quest to find EsmeraldaAos unceremoniously thrown corpse in the book.
Staying true to HugoAos vision.
Quasimodo perished by starvation while holding EsmeraldaAos corpse at the unholy burial.
Vol.
20 No.
Agustus 2019 Will Esmeralda help the Outcasts? As one of the main characters in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Esmeralda is given her leitmotif based on her solo song.
AuGod Helps the OutcastsAy.
In both the animated version and the musical, the song is first featured as EsmeraldaAos prayer inside the Cathedral.
The musical version, however, expanded the song through a new juxtaposition with AuSalve ReginaAy.
In doing so, the song changes its meaning from EsmeraldaAos soliloquy and lament into a dialogue between her and Notre Dame.
While the animated version starts directly with EsmeraldaAos prayer, the musical version starts with the chant of AuSalve ReginaAy.
Traditionally.
AuSalve ReginaAy is one of four classic Marian antiphons in the Catholic tradition.
Its literal translation to English is AuHail.
O QueenAy.
Taking the premise of Greek chorus as the voice of the Cathedral herself, this juxtaposition can be read as Notre DameAos welcome greeting to Esmeralda.
In that case, a question can be raised, why would the Cathedral refer to Esmeralda as the AoQueenAo? AuSalve Regina.
Mater misericordiae vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle.
(Hail, our Queen, mother of mercy Hail our life, our sweetness, and our hope to you we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tear.
Ay While it can be interpreted that Notre Dame herself is praying together with Esmeralda, the missing line from the chant conveys a strange The original line after Auvita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salveAy is missing in this version.
After acknowledging Virgin Mary as .
he worldAo.
life, sweetness and hope, the classic formulation address Mary as the Aopoor banished children of EveAo .
d te clamamus exsules filii Heva.
After all.
Esmeralda is a gipsy Ae a pariah group generally banished from This elimination might be a nod to HugoAos original text, where La Esmeralda is not born a gipsy.
She is the daughter of Paquette Guybertaut from Rheims, seduced and left by a young nobleman before being a prostitute.
Not long after Agnys (EsmeraldaAos birth-nam.
is born, a group of gipsies kidnaps the young baby and replaces her with a deformed baby .
ater revealed to be Quasimod.
leads to PaquetteAos escape from Rheims to Paris.
The separated mother and daughter are finally reunited just moments before the latterAos execution.
Paquette also meets her demise in her attempt to plea for the guards to show her and Esmeralda mercy.
The interpretation of AoSalve ReginaAo as a welcome greeting from the Cathedral to Esmeralda is further justified by WildgenAos .
6, p 325 Ae .
archetypal reading of the gipsy.
Wildgen associates Esmeralda with feminine forces Ae the moon, the water, and the earth.
Esmeralda is the embodiment of anima, of the mother.
Coincidentally, the cathedralAos name Ae Notre Dame Ae actually means AuOur MotherAy.
This juxtaposition, thus, puts Esmeralda in parallel with the Virgin Mary Ae the patron/matron saint of the cathedral herself.
In that case, the music is performing the guiding function (Wingstedts et al.
, 2.
Ae focusing the audience attention to Esmeralda.
As a liturgical song.
AoSalve ReginaAo also serves the temporal function of musical narrative .
Ae setting and foreground the time setting.
Traditionally.
AoSalve ReginaAo is sung after Compline Ae Prayers at the end of the day Ae or the final church service of the day.
It sets up the event to take place late at night, which further justifies the parallel of Esmeralda and the biblical mother.
Both are unwanted outcasts who try to find a place of sanctuary in the middle of the night.
It is later reflected and pondered by Esmeralda in her line.
AuStill I see Your face and wonder, were you once an outcast too?Ay It is a question that leads the listener to recall MaryAos story when she gives birth to Jesus in a manger.
It is EsmeraldaAos genuine wonder while at the same time leads the audience to see the similarity in both women.
It is also interesting to mark the absence of AoKyrie EleisonAo chant in this score.
Almost all the songs that are juxtaposed with Gregorian Chant in this musical always feature AoKyrie EleisonAo.
Liturgically.
AoKyrie EleisonAo is a prayer to beg C.
Malilang.
A Hermeneutic of The Hunchback of Notre Dame for GodAos mercy and forgiveness.
There is always something evil or something not exactly right to be asked for forgiveness.
This missing element can also be read as the marking of Esmeralda as innocence, as the sinless figure.
It, again, creates an association between her and Virgin Mary Ae who is traditionally believed to be a real figure who has never committed any sin.
This parallel also creates more sense for the last two lines of the AoSalve ReginaAo chant.
Auad te suspiramus gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle / to you we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tearsAy.
The cathedral herself is sending her prayer to Esmeralda / the avatar of Mary.
It does not mean that the prayer is directed to Mary.
The prayer is raised through Mary due to the belief in the Catholic tradition that she has a better connection to God than other earth dwellers.
In this sense.
EsmeraldaAos role as the medium for prayer is established by her opening lines.
AuI do not know if you can hear me, or if you were even thereAy.
The close.
-upshot on the statue of Mary in the animated version made it evident that Esmeralda is praying to the holy virgin.
The musical version, however, removes the explicit reference to Mary.
It becomes unclear whom does Esmeralda address with AoyouAo.
It opens up a possible reading and interpretation that she is forwarding Notre DameAos prayer Ae uttered and implied in a Gregorian chant Ae to a higher deity.
In doing so.
Esmeralda assumes MaryAos traditional role in Catholicism.
All this juxtaposition and parallel position establish EsmeraldaAos role as an avatar of Mary, a liminal figure between the sacred Ae or the church / the religion Ae and the profane Ae the mundane human being.
As such being Ae at least in this scene.
Esmeralda is supposedly free of the worldly desire.
Her initial fear and feel represent the profane side of The later part of the song, however, builds up her selflessness and divine side.
It is done through juxtaposing the choir .
inging in different leitmotif and void of any Gregorian elemen.
representing the ParisianAos prayer.
CHOIR:
I ask for wealth.
I ask for fame I ask for glory to shine on my name I ask for love I can posses I ask for God and his angels to bless me ESMERALDA:
I ask for nothing.
I can get by But I know so many less lucky than I Please help my people, the poor and I thought we all were the children of God Other than establishing the sacred side of Esmeralda by comparing her prayer to general ParisianAos prayers, this part can also be read as EsmeraldaAos response to AoSalve ReginaAo at the beginning of the song.
AuBut I know so many less lucky than I, please help my people, the poor and down trodAy carries a double meaning here.
Without AuSalve ReginaAy in the animated version, it is clear that Esmeralda refers to the gipsy Ae her people who are generally treated as outsiders and misfits in the The new juxtaposition, however, provides an opening for another interpretation.
The line Auad te suspiramus gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle / to you we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tearsAy corresponds directly to EsmeraldaAos prayer.
Notre Dame considers herself .
nd the Parisia.
as the miserable, the one who cries and prays to and through Mary.
Through her prayer here.
Esmeralda channels and forwards Notre DameAos prayer to the higher deity, exercising the traditional role of the Virgin Mary.
It is, thus, clear that the new arrangement of the song changes her role in the story completely.
What does Frollo Pray for? Since its first release alongside the animated version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
AuHellfireAy has been widely acknowledged as one of the best Disney villainAos songs as well as one of their darkest and most violent.
It combines several essential liturgical chants with the lyrics about lust and carnal desire.
This song might be the blueprint for the reworking of other songs into those in the The song is opened by the truncated version of AuConfiteorAy .
iteral translation: I confes.
, a prayer generally said during the Penitential Act at the beginning of the mass.
Vol.
20 No.
Agustus 2019 AuConfiteor deo, omnipotenti Beatae Mariae, semper virgini Beato Michaeli Archangelo, sanctis apostolis Omnibus sanctis (I confess to God the almighty And to blessed Mary, the ever-virgin To blessed Michael the Archangel and to the holy apostles To all the saint.
It is interesting to note that the missing part of the chant helps setting up the power dynamics.
Traditionally, the chant is followed by either Auet vobis fratres / and to you, my brothers and sistersAy or Auet tibi pater / and to you fatherAy.
While the former invokes the feeling of brotherhood and an attempt to lower oneself in front of the group to seek for forgiveness, the latter establishes a stricter hierarchy where the priest/father is higher than the sinned.
With the formulation in this song, the power structure becomes quite ambiguous.
It is, however, undeniable that the AuConfiteorAy prayers are a useful tool to establish the hierarchy.
In this case.
StoneAos .
9, p.
argument can be applied to investigate the power construction.
Au.
rayer is the common denominator in most films where religionAos chaplaincy role is being established in the face of violence or injuryAy.
As the chant performs its guiding function.
Frollo emerges from the backstage.
The spotlight on him thus establishes Frollo as the religious authority yet ambiguously placed in between the equal vobis fratres and pater.
The archdeacon of Notre DameAos part begins with the self-affirmation of his virtues.
As if he is trying to defend himself.
Frollo begins with AuBeata Maria, you know I am a righteous man, of my virtue I am justly proudAy.
Interestingly, this affirmation is responded by the Greek chorus with Auet tibi pater / and to your fatherAy.
Originally a part of AuConfiteorAy, this phrase can be read differently due to the phrasing and a significant distance from the first formulation.
As Frollo is returned to his chaplaincy in the musical version, this phrase acquires a new meaning.
It is undeniable that pater is addressed to Frollo.
In light of this new interpretation, the interaction between two different leitmotifs in this song becomes more dialogic.
FrolloAos use of AuBeata MariaAy at the beginning of his part can, therefore, be read as an attempt to start the dialogue with the cathedral.
He addresses Notre Dame .
r AuOur MotherA.
with her other name.
It is no longer just a prayer.
it is an exchange between the archdeacon and the entirety of his cathedral.
It is, therefore, as if the all-seeing Notre Dame is trying to prove FrolloAos self-aggrandizement otherwise.
The fragmentation and delay of this part from AuConfiteorAyAos original formulation are intended to create a more dialogic interaction between Frollo and the cathedral herself.
The traditional performative nature of AuConfiteorAy in the liturgical service provides another layer of meaning in the further dialogues that follow.
The prayer is chanted together by the priest and the congregation, as it is a penitential act asking for mercy and forgiveness.
It takes into account the priestAos nature as a human being who cannot escape sin.
In that light.
FrolloAos further self-affirmation with AuBeata Maria, you know I am so much purer than the common, vulgar, weak, licentious crowdAy becomes an irony.
He is defying the very soul of AuConfiteorAy, to which the Greek chorus responds with AuQuia peccavi nimis / that I have greatly sinnedAy.
What is a confession turns into a soft accusation due to the archdeaconAos absence in the collective prayer.
It also opens a more ironic interpretation which Frollo himself has realized his sin but unable to admit it.
He walks down the path of self-defence instead.
The accusation from the chorus on the archdeaconAos sins continues by classifying FrolloAos sins into two categories, the sin of thought .
and the sin of flesh .
erbe et opera.
FROLLO:
Then tell me.
Maria Why I see her dancing there Why her smoldAoring eyes still scorch my CHORUS:
Cogitatione .
n my thought.
FROLLO:
I feel her.
I see her The sun caught in her raven hair is blazing in me out of all control CHORUS:
Malilang.
A Hermeneutic of The Hunchback of Notre Dame Verbe et operae .
n my words and in what I have don.
Another mention of AuMariaAy in this part justifies further the interpretation of this song as an exchange between Frollo and the .
ongregation of ) Notre Dame.
The Gregorian chant itself is also split differently than the original prayer.
Aucogitatione, verbo, opera et omissione / in my thoughts, in my words, in what I have done and what I have failed to doAy.
The omission of omissione further emphasizes that everything has been done Ae not just in thoughts and words, but also in action.
a priest who is supposed to live in celibacy, it is hinted that Frollo has done some physical action driven by his lust over Esmeralda.
The possibility of reading Esmeralda as the avatar of Mary and/or Notre Dame that we have discussed in the previous section thus opens another layer of interpretation for AuHellfireAy.
Just as Wildgen .
sees Esmeralda as the mother archetype, she attributes Frollo to the archetype of AofatherAo and AomagicianAo.
Both symbolize power.
Logic and structure as opposed to the ascetic and intuitive aspects implied in the archetypical AomotherAo.
AuBells of Notre DameAy, we are presented by how fast Frollo ascends in the official church rank.
resides within the structure and wields the power of the structure.
He also commands the church.
However, it is Esmeralda .
s discussed in the previous sectio.
that the Notre Dame is praying She is the other side of the religious coin, the ascetic aspect as opposed to the structural aspect that Frollo represents.
AuHellfireAy is not just about FrolloAos carnal desire over the gipsy performer.
it is also about his lust to seize more power in the church.
As an archdeacon, he holds the structural power over the church.
His image in society, on the other hand, does not allow him to gain more power over them.
Frollo is feared due to his obsession with alchemy and the distance he maintains from the Parisian public.
A dialogue with Holy Mary / Notre Dame in AuHellfireAy reflects how his desire for power clashes with his conscience.
In his craving for Esmeralda.
Frollo wants to rule both the structural and ascetic aspects of the church, of Notre Dame, and Paris.
His line AuBe mine, or you will burnAy reflects his power-hungry attitude, that Frollo is ready to wreak havoc upon the church had he failed in his conquest.
What is notoriously known as a violent and sexual song reveals a darker struggle and campaign for power.
Conclusion Classic literature is continuously re-interpreted, often with the intention of re-contextualising it to ease the newer reader/audience to understanding.
In doing so, the dialogue around the source is continuously renewed.
One such re-interpretation attempts are through songs and music, such as the two songs from The Hunchback of Notre Dame discussed in this essay.
The songs are arranged in a way that incorporates different musical styles, such as Gregorian chant and pop music.
While people, in general, might think that the Gregorian chant is put there for the sake of creating an exotic atmosphere, the way the juxtaposition between different styles works there allows the creation of a new layer of meaning.
The arrangement does not just complement/ illustrate the main it works out another narrative instead.
In combination with the staging and acting, the musical becomes not just storytelling through It becomes multimodal storytelling References