Judge Claude Frollo/Synopsis

The story of Judge Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Prologue
"Judge Claude Frollo longs to purge the world of vice and sin. And he saw corruption everywhere except within."

- Clopin (the narrator) on Judge Claude Frollo.

Frollo resides in Paris, France, where he is employed as a Court Judge, or as the Justice Minister, this is not very clear. (Though the latter would explain his almost-complete control over the affairs of Paris. It has been assumed that the King is away at war, leaving him in charge. It can be guessed that he was first the former and was appointed the latter at some point during the time skip.) A deeply religious man, Frollo uses his position to inflict great suffering upon the gypsy population, believing them to "live outside the natural order" and engage in "heathen" behavior, as well as "enflame the people's lowest instincts".

One night, a group of gypsies attempt to enter Paris, only to be stopped by Frollo and his soldiers. When a gypsy woman attempts to flee, Frollo, believing her to be hiding stolen goods, chases her to Notre Dame. When Frollo catches up to her, he wrestles the "stolen goods" from her and kicks her in the head, causing her to fall on the steps of the parvis and die from a head concussion.

He then finds out the the goods were actually her hideously deformed son, whom he attempts to throw in a well, believing him to be an "unholy demon" and that he is going to send it back to Hell "where it belongs". Yet the Archdeacon of Notre Dame stops him, and tells him that to atone from his crimes in the eyes of the Virgin Mary (Notre Dame meaning "Our Lady" in French), he must raise the child as his own.

Fearing damnation, Frollo begrudgingly accepts and names the baby Quasimodo ("half-formed"). He keeps him out of the people's attention in the cathedral towers. As Quasimodo grows up as the bell-ringer of Notre Dame, Frollo persuades him never to venture outside to avoid the hatred of the world, which he describes as cruel and unforgiving for deformed people.

20 Years Later
20 years later, while attending the annual Festival of Fools, Frollo discovers a gypsy dancer named Esmeralda, who both attracts and disgusts him with her beauty. Shortly afterwards, Quasimodo is revealed to have sneaked out the tower and joined the festivities, only to be crowned the King of Fools. One of Frollo's guards throws a tomato at Quasimodo, revealing that he is not wearing a disguise, and soon the citizens of Paris start pelting Quasimodo with fruits and begin tormenting him. Quasimodo begs Frollo for help, but Frollo allows the torment to continue to punish him for his disobedience.

Esmeralda then comes to Quasimodo's aid, ridiculing Frollo in the process. She berates him for tormenting the innocents he is supposed to protect and ignores his orders to back down. When Frollo vows to hurt her in return, she says that they crowned the wrong fool and throws the crown at Frollo's feet to say he is the real King of Fools.

In return, Frollo orders her arrested. The gypsy girl can only escape Frollo's wrath by remaining within Notre Dame due to the divine right of Sanctuary, where she stands up to Captain Phoebus and fights him to a draw, earning his respect. Frollo then barges in, trying to arrest her, but the Archdeacon comes to her rescue, stating that nobody can be arrested or cause controversy in the church.

Hunting Esmeralda
"You think you've outwitted me. But I'm a patient man. And gypsies don't do well inside stone walls. (Esmeralda: What are you doing?) I was just imagining a rope around that beautiful neck. (Esmeralda: I knew what you were imagining!) Such a clever witch. So typical of your kind to twist the truth to cloud the mind with unholy thoughts. You've chosen a magnificent prison, but it is a prison nonetheless. Set one foot outside, and you're mine!"

- Frollo obsessing with Esmeralda.

Frollo later confronts Esmeralda, disturbing her by sniffing her hair inappropriately, and states that she is still a prisoner and that, as soon as she leaves, he would throw her in jail. That evening, Frollo is disturbed by his attraction to Esmeralda, believing he is doomed to the fires of Hell.

Frollo Continues his Plans
However, he believes he is one of God's purest men and thus protests against the Lord, shifting the blame of his crimes on others, most notably when he expresses belief that Esmeralda cast a spell on him to damn his soul, and resolving to have her for himself or burn her (which he expresses in the song "Hellfire"). Unbeknownst to Frollo, Quasimodo has allowed Esmeralda to escape the cathedral in gratitude for her rescue of him during the Festival of Fools, as well as feelings of love towards her.

Upon learning that Esmerelda has escaped, Frollo leaves at once. He bribes some of the gypsies to find Esmeralda and has everyone whom he believes to have aided the gypsies killed and their house burned, causing countless casualties. Appalled, Phoebus intervenes and refuse to burn the house of an innocent family that Frollo had locked in. He goes as far as saving them when the fanatical judge burns the house himself.

Frollo then declares Phoebus a traitor and has his guards shoot him with arrows when he flees. He sees Phoebus fall in a river and declares him dead, not knowing that a disguised Esmerelda helped Phoebus out of the river and nursed him back to health.

Suspecting Quasimodo assisted Esmeralda, Frollo convinces him that the Court of Miracles has been found and will eventually be attacked. A misled Quasimodo leads Phoebus to the Court to warn the gypsies, but it is a ruse and Frollo follows them. The fanatical judge attacks the Court of Miracles, captures Quasimodo, Esmeralda, Phoebus and the Gypsies, has Quasimodo chained down in Notre Dame, and sentences all gypsies to be burned at the stake for witchcraft.

Final Battle
Frollo offers to pardon Esmeralda if she becomes his mistress, but she spits in his face so he prepares to burn her. Fortunately, Quasimodo, who manages to break free, rescues her after she passes out and brings her to the cathedral, calling for Sanctuary. Enraged, Frollo launches an attack against the cathedral, but Phoebus rallies the outraged people of Paris against him.

While his guards are getting soundly defeated by Phoebus and his men, and by Quasimodo and his living gargoyle friends who pour molten lead from the balcony, Frollo enters the cathedral. The Archdeacon refuses to let him defile God's house, but Frollo replies by hurling him down the staircase, causing him to break his leg, and locks him from the bell tower, saying "The hunchback and I have unfinished business, and this time, you shall not interfere."



As Quasimodo is mourning the apparent death of Esmeralda, Frollo pretends to comfort him, concealing a dagger behind his back to kill him. A violent struggle ensues, in which Quasimodo overpowers the deranged judge.

Frollo attempts to get Quasimodo to listen to him, but Quasimodo instead tells him about how Frollo told him that the world was a dark, cruel place, but he realized what was dark and cruel about the world was people like Frollo. During that conversation, Esmeralda awakens and Quasimodo rushes her to safety, while Frollo draws out his sword. Frollo chases them onto a balcony overlooking the city, striking them with his sword to knock them off the balcony.

Death
"(Frollo looks over the balcony and sees Quasimodo and Esmeralda dangling from the balcony gargoyles) Leaving so soon? (Frollo swipes his sword at Quasimodo and Esmeralda.) (Guard: Look up there!) (Quasimodo: hang on!) (Frollo swings his sword, just nicking Quasi's arm. Frollo lunges again as Quasimodo shoves Esmeralda out of the way.) I should've known you'd risk your life to save that Gypsy witch! Just as your own mother died trying to save you. (Quasimodo: What?) And now, I'm going to do what I should've done... 20 YEARS AGO!"

- Frollo chases Esmeralda & Quasimodo across the balcony. He admits to Quasimodo, that he murdered the Hunchback's mother, when she tried to save him as an infant, a fact which mirrored Quasimodo's attempts to save Esmeralda.

Blinded by rage, Frollo confesses that he killed Quasimodo's mother when she tried to protect him, while he always said that she abandoned him. As such, Frollo proclaims his intention to kill his former ward. He blinds Quasimodo with his cloak and tosses him off Notre Dame, but Quasimodo manages to hold on and pulls the villain along with him.

While Esmeralda struggles to pull Quasimodo to safety, Frollo manages to climb onto a gargoyle with a demented look on his face, and prepares to kill them both, while blaspheming smugly. At that very moment, the gargoyle he is standing on ironically shakes beneath him, forcing Frollo to fall off the gargoyle and grab onto it with all his might. The gargoyle then roars menacingly at the wretched fanatic before finally breaking away from the cathedral, sending a screaming Frollo plunging into the molten lead a long way below, where he dies a well-deserved death and finally gets his eternal comeuppance.

Frollo's death can be interpreted as divine intervention: The gargoyle being the symbol of God, "judging" Frollo as "the wicked" and therefore casting him into the "fiery pit" of Hell, symbolised in the form of the molten lead. Alternatively, it might be the doing of Notre Dame itself, who is implied to be sentient throughout the movie. In the end, Frollo suffers the very damnation he feared so much.

With Frollo gone, Quasimodo gives Esmeralda and Phoebus his blessing, and dares venture outside Notre Dame, where the people welcome him warmly, prompting Clopin to reprise the introduction song, but after singing "who is the monster and who is the man" the first time, he now asks "what makes a monster and what makes a man" to hammer the point home.