Notre-Dame de Paris is a novel by Victor Hugo first published in 1831. The French title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered, and it is also a metaphor for Esmeralda, who is the center of the human drama within the story. Victor Hugo began writing Note-Dame de Paris in 1829. The agreement with his original publisher, Gosselin, was that the book would be finished at the same year, but Hugo constantly delayed due to the demands of other projects. By the summer of 1830, Gosselin demanded Victor Hugo to complete the book by February 1831. Beginning in September 1830, Hugo worked nonstop on the project thereafter. The book was finished six months later.

The original French title, Notre-Dame de Paris indicates that the Cathedral itself is the most significant aspect of the novel, both the main setting and the focus of the story's themes. With the notable exception of Phoebus and Esmeralda's meeting, almost every major event in the novel takes place in the cathedral, atop the cathedral or can be witnessed by a character standing within or atop the cathedral. The cathedral had fallen into disrepair at the time of writing, which Hugo wanted to point out. The book portrays the Gothic era as one of the extremes of architecture, passion, and religion. The theme of determinism is explored as well as revolution and social strife.

The severe distinction of the social classes is shown by the relationships of Quasimodo and Esmeralda with higher-caste people in the book. Readers can also see a variety of modern themes emanating from the work including nuanced views on gender dynamics. For example, Phoebus objectifies Esmeralda as a sexual object. And, while Esmeralda is frequently cited as a paragon of purity — this is certainly how Quasimodo sees her — she is nonetheless seen to create her own objectification of the archer captain, Phoebus, that is at odds with reader's informed view of the man.

In his classic novel Notre-Dame de Paris, Victor Hugo introduces one of several themes in the preface and the first story of book one, titled “The Grand Hall.” This theme is the exploration of cultural evolution and how mankind has been able to almost seamlessly transmit its ideas from one era to another through literature, architecture, and art. Hugo explores the cultural evolution not only between medieval and modern France but also the ancient worlds of Greece and Rome, and he continues to elaborate on this theme throughout the entirety of the first book.

Another important theme in the novel is that a person cannot be judged by their looks or appearances. Since Frollo is a priest, a person would normally assume him to be a kind and righteous man. In truth, he is despicably cruel, manipulative, and evil. In contrast, most people judged Quasimodo to be the devil because of his disfigured outward appearance. Inside, however, he is filled with love and kindness. Esmeralda is also misjudged. Because she is a gypsy, the people of Paris believe she is evil; but like Quasimodo, she is a kind and loving woman. Phoebus is good looking and handsome, but he is vain, selfish, villainous and untrustworthy.

Hugo introduces this work the concept of the novel as Epic Theatre. The whole idea of time and life as an ongoing, organic panorama centered on dozens of characters caught in the middle of that history. It is the first novel to have beggars as protagonists. Notre-Dame de Paris is the first work of fiction to encompass the whole of life, from the King of France to Parisian sewer rats, in a manner later co-opted by Honoré de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert and many others, including Charles Dickens. The enormous popularity of the book in France spurred the nascent historical preservation movement in that country and strongly encouraged Gothic revival architecture. Ultimately it led to major renovations at Notre-Dame in the 19th century led by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Much of the cathedral's present appearance is a result of this renovation. 《巴黎圣母院》英文论文美与丑的对比(3):http://www.751com.cn/yingyu/lunwen_2314.html