Karen F. Carazo
The Beast
mean ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ kind
sad ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ happy
hot-tempered & rough ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ easy-going & gentle
confident ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ unsure
popular ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ unpopular
Other activities involving this film will be completed after viewing Disney’s
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
and
The Jungle Book
.
Disney’s
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
is the story of the evil Judge Claude Frollo and his brutal soldiers who despise gypsies because they are believed to represent all that is bad in the world. Because of his intense hatred for gypsies and believing one of the women has stolen something, Judge Frollo chases her and accidentally kills her. When he retrieves the bundle of “stolen goods”, he realizes that it is a misshapen baby which he calls “monster”. Since he was responsible for the infant’s mother’s death, the archdeacon insists that Frollo adopt the child. Frollo agrees provided the child, Quasimodo, can live in the bell tower hidden from the rest of the world. The archdeacon agrees and it is there that Quasimodo lives alone for the next eighteen years. His only friends are three stone gargoyles who suggest Quasimodo go to the festival. Quasimodo hesitates because the warped Frollo has convinced him he is not “normal”. However, he finally agrees to go and disguises himself in a hooded cloak. It is at the festival that he literally stumbles upon Esmeralda, a beautiful gypsy girl who enthuses “great mask!” when she glimpses Quasimodo’s face under his hood. Esmeralda even winks at him as she dances and later pulls him up on the stage with other masked festival goers. At one point she goes to remove his “mask” and realizes it is no disguise at all! Quasimodo is then paraded through the streets as the ugliest King of Fools ever. The crowd throws fruit and taunts him. They even tie him to a pillory. Finally, Esmeralda comes to Quasimodo’s aid. Back in the bell tower, she compliments his mini-model of Paris and tells him he is not the monster his master says he is. She kisses him after he helps her escape from Frollo and his men. The stone gargoyles convince Quasimodo that the beautiful Esmeralda loves him but he soon realizes that it is Phoebus, one of Frollo’s men, she really loves. During a confrontation with Frollo, Quasimodo knocks him to the floor and shouts, “All my life you have told me that the world is a dark and cruel place. But now I see that the only thing dark and cruel about it is you!” The once feared and taunted Quasimodo is now cheered and celebrated as the town’s hero! At the beginning of this tale, Clopin, the puppeteer, poses the riddle: “Can you guess who is the monster and who is the man?” One might initially respond that Frollo is the man and Quasimodo, the monster. However, after seeing Quasimodo’s dramatic story, it is clear that he is in fact a kind, caring, lovable man while Frollo is a mean, horrible monster whose hatred and ignorance caused him to do many cruel deeds. Quasimodo is portrayed as a disfigured hunchback with large, droopy eyes and several missing teeth while Frollo’s long, pointed features and black attire add to his evilness. Although Quasimodo does not win the love and affection of the beautiful Esmeralda, she does look beyond his physical appearance and accept him for the person he is on the inside demonstrating once again that a person’s inner beauty is far more important than their appearance. Prior to viewing this movie, I will show my students a picture of Quasimodo and elicit their feelings about him which I will record on a Character Web like the one on the right.
(figure available in print form)
We would then view and discuss the film thoroughly after which we will create a second web listing their feelings about Quasimodo now. A comparison will be made of the two webs to see how, if at all, our feelings toward Quasimodo changed after we got to know him. At this point, I will reinforce the idea that a person’s inner beauty makes them attractive rather than their physical appearance. Students will also complete a Contrast Chart contrasting the Beast from Disney’s
Beauty and the Beast
with Quasimodo. On a Contrast Chart, students list ways in which characters differ. Similar charts could also be created contrasting Gaston with Frollo and Belle with Esmeralda. An example of a Contrast Chart comparing the Beast with Quasimodo follows.