Opera Plots I - MDC Faculty Home Pages

into the requisite happy ending for the pretty heroine and her lover. The scene is laid in Paris,
during the fifteenth century, where Esmeralda, a beautiful gipsy-girl, is seen heading the revels in
the Beggars' Quarter, she being respected by these careless folk as their Queen. Esmeralda leads
about with her a pet goat, of which she is passionately fond; and she is gaily dressed in spangled
garments, and earns her living by singing and dancing. At the beginning of the opera, Gringoire, a
poor poet, is captured by the beggars as a spy who ought not to have looked upon their revels; and
Clopin, the rough and hilarious King of the Beggars, nonchalantly orders his instant execution,
declaring that he can only be saved from such a fate if he can find a wife amongst the lively
company. None of these merry maidens, however, will consent to wed a poet, and Gringoire is
about to be delivered to a summary death, when Esmeralda appears and announces that she will
wed the stranger. She tells the poet, however, that she will be his wife in name only, for she has no
love for him, and only does the deed to save his life; and the Beggar King then unites them in
gipsy fashion, and the merry company dance off. Claude Frollo, an unprincipled and dissolute
priest, now appears with his panderer, Quasimodo, the hunchback bellringer of Notre Dame, who
is in his pay, and has been his tool in many evil doings; and the pair now hatch a plot to kidnap the
lovely Esmeralda and take her to the abode of Frollo, who has conceived a violent passion for her.
When the gipsy-girl presently appears alone, therefore, she is seized by Quasimodo, who
endeavours to carry her off; but her cries of distress bring upon the scene the watch, headed by
Phoebus de Chateaupers, a handsome young officer, who quickly rescues the girl, whilst his
followers capture Quasimodo, whom they are about to commit to the hangman's hands when
Esmeralda, full of compassion for the poor, misshapen creature, intercedes for him, and he is
released. Phoebus and Esmeralda fall in love with one another, and the young officer gives the girl
as a keepsake a finely embroidered scarf, which has been a present to him from his fiancée, Fleurde-Lys,
whom he has never truly loved. In Act 2 this gay and frivolous lady is seen holding a
smart fête, which is attended by her many admirers. When Phoebus appears, she reproaches him
for his recent absences and coldness of manner; but she soon perceives the reason for it. For, by a
curious chance, the chief dancer in the ballet she has provided to amuse her guests is the gipsygirl,
Esmeralda, who charms all by her beauty and exquisite movements; and as she happens to be
wearing the scarf given her by Phoebus, she is at once pounced upon by the indignant Fleur-de-
Lys. A stormy scene ensues, and Fleur-de-Lys roundly up-braids her truant fiancé, Phoebus, who
boldly protects the trembling Esmeralda, and, announcing his love for her, leads her away. Act 3
takes place in Esmeralda's humble chamber, where Gringoire, the poet, begs for the consummation
of his unconventional union with the gipsy-girl, who, however, promptly orders him away, since
the ceremony was but a meaningless farce. After he has departed, grumbling, Esmeralda goes out
to watch for her lover, Phoebus, whom she is expecting; and during her absence the evil Frollo
enters and hides behind a curtain as the lovers enter. Their sweet love-making so fills him with
rage and jealousy that he springs out and stabs Phoebus, rushing away before he is seen by
Esmeralda, who, kneeling beside her fallen lover, is so dazed by the sudden- calamity that when a
crowd of people enter in response to her first cries of woe, she is utterly unable to say a word
explaining her position, and is consequently accused of having murdered the popular Phoebus, and
is dragged away a captive. Act 4 opens with the Beggars' celebration of the Feast of Folly, after
which a procession enters, leading the unfortunate Esmeralda to execution, she having been
convicted of the murder of her lover, there being no witnesses to speak for her. The villain, Frollo,
however, offers to rescue her if she will consent to accept his love; but upon Esmeralda scornfully
declaring she would rather die than suffer his hateful embraces, she is about to be hurried to the
stake, there to be burnt as a witch and murderess, when there comes a welcome interruption.