Claude Frollo, holding a baby Quasimodo. Art by Luc-Olivier Merson.
Claude Frollo is a fictional character from the Victor Hugo novel Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame - 1831). Frollo is the Archdeacon of Notre Dame de Paris. He, at first, is shown in a positive light but later becomes the main antagonist of the novel.
In the novel[]
In Victor Hugo's novel, Dom Claude Frollo is the Archdeacon of Josas of Notre-Dame Cathedral. He is approximately thirty-six years old during the course of the story. He was an incredibly intelligent but morose young man who was orphaned along with his brother Jehan when their parents died. His studies lead him to become the Archdeacon of Josas of Notre-Dame and he also has a small fief which brings him a small amount of money, most of which goes to fund his brother's lifestyle of debauchery.
He has a deeply compassionate side. He rescues the deformed hunchback abandoned on the cathedral's foundlings bed and cares for him, raises him like a son, and teaches him a sort of sign language when Quasimodo becomes deaf. He adores his wastrel, scallywag younger brother Jehan, while at the same time chiding him for his insolence. He is a respected scholar and studies several languages, law, medicine, and theology. However, he becomes infatuated with alchemy, which brings people to claim he is a sorcerer. He also believes strongly in fate. His dour, prematurely aged appearance and extreme dislike and fear of women make him even more of an outcast and set him further apart from society.
He also has strong sexual passions, though he is a celibate due to his station within the church. These passions erupt in him through his contact with the beautiful gypsy girl Esmeralda and eventually are his undoing. The young girl is repulsed by the priest, despite his numerous impassioned pleas for her to love him. He turns all his effort to either make her love him or driving her away forever in death, as to no longer "punish" him. Frollo is so infatuated with her that he loses his self-control, attempts to kill her consort Captain Phoebus de Chateaupers, and kisses her while she faints. He even stabs himself at the sight of her torture when she is turned over to the magistrate as a witch and a "murderer" of her erstwhile lover Phoebus. He becomes completely undone right before her execution and leaves Paris in a feverish madness, not realizing that his adopted son rescued her from the gallows. He also attempts to rape her when she seeks sanctuary in the cathedral. Quasimodo throws him off the heights of the cathedral to his death when the deaf hunchback sees him laughing at Esmeralda's hanging.
Commentary[]
Unlike many of the film adaptations, he is presented in the novel as an extremely intelligent and complex man who is torn apart by deep unbridled passion. While Claude Frollo is generally considered the antagonist of the novel, Victor Hugo does not depict him as the villain in the strictest sense of the word. Although not as likable as some, he has attributes of the tragic anti-hero, including his morose and somewhat misanthropic personality, deep sexual passions, love of alchemy, and extreme possessiveness. And yet, he is a compassionate man who believes in fate and that he is doing the right thing. Frollo's eventual destruction due to his fatal flaws are a strong rebuke to the Roman Catholic Church's "vanity of chastity" and what can happen to a man when strong emotions are bottled up for too long.
Adaptations[]
The novel has been adapted to film on numerous occasions. The most interesting change perhaps comes from the 1923 silent film version, in which Frollo isn't the villain at all; instead, he is a good archdeacon, and the villain of the novel is actually his younger brother Jehan. This is also included in the 1939 adaptation, with the same roles with Claude as the good archdeacon and good brother. This is sometimes compared with the 1996 Disney adaptation, in which Frollo is a Judge, the Archdeacon is a separate character entirely, and the character of Jehan is omitted. Many conclude that such changes were made to avoid a negative reaction from religious organizations, although the results tend to be the opposite of the intentions. Typically, the adaptations omit Frollo's capacity for compassion, adding a selfish interpretation to his adoption of Quasimodo that is not present in Hugo's novel.
- Walter Law- 1917 Adaptation
- Annesley Healy- 1922 Adaptation
- Brandon Hurst- 1923 Adaptation
- Cedric Hardwicke- 1939 Adaptation
- Alain Cuny- 1956 Adaptation
- James Maxwell- 1966 Adaptation
- Kenneth Haigh- 1977 Adaptation
- Derek Jacobi- 1982 Adaptation
- Ron Haddrick (voice)- 1986 Adaptation
- Tony Jay (voice)- 1996 Disney Adaptation
- Richard Harris- The Hunchback (1997 film)
- Daniel Lavoie- 1997-2002, musical
- Richard Berry- 1999 Parody
- Tim Cross- 2009 Adaptation
In the Disney film[]
Claude Frollo
Judge Claude Frollo is the central antagonist in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. His voice was provided by the late Tony Jay, who had been chosen for the role based on his brief appearance as Monsieur D'Arque in Beauty and the Beast (which also re-teamed him with David Ogden Stiers, his co-star from the same film). Supervising animator Kathy Zielinski and her animation team were responsible for animating him.
Frollo is known among Disney fans for being one of the most evil and realistic Disney Villains. Whilst most other Disney characters who are portrayed as evil have magical powers at their disposal (e.g. Maleficent, Jafar, etc.) he almost committed genocide despite not having any magical aid whatsoever. Indeed throughout the film he openly commits acts of lechery, genocide and bigotry, all very mature themes for a Disney film. In addition to being an adaptation of Hugo's character, Frollo is also heavily inspired by Cedric Hardwicke's character Jehan Frollo in the 1939 film version of the story, which The Hunchback of Notre Dame borrows several ideas from. Like Claude, Jehan has a deep hatred for the gypsies. He also rides a horse and wears a hat very similar to Disney's Claude Frollo. Also, he is a Court Judge under the King of France, like Claude in Disney's version.
Appearances[]
Claude Frollo resides in Paris, France, where he is employed as a Court Judge. 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. 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 the steps of Notre Dame and knocks her down the steps, where she suffers fatal head trauma. Frollo then discovers that she was the mother of a hideously deformed infant child. Frollo attempts to murder the infant by drowning him in a well but is stopped by the Archdeacon, who convinces him that, in order to save his soul from eternal damnation, Frollo must raise the child as his own son. Naming the child Quasimodo (which means "half-formed"), Frollo raises him within the towers of Notre Dame, attempting to "protect" him from the outside world.
Prior to attending the annual Festival of Fools, Frollo encounters Captain Phoebus, a well-meaning soldier who is assigned the task of locating the Court of Miracles, which the gypsies have taken as their official hiding place. While attending the festival, Frollo discovers a gypsy dancer named Esmeralda, who both attracts and disgusts Frollo with her beauty; shortly afterwards, Quasimodo is revealed to have fled the tower and joined the festivities, only to be crowned the "King of Fools" and then publicly humiliated. As the townspeople mock Quasimodo, Frollo refuses to help in order to teach him a lesson, and is disgusted when a defiant Esmeralda decides to assist him instead. Esmeralda then ridicules and humiliates Frollo before claims sanctuary within Notre Dame, while a furious Frollo silently scolds Quasimodo.
That evening, Frollo is disturbed by his attraction for Esmeralda, believing a relationship with a gypsy will result in his eternal damnation (which he expresses in "Hellfire"). Unbeknownst to Frollo, Quasimodo has allowed Esmeralda to escape the cathedral. Upon learning of Esmeralda's escape, Frollo is enraged and begins a ruthless campaign to "find the gypsy girl". He later attempts to murder an innocent family whom he suspects of collaborating with gypsies, but an appalled Phoebus intervenes and rescues them; Frollo declares Phoebus a traitor and attempts to execute him, but he is eventually rescued by Esmeralda.
Realizing Quasimodo assisted Esmeralda, Frollo convinces him that the Court of Miracles has been found and will eventually be attacked; a misled Quasimodo follows Phoebus to the Court where Frollo's army attacks and arrests the gypsies. Frollo then sentences Esmeralda to execution while Quasimodo remains locked in the bell tower. She refuses to become Frollo's mistress and is prepared to burn to death, but Quasimodo escapes, rescues her after she passes out and brings her to the cathedral. Frollo's men then attack Notre Dame, engaging in a violent battle against the townspeople and Quasimodo, who sends stones from the tower and eventually fills the street with molten lead.
After defying the Archdeacon and flinging him down a flight of stairs, Frollo attempts to kill Quasimodo, ensuing in a violent struggle in which Quasimodo overpowers the deranged judge. Esmeralda awakens, and Quasimodo rushes her to safety. Frollo chases him and Esmeralda onto a balcony overlooking the city, engaging in yet another fight with Quasimodo. In his hateful rage, Frollo reveals to Quasimodo that he killed his mother, and was originally planning to drown the infant Quasimodo as well, and that he was now going to carry out his true intentions, by throwing his cloak over Quasimodo, causing him to fall over the edge of the balcony. Quasimodo manages to hold on and pulls Frollo along with him, and Frollo dangles momentarily for his life, but he is soon able to climb on a gargoyle in perfect position to kill them. However, as he raises his sword, the gargoyle that he is standing on crumbles off the cathedral and sends Frollo plummeting to his death far below.
Other appearances[]
- Frollo appears in the Disney's Hollywood Studios nighttime show Fantasmic as one of the main villains called on by the Evil Queen to fight Mickey Mouse. He is destroyed along with the other villains in the show's conclusion.
- Frollo made appearances at Disney's Hollywood Studios in the daily Disney Stars and Motor Cars Parade. In 2009, the parade will move to the Walt Disney Studios park at Disneyland Resort Paris and it is uncertain if Frollo will appear in this version, renamed Stars'n'Cars.
- Frollo also appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as a meetable character.
- He makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the House of Mouse special House of Villains. At one time, he was sitting with the Mad Hatter, but he had no dialogue. He also appeared sitting near the two outraged guests, but still no dialogue.
- He is also a character in the Walt Disney World annual Halloween-themed fireworks show HalloWishes.
External links[]
- Many faces of Frollo
- Fansite
- Frollo in the Disney Archives-Villains.