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The contrast between them not only shows the contrast of the appearance. More important, it also shows the strong contrast of their soul. It lets us feel the vivid contrast between beauty and ugliness, kindness and badness, thus it enriches the own personalities of the figures.
We can read from the works of his desire for love and persistence, but he does not really know how to love. His love is a grab, as long as the harvest. He does not understand that true love is to give and dedication, it is an unrequited love. It forms a sharp contrast with Esmeralda’s true love. So when he is so crazy in love with Esmeralda and cry for no reward, it tells us that he is a retarded child in the love and he cannot be compared to ugly Quasimodo. Finally he makes this love be a cruel destruction.
Through the analysis of these four groups which make Esmeralda as the center, we strongly feel the positive role played by the beauty and ugliness of Hugo’s contrast principle. It makes the characters more distinctive, closer to life, showing the reality. And in these four groups, the soul of his aesthetic ideas also reflects the humanitarian. Hugo believes that the heart is the foundation of art, as if the earth is the natural foundation, and the heart must be the beauty and kindness, it was love, it is based on humanitarian. Esmeralda’s kindheartedness and Quasimodo’s kindness are all affirmative. To the contrary, ugliness and badness are discarded by the author.
3 The inner contrast of the two central figures
The contrast between beauty and ugliness of this novel is not only reflected in the contrast of the characters, but also the early and late changes of the figure’s beauty and ugliness, kindness and badness are another part of the contrast. Through the comparative description of the figures personalities’ different development, the novel fully shows the inner world of the figures, the formation of the personalities and the development process.
3.1 The contrast of Gypsy Esmeralda’s early and late characteristics
Before knowing Phoebus, Esmeralda is almost the image of the beauty which is uniform of appearance and soul. She not only has the appearance of vulgarity, and her resistance and excellent quality, has always been commented as a dazzling pearl. But after she knows Phoebus, She gradually exposes some imperfection. It mainly reflects in two aspects. One is the choice of the love object and another is the relationship in love looks so humble
First, in the choice of the love object, Esmeralda’s choice is an intuitive and utilitarian. In the novel, on more than one occasion she tells others, she can only love one who can protect her. However from her objective choice, the consideration of the appearance is more than the ability of protection. Because from this novel, the person has the ability to protect her is Claude and the person has once protected her is Quasimodo.
One can take her from the gallows down; one once saved her from the gallows down. However, she dismisses the former and does not care the latter. Esmeralda goes into the misunderstanding of love. For this, Claude and Quasimodo tell her in different ways. Esmeralda is not moved by these, she is intoxicated by the shallow love of Phoebus.
Through the analysis of Esmeralda’s choice in love, she is more focused on the others’ appearance and ignores the others’ internal quality. She is wrong to devote her love and time to Phoebus that who has the handsome look but the inner world is hypocrisy frivolous. It shows Esmeralda’s superficial, mediocre and ignorance.
Second, Esmeralda’s relationship in love looks so humble. The relationship of true love should be based on equality of love and mutual love as a precondition. In the novel, her relationship with Phoebus is always a relationship between man and God, servant and master. And the saddest thing is that this relationship is consciously or unconsciously made by Esmeralda herself.