The story begins on Epiphany (6 January), 1482, the day of the 'Feast of Fools' in Paris, France. Quasimodo, the deformed hunchback bell-ringer of Notre Dame, is introduced by his crowning as King of Fools.

Esmeralda, a beautiful Gypsy with a kind and generous heart, captures the hearts of many men, including that of a Captain Phoebus, but especially those of Quasimodo and his adoptive father, Claude Frollo, the Archdeacon of Notre Dame. Frollo is torn between his obsessive love and the rules of the church. He orders Quasimodo to kidnap her, but the hunchback is suddenly captured by Phoebus and his guards who save Esmeralda. Quasimodo is sentenced to be whipped and tied down in the heat. Esmeralda, seeing his thirst, offers him water. It saves him, and she captures his heart.

Esmeralda is later charged with the attempted murder of Phoebus, whom Frollo actually attempted to kill in jealousy, after seing him about to have sex with Esmeralda, and is sentenced to death by hanging. As she is being led to the gallows, Quasimodo swings down by the bell rope of Notre Dame and carries her off to the cathedral under the law of sanctuary. Clopin, a street performer, rallies the Truands (criminals of Paris) to charge the cathedral and rescue Esmeralda. The King, seeing the chaos, vetoes the law of sanctuary and commands his troops to take Esmeralda out and kill her. When Quasimodo sees the Truands, he assumes they are there to hurt Esmeralda, so he drives them off. Likewise, he thinks the King's men want to rescue her, and tries to help them find her. Fortunately, she is rescued by Frollo and her phony husband, Gringoire. But after yet another failed attempt to win her love, Frollo betrays Esmeralda by handing her to the troops and watches while she is hanged. Quasimodo pushes him from the heights of Notre Dame to his death. Quasimodo then goes to the mass grave and lies next to Esmeralda's corpse. He then crawls off with the corpse to Esmeralda's tomb, where he cradles her in his arms and eventually dies of starvation. About eighteen months later, the tomb is opened, and the skeletons are found. As someone tries to separate them, Quasimodo's bones turn to dust.



-Esmeralda: Born Agnes, is a beautiful young barefoot Gypsy dancer, innocent, close to nature, and naturally compassionate and kind. She is the center of the human drama within the story. A popular focus of the citizens' attentions, she experiences their changeable attitudes, being first adored as an entertainer, then hated as a witch, before being lauded again for her dramatic rescue by Quasimodo. When the King finally decides to put her to death, he does so in the belief that the Parisian mob wants her dead. She is loved by both Quasimodo and Claude Frollo, but falls deeply in love with Captain Phoebus, a handsome soldier whom she wrongly believes will protect her but who simply wants to seduce her. She is the only character to show the hunchback a moment of human kindness: as he is being whipped for punishment and jeered by a horrid rabble, she approaches the public stock and gives him a drink of water. Because of this, he falls fiercely in love with her, even though she is too disgusted by his ugliness even to let him kiss her hand.

-Claude Frollo: The novel's main antagonist, is the Archdeacon of Notre Dame. His dour attitude and his alchemical experiments alienated him from the Parisians, who believe him a sorcerer. His parents having died of plague when he was a young man, he is without without family save for Quasimodo, for whom he cares, and his spoiled brother Jehan, whom he attempts reform towards a better life. His mad attraction to Esmerelda sets off a chain of events, including her attempted abduction and Frollo almost murdering Phoebus in a jealous rage, leading to Esmeralda's execution. Frollo is killed when Quasimodo pushes him off the cathedral.

-Quasimodo: Contrary to the English title, Quasimodo is not the protagonist of the book (the French title is Notre Dame de Paris, a reference to the cathedral and metaphor for the true protagonist Esmeralda). He is the bell-ringer of Notre Dame, and a barely verbal hunchback. Ringing the church bells has made him deaf. Abandoned as a baby, he was adopted by Claude Frollo. Quasimodo's life within the confines of the cathedral and his only two outlets—ringing the bells and his love and devotion for Frollo—are described. He ventures outside the Cathedral rarely, since people despise and shun him for his appearance. The notable occasions when he does leave are his taking part in the Festival of Fools—during which he is elected the Pope of Fools due to his perfect hideousness—and his subsequent attempt to kidnap Esmeralda, his rescue of Esmeralda from the gallows, his attempt to bring Phoebus to Esmeralda, and his final abandonment of the cathedral at the end of the novel. It is revealed in the story that the baby Quasimodo was left by the Gypsies in place of Esmeralda, whom they abducted.

-Jehan Frollo: Claude Frollo's over-indulged younger brother. He is a troublemaker and a student at the university. He is dependent on his brother for money, which he then proceeds to squander on alcohol. Quasimodo kills him during the attack on the cathedral. He attempts to enter the cathedral by ascending it with a borrowed ladder, but Quasimodo sees him and throws him down.

-Phoebus de Chateaupers: The Captain of the King's Archers. After he saves Esmerelda from abduction, she becomes infatuated with him, and he is intrigued by her. Already betrothed to the beautiful but spiteful Fleur-De-Lys, he wants to lie with Esmeralda nonetheless but is prevented by Frollo stabbing him. Phoebus survives but Esmeralda is taken to be the attempted assassin by all, including Phoebus himself.

-Fleur-de-Lys de Gondelaurier: A beautiful and wealthy socialite engaged to Phoebus. Phoebus's attentions to Esmeralda make her insecure and jealous, and she and her friends respond by treating Esmeralda with contempt and spite. Fleur-de-Lys later neglects to inform Phoebus that Esmerelda has not been executed, which serves to deprive the pair of any further contact- though as Phoebus no longer loves Esmerelda by this time, this does not matter. The novel ends with their wedding.

-Pierre Gringoire: A struggling poet. He mistakenly finds his way into the "Court of Miracles", the secret lair of the Gypsies. In order to preserve the secrecy, Gringoire must either be killed by hanging, or marry a Gypsy. Although Esmeralda does not love him, and in fact believes him a coward rather than a true man - unlike Phoebus, he failed in his attempt to rescue her from Quasimodo - she takes pity on his plight and marries him. But, because she is already in love with Phoebus, much to his disappointment, she will not even let him touch her.

-Sister Gudule: Formerly named Paquette la Chantefleurie, is an anchoress, who lives in seclusion in an exposed cell in central Paris. She is tormented by the loss of her daughter Agnes, whom she believes to have been cannibalised by Gypsies as a baby, and devotes her life to mourning her. Her long-lost daughter turns out to be Esmeralda.

-Clopin Trouillefou: The King of Truands. He rallies the Court of Miracles to rescue Esmerelda from Notre Dame after the idea is suggested by Gringoire. He is eventually killed during the attack by the King's soldiers.

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