It is important that those who have problems seek refuge in a place where they can better solve their difficulties and find solutions to their difficulties. Different people have different methods of dealing with their problems: some try to distract themselves, others simply find a quiet place and think about their problems, and still others seek a solution in the very place where they take refuge. All three methods are evident in Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame; in this work three characters look to the great cathedral of Notre Dame to solve their problems. Quasimodo tries to fight his desolation, Claude Frollo tries to forget his dreams of Esmeralda, and Esmeralda tries to escape death and the loss of a lover. Quasimodo, Claude Frollo and La Esmeralda seek refuge in Notre Dame Cathedral from their overwhelming loneliness, fears and passions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Quasimodo never knows friendship or even acceptance during his life. "As [Quasimodo and Claude Frollo] passed through the cold, narrow and gloomy streets of the Notre-Dame neighborhood, many contemptuous words, many derisive laughs or offensive jokes would have harassed them along the way. (163)" Quasimodo has almost every possible physical deformity working against him: hunched back, one eye, forked chin, jagged and gaping teeth, sunken shoulders, and deafness, to name a few. His ugliness prevents many from looking at him, let alone treating him as an equal. Shunned by the public, the closest thing to a companion Quasimodo has are the bells of Notre Dame, which he rings daily with abandon. Quasimodo's bells, the only objects he can hear, are his solitary interests, his tools for combating the loneliness that comes from a life of isolation and solitude. "When he had set [the bells] in motion... when the demon of music... had taken possession of the poor deaf hunchback, then he became happy again; he forgot everything else, and his face shone with joy. (258 )" More than any other structure, Quasimodo loved the bells of Notre Dame. "The Cathedral was not just his society; it was his universe. It was all of nature to him. (151)" Quasimodo's only friends were the bells and the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Claude Frollo is overcome by the passions he feels for Esmeralda, and tries to escape him in Notre Dame Cathedral. Frollo is obsessed with Esmeralda; when he visits her in her pre-hanging prison, he confesses his love for her. He tells the story of his first sighting of the beautiful gypsy of how he, a priest, became so enchanted by her beauty that he pursued her. Frollo bellows passionately: "I waited for you under the arcades; I spied on you from the street corners; I observed you from the top of my tower. Every night, searching the depths of my soul, I found myself more enchanted, more desperate, more bewitched, more lost! (324)" Frollo knows that such activities are immoral; he, as a priest, having taken the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, broke the commandments. Frollo even goes so far as to think that the Devil himself sent Esmeralda to tempt him and distance him from the purity of the cloth. Frollo tries to resist these feelings of passion from his chambers within the church; He pontificates passionately about alchemy, but even a feverish monologue on gold conversion methods fails to distract him from his carnal thoughts. From the confines of a laboratory in a cathedral spire, Frollo suddenly departs from his sorcery and utters Esmeralda's name. His refuge from his passions in Notre Dame Cathedral is his..