Esmeralda choosing Phoebus


Anybody else irritated by Esmeralda choosing Phoebus over Quasimodo?

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She was raised in a time when deformity of any kind was considered a punishment from God for concealed sin or inherent evilness. It's amazing that she even treated him like a human being and came to see him as a beautiful person on the inside. Isn't that good enough?

Besides, Quasimodo was not emotionally mature enough for a relationship with a woman. He has zero self-confidence or real world experience to speak of, he's shy, timid, a victim of emotional and verbal abuse. He (arguably) had problems distinguishing reality from imagination (if you believe the Gargoyles are a figment of his imagination). Plus, he idealized her way too much.

Frollo treated Esmeralda like a Demon.
Quasimodo treated her like an Angel.
And Phoebus treated her like a Woman.

And THAT is why she fell in love with Phoebus. He saw her as an equal.

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Very well said. I agree entirely.

Quasimodo wanted freedom and to fit in with society. He got that. He didn't need a relationship - he needed to go out and experience the world.

Many movies do, by cliche, suggest romance is the solution to everything for the protagonist. And that every man (no matter how unattractive or immature) is entitled to the drop-dead gorgeous woman by the end. I commend Disney for not taking this route.

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Because that's how it was in book. Besides, the whole point behind Quasimodo's "journey" was for him to be accepted by society, not just the one girl he happened to really like. 


A Decepticon never retreats -Starscream (G1)
[Formerly CosmosX9]

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I just watched it again yesterday (the last time being a year or two ago), and one thing I noticed was the friendship and mutual respect between Phoebus and Quasimodo, especially after Quasi realizes that it's Phoebus whom Esmeralda loves. That makes him not being with her a lot easier to take, in my opinion.

I also noticed how "Disney-fied" the romance is--meaning how long it takes--as the events of the movie happen over the course of 3 days, at least. (I guess I shouldn't blame Disney alone; Shakespeare did it, too.) Normally that bothers me, but since the writers made their personalities match so well, and since it isn't the main focus of the movie, I'll let that slide.

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Glad somebody else pointed this out. Quasimodo and Phoebus had such a great friendship. Natural rapport and aside from Esmerelda, Phoebus was the first person to treat him like a real person.

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If you are talking about Pheobus being the first to stand up for Quasimodo, I would say that Esmeralda was the first to stick up for Quasimodo. Remember she stuck up for him at the feast of fools the xitzen has Quasimodo tied up and throwing tomatoes and stuff at him, and Esmeralda was the first to show kindness to him.

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Note that I said 'aside from Esmeralda'. I agree with you.

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Well, even what Disney did here is easier to swallow than what was in the source novel. A big point of the novel is the objectification/idealization of other people as a result of infatuation, though Victor Hugo called it love.

In the novel:
-The hunchback thinks Esmeralda is absolutely perfect, and kills himself after her death despite the fact that she rejected him several times.
-Frollo and Phoebus look at Esmeralda as a sexual object of desire.
-Esmeralda views Phoebus as a sexual object of desire, and also sees him as a perfect knight, but the reader knows his flaws and occasional cruelty.

In a sense, none of the romances in the novel, or even in the film (someone else has mentioned the ridiculous time-span) despite its "Disneyfication"are actual romance: they're a cautionary tale about putting people on a pedestal.

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i'm a little more irritated by your idealistic expectations.

This is not the greatest signature in the world. This is just a tribute.

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Esmeralda had already shown an interest in Phoebus before she even met Quasimodo. And she was always more concerned about others than herself, so she could relate more to Phoebus who kept putting himself at risk for others, as opposed to Quasimodo who was solemnly focused on her. Case and point, when Quasimodo and Phoebus found out that Frollo had "discovered" where the Court of Miracles was, Phoebus, even in his near death state, immediately set out with no thought of himself or the fact that he was now a fugitive so he could save Esmeralda and the other gypsies, while Quasimodo needed to be convinced by the gargoyles, and only then he says that he's only helping for Esmeralda's sake.

Personally, I also feel that professor_ratigan hit the nail on the head with his explanation of Phoebus treating Esmeralda as a woman while Quasimodo treated her as a goddess. She didn't want to be worshipped or be someone's sole focus; she wanted to be treated as an equal and to have her people cared for and helped, and it was Phoebus that did this while Quasimodo only concerned himself with her.

Now, I'm not saying this to put Quasimodo down. The guy's very lovable and a real sweetheart, but I also agree that Quasimodo wasn't emotionally mature enough for a real relationship. This isn't his fault, it's from being alone for so long. He greatly matures by the next film, which is why he's able to have a real relationship. You'll notice that the way he looks at and treats Madellaine is very different from how he treated Esmeralda. He treats her like a person and an equal rather than some flawless goddess.

So, for all you people saying Esmeralda is shallow for choosing Phoebus over Quasimodo, you really need to look beyond the physical characteristics and realize that she didn't chose Phoebus just because Quasimodo was deformed. There was more to it than that.

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excellent response!

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perhaps you should elaborate why you thought it was dumb that esmeralda chose phoebus.

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I think what the original poster is alluding to (and of course, I could be completely wrong here) is that Disney films have a history of favoring the visually beautiful characters whilst the 'ugly' ones are portrayed as outsiders (or, most often, as villains). Obviously, anyone with a brain can clearly see the detrimental side effects of this on the young impressionable children (that we all were, at one point) that eagerly drink in whatever Disney films portray.
However, I think this was Disney's most obvious attempt to break away from that stereotype while not making the ending completely unrealistic.
I, personally, agree with their choice to some extent, though of course, it is with twinge of pain that I watch Quasimodo realize that Esmeralda isn't in love with him.

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I must say for quite a while, I didn't like the fact that Esmerelda chose Phoebus over Quasimodo. It seemed to me like they were hinting that appearance was everything, at least when it came to romance. I know that Esmerelda knew better than to insult Quasimodo for being ugly, and they did have a special relationship of their own, but I thought it would have been better if the two of them had ended up together. And in a way, I still do. It so often happens in movies, and in real life for that matter, that the idea of a stunningly attractive person and an ugly duckling (so to speak) ending up together is all but laughed it. Check out the movie "She's Out of My League" and you'll see what I mean. The fact is that different people have different tastes, and people don't always fall for those whose appearance is in the same league as their own. This might have been a good opportunity to illustrate that point.

On the other hand, after reading previous posts about this, I do see where people are coming from. I guess it is fair to say that Quasimodo wasn't ready to be in a romantic relationship yet, considering how he had only just become acquainted with the outside world. And he said from the start he didn't think he was Esmerelda's type. If anything, it's gargoyles who are to blame, for getting his hopes raised in the first place. But she did love him. She had a very strong affection for him. The thing is, there's a difference between loving someone and actually being IN love with them. And furthermore, romance isn't the point of this movie anyway. It's about Quasimodo realizing the truth about the world and that Frollo can't be trusted. At the end of the movie, his life is officially beginning, and in a more realistic way than it would have been had he and Esmerelda gotten together.

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It's a family-unfriendly Aesop, but it's not inaccurate. Simple fact is that in real life, that's what you would expect to happen. Not every girl who is nice to you is going to fall in love with you and if it does happen, the smart thing to do is get over it and move on with your life like Quasimodo does.

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Let's be realistic here. Would YOU choose Quasimodo?

Besides, Quasimodo wasn't looking for love from one person, he was looking for acceptance from the world outside his bell tower.

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I can see being annoyed with the writers for not having Esmeralda fall in love with Quasimodo, but if we're talking about how these characters actually behaved in the movie that got produced...did we watch the same one? It was very clear that she just felt maternal toward him because he was a goodhearted kid who was being mistreated by the world. It would be downright creepy for Esmeralda in the final cut of the movie that we all saw to have entered into a romantic relationship with Quasi. He was like a sweet little brother to her, and she needed someone who was more her equal in terms of emotional maturity (as, I would argue, did he).

In fact, I bet if the genders were switched, more people would think it was creepy and pedophilic for the Esmeralda character to develop romantic feelings for the younger, naive hunchback girl. Yet it gets made into this "Esmeralda is shallow and picked the hot guy" thing with her. (Not necessarily saying that's you, OP, but I have seen others assert as much).

Also - I think someone else may have mentioned this, but something that tends to get overlooked in the Quasi-Phoebus-Esme love triangle is that she actually met Phoebus first. So it could be argued she was already taken in her heart when she met Quasi. In fact, yeah - Now that I think about it, you could tell Esmeralda was attracted to Phoebus (they made her give him that flirty glance in the beginning when she was shaking her tambourine, and don't give me that, "That doesn't mean she liked him - she was just doing her job" argument. Obviously the director meant for that to indicate romantic interest, since they ended up falling in love). And then you could tell she felt a connection with Phoebus when she saw that he wasn't just some jerky solder and gave her the coins back, and when he helped her escape the guards by using his horse - all before Quasi was even in the picture. So she was already falling for him when Quasi came along.

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