We shall not attempt to give the reader an idea of that tetrahedron nose-that horse-shoe mouth-that small left eye over-shadowed by a red bushy brow, while the right eye disappeared entirely under an enormous wart-of those straggling teeth with breaches here and there like the battlements of a fortress-of that horny lip, over which one of those teeth projected like the tusk of an elephant-of that forked chin-and, above all, of the expression diffused over the whole-that mixture of malice, astonishment, and melancholy. Let the reader, if he can, figure to himself this combination.
~ Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre DameSharing book covers and posters from Victor Hugo's famous story this week. I have been wondering about what makes a
beast a possible love interest and a hunchback an impossible one.
This one is by
Arthur Ranson:
Links: *
Hunchback illustrations on Squidoo
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How to draw characters from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame
*
A recording of the book*
The 1939 movie version is supposed to be one of the best.
*
A biography of Victor Hugo*
The Genesis of Butterflies, a poem by Victor Hugo
Wonderful quote from Hugo about the Hunchback's appearance.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the various artists took things into their own hands when depicting him. The poster promoting the movie that featured Charles Laughton, for example, is wildly wrong (except maybe for the hunchback itself).
Have to admit that the illustration for the Art of the Hunchback book shows an exuberance that I wouldn't have associated with the character, but I like it anyway.
I guess that as far as whether a beast can be a love interest and a hunchbank can't all depends on what pathos the author was trying for.