Line #60 TearJerker/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame


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3	!!Live-action films
4	* Quasimodo's flogging in the 1997 version is extremely upsetting, as unlike the other versions, he ''doesn't'' deserve it. While in the other movies he genuinely attempted to kidnap Esmeralda, the only reason he was present at the scene here is because he saw Frollo pay two men to kidnap her, and was fighting them off - the soldiers happened to appear just as he had sent them packing and assumed that he was the culprit, completely ignoring Gringoire when he told them that Quasimodo wasn't at fault.
5	** Quasimodo's death scene at the end is heartbreaking; having been accidentally mortally wounded by Frollo, he is saved from falling off the tower by Esmerelda and Gringoire, who then lay him to rest and set his beloved bells in motion to "sing for him". (Slightly undermined if you are aware that Quasimodo's final line, "Why was I not made of stone like thee?" is pinched from the 1939 film.)
6
7	!! [[Theatre/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Stage Play (Berlin and USA Productions)]]
8	* Jehan's death is bad enough, but the broken way he recounts his lover Florika's death beforehand is particularly heartwrenching.
9	-->'''Frollo:''' That Gypsy, you're with her!?\
10	'''Jehan:''' (''forlornly'') She died three months ago... the pox... terrible thing to watch her suffer...
11	* Esmeralda's introductory song (in the German and La Jolla version) where she got thrown out of a city for protesting injustice. She calls herself a [[ChronicHeroSyndrome fool]] for continuing to right wrongs and paying the price.
12	** [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Phoebus]] later repeats her lines when he [[HeelFaceTurn refuses to burn down the miller's home]].
13	* Phoebus's song in the USA production, "Rest and Recreation." While it starts off fine, [[https://youtu.be/7x_CgJMu19c?t=50s the interlude]] offers something different - Phoebus is still haunted by his "four years at the front", and briefly imagines all those who died at his side. The MoodWhiplash back to the merry tune afterwards doesn't help at all!
14	-->'''Congregation:''' Summoned here to Paris, now I'm far away from battle / [[WarIsHell From clotting blood and rotting wounds of dead and dying men.]] \
15	'''Phoebus & Congregation:''' And whatever I do, I'll make sure this is true... \
16	'''Phoebus:''' I will never go back again!
17	** In a more subtle way, the whole song is about how, after being surrounded by all that violence and bloodshed, he's ''finally'' in Paris. Even better, when he first gets there, he's on a three-day furlough! Finally, he can relax and have a weekend's worth of fun without worrying about anyone trying to kill him or trying to kill anyone else. Except no. As soon as he meets Frollo, he puts Phoebus to work in driving out the Roma, and says there's no time for rest and recreation. Phoebus literally didn't even get ''one day'' of peace before getting thrown into a war ''far'' worse than the one he left behind.
18	* The deleted song "In a Place of Miracles" is included in the show, but it's been reworked to be a much more bittersweet number. In the original scene, Esmeralda and Phoebus confess their love for one another, and while Quasimodo is heartbroken at first, he learns to accept their love after Phoebus and the others treat him with acceptance and kindness. In the show, he doesn't take it well at ''all'', and laments on how everyone has found their "place of miracles" except him (the DarkReprise of "Heaven's Light" is also worked into the song, making Quasi's situation even more tragic).
19	** When Clopin and the Roma join in, they sing about their hopes of finding a place of miracles of their own, as in a place where their kind is accepted, not scorned. Clopin himself really hammers the point home.
20	--->'''Clopin:''' Could there be a country kinder to our race?
21	** The number ends with Esmeralda, Phoebus, Clopin, and the other Roma standing side by side and hand-in-hand, while a lonely Quasi watches from above. It's just one big bittersweet image.
22	** And of course, what happens immediately after the song? [[MoodWhiplash Frollo and his men invade the Court and take Esmeralda to her death]].
23	* "Someday" is included in the German version, sung by Esmeralda and Phoebus as she's escorted to the stake.
24	* In the USA production of "Someday", Esmeralda, who had spent the whole musical being TheDeterminator, and had just refused Frollo's deal to spare her, [[TearsOfFear breaks down]] when the imminence of her death [[IDontWantToDie begins to sink in]]. Phoebus [[CooldownHug comforts her]] and they sing the rest of the song in each other's arms.
25	* While chained to the cathedral and ForcedToWatch Esmeralda's execution, Quasimodo tells the gargoyles to GetOut in song form since they're "Made of Stone" and every time he takes their suggestions he gets in trouble. They finally agree with him and turn to stone.
26	--> '''Antoine:''' But we thought you were made of something stronger.
27	** The entirety of "Made of Stone," for that matter is a powerfully heartbreaking song in its own right. Quasimodo has reached his DespairEventHorizon and in his sorrow over his part in the upcoming demise of Esmeralda, his only true friend, he chooses to break off ties with his sanity and with the rest of humanity, choosing to live a life void of emotion and feeling as if he too were "Made of Stone".
28	** The worst part is seeing the look of despair on the gargoyles' faces as Quasimodo gives into his despair. The gargoyles are figments of Quasimodo's imagination and it can be interpreted as the loving and caring side of Quasimodo heartbroken that all of his hopes are dashed.
29	* Esmeralda gets KilledOffForReal, [[HopeSpot despite Quasimodo]] [[YankTheDogsChain saving her]] from the stake, suffering from smoke inhalation. She thanks him for being a friend to her and falls unconscious.
30	** Even worse, Esmeralda's last words make it very clear that she ''knows'' she isn't going to make it.
31	--->'''Quasimodo:''' (''with pure innocence in his voice'') You can stay here forever!\
32	'''Esmeralda:''' (''chuckles sadly'') I don't think... ''forever''... you were such a good friend, Quasimodo...
33	** Quasi, not understanding, [[PleaseWakeUp shakes her several times]], [[SayMyName saying her name]], until it sinks in. Then he breaks down.
34	** Made worse by the fact that, just like in the Disney film, Esmeralda's prayer in "God Help the Outcasts" wasn't for herself, but for everyone else who needs God's protection, saying that she'd get by on her own and be fine. This time, [[TemptingFate she was wrong about that]].
35	** To drive the knife in further, Frollo appears, and is ecstatic that he and Quasi are free from the [[NeverMyFault "spell of Esmeralda."]] Quasi, grief-stricken, [[TheDogBitesBack attacks his former master]] and drops him from the Notre Dame steeples. While this is going on the gargoyles (or the GreekChorus) echo Frollo's words [[IronicEcho "The wicked shall not go unpunished"]].
36	*** From the libretto: the man and woman who begin the echo are the ghosts of Jehan Frollo and a Romani woman... who is just referred to as "Gypsy Woman" in the lyric booklet, but the actual score and libretto refer to her as Florika, aka Quasimodo's mother.
37	*** It gets worse if you choose to look at Quasimodo's asking Frollo "Loved? What do you know of love? Who have you ever loved?" as one last desperate attempt to hear that somebody, ''anybody'' loves him, namely from the only person he's known and the only person he loves left in his life. Frollo's denial of this serves as the straw that breaks the camel's back for Quasimodo.
38	*** As Quasi's about to throw Frollo off the cathedral, we get this, which is both this and NightmareFuel:
39	---->'''Frollo:''' You don't want to hurt me!\
40	'''Chorus:''' ''[[TheDogBitesBack Yes you do.]]''
41	** In the USA production, Phoebus tries to pick up her body, but his injuries prevent him from doing so. He responds by sobbing into her stomach.
42	** After this, Quasimodo does a DarkReprise of "Out There" about how the world is full of cruelty, but also sparks of light, like Esmeralda. He and Phoebus exit with Esmeralda's body, and Clopin offers another DarkReprise of "Bells of Notre Dame."
43	** Shortly after, Quasimodo sets Esmeralda's body down in front of the crowd. He's about to leave, believing he'll never be accepted now. Then, in a mix of TearJerker and Heartwarming, as a reprise of "Someday" begins, a girl steps forward, paints deformities on her face, and twists her body to show that she is like him and the rest of the crowd follows suit, accepting Quasimodo.
44	** Clopin, formerly the bright-eyed narrator, WellIntentionedExtremist and AFatherToHisMen, is completely broken in the end. In this case, he says "I wish I could offer you a moral/ A trinket to hold in your palm." His question of "what makes a monster and what makes a man?" has more moral ambiguity, given that Quasimodo actually did a monstrous (if [[PayEvilUntoEvil satisfying]]) thing by killing Frollo instead of watching him fall to his death.
45	* In the USA production, the death of ''Frollo'', of all people, is actually quite tragic, due to him being a much more sympathetic and fatherly character. After Quasimodo hurls him to his death, he stares at his master's (offstage) body on the ground and quietly states "There lies...all that I have ever loved..." before breaking down completely.
46	** Quasimodo's wail immediately after that line is painful, both physically and in a tearjerking way, to hear. It sounds less like a grieving man and more like a fatally wounded animal. The fact that his last line in the show is simply him repeating "Gone," doesn't help either.
47	** Frollo's final line as he plummets to his doom is to bellow "DAMNATION!" This can easily be taken to mean that he's referring to ''his own'' damnation--[[MyGodWhatHaveIDone letting it finally sink in for him that he's sunk so low that God will absolutely not forgive him.]]
48	** Even this version of ''[[VillainSong "Hellfire"]]'' is a Tearjerker. You can tell from the tone in his voice alone that this version of Frollo is much closer to the tortured, tragic figure from the book than to the monster he was in the film.
49	* When the USA production played at the Papermill Playhouse, and at the Fulton Opera House, the already gutwrenching finale was slightly altered to tie in with the original ending from the novel. After Quasi removes his "ugly" makeup, he faces the audience and tells them that years later, two skeletons were found in the crypts of Paris, one of a hunchbacked man and the other of a woman cradled in his arms. After someone tried removing the remains, they crumbled into dust.
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Context TearJerker / TheHunchbackOfNotreDame