The Notre Dame Cathedral is the central symbol of Victor Hugo's novel. More than a house of worship or a grand building, it is an expression of the medieval culture of the characters and a symbol of how people are shaped by their surroundings. For example, Quasimodo finds comfort within the gothic confines of Notre Dame. Not only is it the only place where he is not mocked or persecuted, but even the stone figures throughout the space appear friendly to him:

His cathedral was enough for him. It was peopled with marble figures of kings, saints and bishops who at least did not laugh in his face and looked at him with only tranquillity and benevolence. The other statues, those of monsters and demons, had no hatred for him—he resembled them too closely for that. It was rather the rest of mankind that they jeered at. The saints were his friends and blessed him; the monsters were his friends and kept watch over him. He would sometimes spend whole hours crouched before one of the statues in solitary conversation with it.

Note that the grotesquery of the gargoyles in particular is a comfort to Quasimodo because they make him feel less horrible about his ghastly appearance. Both the saints and the monsters help give him a sense of identity and belonging, much as architecture does for most people within the culture that produced it.

Architecture in general plays a significant role in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Hugo makes architecture out to be a kind of text in a culture where most people did not have the ability to read. It is also an art form in which there is no one singular artist, as with a novel or painting. A building is born from the combined effort of many people, from the architect to the laborers. Hugo expands upon this idea, believing that architecture is "the offspring of a nation's effort"—that is, the expression of a society and a sort of historical text in its own way. In Hugo's novel, Notre Dame becomes the main symbol of this idea and a monument of medieval France.

What is the significance of Notre Dame Cathedral's structure in Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame?

The Hunchback of Notre Dame was written by the French author Victor Hugo. It was first published in 1831. The novel is set in the late 15th century in Paris, and it is an example of romantic literature. Interestingly, this novel is called Notre-Dame de Paris in the original French version, which shows the significance of Notre Dame Cathedral for the story.

Victor Hugo felt very strongly about Notre Dame, and he worried that architecture was not appreciated sufficiently by his fellow citizens. Hugo felt the need to highlight the fact that people should take more pride in their cathedral and that they should look after it better. At the time, Notre Dame was in desperate need of renovation. In Hugo's mind, the cathedral had become ugly and deformed through years of neglect. Therefore, one could argue that Quasimodo is a metaphor for this deteriorating cathedral, as he is also ugly and deformed. In fact, Quasimodo is therefore the personified representation of the cathedral.

The cathedral was built in typical Gothic architecture, as it features huge stain glass windows, pointed arches, gargoyles, and flying buttresses. These are all elements that are reflected in the story of the book. For example, the beautiful stain glass windows can be interpreted as a comparison to Esmeralda's life—life can seem dark, but there is always hope and light, even in the darkest times. This implies to the reader how one should never give up and that hope is to be found within the church, just like Esmeralda found comfort inside the cathedral during dark times.

The cathedral provides safety for Esmeralda. This is underlined through the architecture of Notre Dame, as the towers, spikes and arches almost make the cathedral appear like a fortress, a visual representation of Esmeralda’s safety within the cathedral. This is also underlined by the fact that the cathedral features gargoyles, which are grotesque and scary looking figures made from stone. Gargoyles were used as symbols for the evil in the world. Placing them on the outside of the cathedral highlighted that there is no evil within the church, there is but outside. They were also seen as protection from evil, just like Esmeralda tried to find protection within Notre Dame.