NovelGuide: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame: Novel Summary: Book V Analysis

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Book V Analysis

Analysis
This brief section accomplishes two important points in the novel. First, it reveals the source of Claude Frollo's secular power, namely his relationship with the King's Attorney who comes to learn from him and, in return, Frollo realizes a certain amount of power at Court. This secular power belies Frollo's own inconsistent faith. This observation leads to the section's second point, namely the manner in which easily disseminated knowledge, thanks to the printing press, undermined the centuries old control of learning and ideas and supplanted the need for great works like churches to convey the spirit of an age.