The Hunchback of Notre Dame tells the story of a young man named Quasimodo. It was Quasimodo Sunday when a peasant mother left her newborn baby at the foundlings shelf within the walls of the cathedral of Notre Dame. The baby, who was horribly misshapen and had the instincts as a wolf cub, was discovered by a young priest named Claude Frollo, who vowed to adopt the baby and raise him out of love for his own family, which had recently died due to a plague; the priest named the baby "Quasimodo" in honor of that day. When he grew up, Quasimodo became the bell-ringer of the cathedral, and was deafened because of the loud bells he had grown to love. Quasimodo became the object of great interest to the people of Paris, for though everyone knew he was the bell-ringer, nobody had ever seen him outside of the cathedral. Some time later, a beautiful gypsy girl named Esmeralda is accused of a crime she hadn't committed: stabbing an arrogant man named Phoebus, who had made Esmeralda believe he was in love with her. In reality, the crime had been committed by Claude Frollo, who had become archdeacon of Paris. Claude Frollo had become crazed and angry due to a romantic obsession with the gypsy girl Esmeralda. Quasimodo helps Esmeralda in her situation, and the two soon form a great friendship, for both learn to see the value of each other within their skin, rather than outside.