When looking at their vast catalog of musicals, most Disney villain songs are usually fun songs that give you an idea what the villain’s ambitions are, with the villains themselves never usually being very complicated. But what if a Disney song was able to portray the inner turmoil of a villain as they struggle to figure out their own desires, covering subject matter much more mature than the average Disney film? I present to you part two of my discussion on Hellfire.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame movie depicts the inside of Notre Dame where the archdeacon and several other priests are singing the Confiteor, a Latin prayer for the confession of one’s own sins. The Confiteor plays in the background of Frollo’s song adding beautiful contrast that will be seen later. From there, the camera travels across the night sky as the people of Paris turn off their lights, leaving only one lit window, Frollo’s window. Staring at the sky, Frollo sings his prayer.

At this point, I ask you to watch the scene and listen to the song, as I am going to analyze the lyrics, and the analysis will benefit someone far more if they have listened to and watched the song before. 

Frollo begins by singing “Beata Maria [Blessed Mary] you know I am a righteous man. Of my virtue I am justly proud. Beata Maria, you know I’m so much purer than the common, vulgar, licentious, crowd.” Only ten seconds in and Frollo’s ego is already showing. After his years of power, corruption, and time above the law, the lyrics reflect how his mind has already been twisted and warped into what it is now.

Following these opening lines where Frollo establishes his perceived righteous state of being, he follows be demanding “Then tell me Maria, why I see her standing there, why her smoldering eyes still scorch my soul. I feel her, I see her. The sun caught in her raven hair, is blazing in me out of all control like fire, hellfire, this fire in my skin. This burning desire is turning me to sin.” These lines are among the most important of the entire song, as Frollo admits that he can’t get the image of Esmerelda out of his head, enraged at her awakening immense feelings of physical desire within him. All of this is represented by his vision of Esmerelda dancing within his fireplace in a suggestive manner as he clutches the cloth given to him by her during dance hours earlier.

Both Quasimodo and Frollo are singing about the same woman, but although the innocent and pure-hearted Quasimodo compares love from Esmerelda to the light of heaven, the cruel and corrupt Frollo perceives the “adulterous” feelings awakened in him by Esmerelda to be heretical, comparing them to hellfire, the complete opposite of Quasimodo. Their two songs go hand in hand, and is the reason why they are run together in one song for the movie’s official soundtrack. Their tonal differences reflect the intentions of the movie’s protagonist and antagonist beautifully, as the audience is given a direct comparison between the two as they sing about the same woman, Quasimodo desiring romantic companionship and for Frollo, physical desire.

Following the first chorus, dozens of strange hooded figures surround Frollo, representing his personal shame for having such adulterous feelings that go against his strict Catholic faith. It is at this scene where the song takes a turn, with Frollo singing “It’s not my fault, I’m not to blame, it is the Gypsy girl, the witch who sent this flame.” The confession sung by the priests playing in the background is at its greatest importance here, as, between each line, the priests chant “mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa” which translates to english as “Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.”

These lines function similarly to Heaven’s Light, as they depict the contrast between good and Frollo’s evil. Whilst the priests apologize for their sins and wrongdoings, Frollo chooses not to admit to his true feelings and instead blame them on Esmerelda, calling her a “witch” for daring to give him such feelings, despite them being his own. At this point, we learn that Frollo isn’t the holy man he claims to be, for whilst all the true holy figures are humble enough to admit to their own faults, Frollo must maintain his self purity and blame others for his own natural feelings.

From there on, the chant continues in the background, as Frollo continues to deny any wrongdoing exclaiming “It’s not my fault, if in God’s plan, he made the devil so much stronger than a man.” Here, Frollo attempts to justify himself for what he has said, almost blaming God Himself for letting the devil be able to corrupt a mortal man so easily. Having convinced himself that his feelings are not his fault, but that of Esmerelda, he then becomes focused on stopping her supposed attempt to corrupt his soul.

Emerging from the chant, the music lets loose alongside Frollo’s emotions. While the music reaches its spectacle scale, Frollo sings “Protect me Maria, don’t let this siren cast her spell, don’t let her fire sear my flesh and bone. Destroy Esmerelda and let her taste the fires of Hell, or else let her be mine or mine alone.” As Frollo’s desperate bargaining and inner turmoil continues to swell alongside the music, his twisted sense of morality based in his flawed perception of the Catholic faith corrupts him to the point where he believes the only way to rid himself of these feelings is to kill Esmerelda. Although when it finally seems to make up his

mind and decide to kill her, his personal desire takes control when he also says he wants her to “be mine and mine alone”. 

Unable to separate his desires and pure hatred, Frollo finds himself at a crossroad of inner turmoil, unable to decide what to do with this woman that he still believes to have trapped within the cathedral. Before returning to the song, a guard enters Frollo’s chambers to tell him that Esmerelda has escaped. Although this enrages Frollo, it finally allows him to decide what he is going to do with Esmerelda, claiming that he is willing to “burf down all of Paris” to find her. 

Abandoning his faith and basic human morality, Frollo returns to his song after the guard leaves, singing “Hellfire, dark fire, now gypsy it’s your turn. Choose me or your pyre. Be mine or you will burn.” At this point, he offers Esmerelda only two options: become his object or be burned at the stake.

 Frollo’s justification for his actions was his belief that he was pure, but after giving in to his desire and deciding to either obtain or kill Esmerelda, willing to go against his own faith to do so, the hypocrisy of his actions becomes clear, and although the audience may have been able to somewhat understand his character’s struggle, it becomes evident that his character is flawed beyond the point of redemption.

Following the grand swelling of the music during the second chorus, the music calms all the way down as Frollo, for the briefest of moments, feels sorry for what he is about to do, praying “God have mercy on her. God have mercy on Me” this glimpse into the once kind soul of a man that has since been mutated by power and ego quickly slips away as the music reaches its highest peak with Frollo exclaiming to the Heavens “But she will be mine, or she will burn.”

The lyrics and music themselves were written by Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken respectively, with Schwartz expertly crafting poetic lyrics that poetically and subconsciously depicted the inner character of Frollo to the audience. And as for Menken, he is able to create music so grand and bombastic that its scale is almost as grand as Notre Dame itself!

However, crafting the perfect villain and villain song is meaningless unless you have the right man to play the part. Tony Jay, the voice actor for Frollo, brings so much life to the character, with his deep and commanding voice creating an aura of power surrounding Frollo that very few Disney villains have been able to rival. Often times, voice actors don’t sing their own character’s songs, often lacking the musical talent to do so, but for Tony Jay, he sings Hellfire himself, and with his amazing voice, he brings so much power and energy to the character that if Disney were to ever consider The Hunchback of Notre Dame for un upcoming live-action reboot, I doubt there is anyone that could match Jay’s iconic performance.

Frollo’s conflict with his desires and his Catholic faith are struggles vastly more mature than other Disney villains, culminating in a villain song that will forever hold the title of greatest Disney Villain song.