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I have absolutely no idea on this. A few people have e-mailed me some theories, but none of them panned out. So for now, the official word is still roundabouts the fifteenth century. |
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He didn't die in the novel. In fact, the novel ended with him marrying Fleur-de-Lys de Gondelaurier. |
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Don't know much of this, either. He's a captain of the king's archers, and was recently betrothed to his first-cousin-once-removed Fleur-de-Lys de Gondelaurier. He comes from a very noble family and had some education when he was young, but he has spent most of his life, from a very early age, roaming the countryside as part of the military. He on occasion visits Fleur-de-Lys and her family in Paris. |
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He has a burgundian trimmed moustache,
and he's very handsome; very pleasant to look at. As to what exactly he
looks like, Hugo leaves this up to the imagination of the reader. He has
a swaggering, arrogant mien that Hugo says attracts women, and apparently,
at least at one point in the novel, his costume was much similar to that
of Jupiter's, from the first of the novel. Even though I'm quite aware it
was a joke, since I don't have anything else to give you, I'll give you
the description of Jupiter's costume. "Morever, the costume of Sir Jupiter was very handsome, and contributed little to calming the crowd by attracting its entire attention. Jupiter was dressed in a brigandine covered in black velt, with gilt studs; he was capped by a bicocket garnished in buttons of gilt silver; and if not for the rough and the thick beard which covered each half of his face, if not for the roll of guilded cardboard, scattered with spangles and all bristling with strips of tinsel which he carried in his hand, and in which exercised eyes recognized easily the thunder, if not for his flesh colored feet bound in grecian form, he might have supported the comparison, for the severity of his bearing, with a Briton archer of the regiment of Monsieur de Berry." --Notre Dame de Paris, Victor Hugo ......now if it really does match that, I can't tell you. |
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Phoebus is quite a work of art. Raised in the military, he's about as
vulgar as they come (though in the book, "horn and thunder" is the worst
swearing there is. You figure it out) and quite used to being around the
common masses. Which gives him a great discomfort when he's around
nobility. However, being of noble birth, he's around them very often, and
is unfortunately forced to alter his lifestyle/language/attitude/etc to
match their needs. |
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Phoebus, as stated in the novel, is a word
derived from a Greek god. The god happens to be Phoebus Apollo, who rode
his chariot (carried by six (?) horses and the chariot itself burned,
creating the sun) across the sky every day, from east to west. Apollo was
a god of many things, including medicine, music, and the arts. However,
when bearing the praenomen Phoebus, he was the Sun God. If I remember my Greek (which is beyond shoddy, at
best) phoebus actually means light. What does this have to do with Phoebus de Chateaupers (circumflex omitted for purposes of saving my sanity)? Well, if anyone noticed, Esmeralda was a girl who revolved around the sun.; She loved light, and she loved laughing, and singing, and whatever else is pleasant. So perhaps Phoebus was given that name as sort of an attempt to keep her interests along a theme. It's also irony, that Phoebus may have a name as bright as the sun, yet be so inclined toward darkness and deceit. For darkness is seen to personify deceit (and who does that better than Phoebus?). Also, it might be a slight reference to his superficiality. There is a story, about a child of Phoebus Apollo, named Phaeton, who was almost destroyed by his ego. And so was this child of the sun. It could also be used to mock his beauty. As for de Chateaupers, I can't find anything. However, de in French surnames means of and is often given to higher-ranked families. As for Chateaupers, I know chateau means castle in French, and pers can be the shortened form of anything.& I like to think it's the shortened form personne which means de Chateaupers means of the castle person. Does it make any sense? Not that I can think of. Perhaps it's a real last name with some history that I don't know about. |
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Phoebus, Phoebus, wherefore art thou, Phoebus? Or better yet, wherefore art
thou
not
Phoebus? Allow me to elaborate. Producers really have a fun time with this
young man. After going through the heart-rending process of destroying the
three major characters and building them up from the ground, they see
Phoebus as almost child's play. They can make him egotistical, and not
suffer any consequences beyond giving Esme more character depth. They can
make him a love interest and satisfy the public's need for such. They
can make him a jerk and allow the public to vent all their frustrations at
jerks on him and not on Esme. They can kill him, and he won't be sorely
missed. They can do just about whatever they please. |
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Misty Woodard
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