Senior year we were assigned to find a poem or song and explicate it. I chose the song "Hellfire" from the Disney movie "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

1. Hellfire
by Stephen Schwartz
Ashley Toups

2. Background on Stephen Schwartz
• Stephen Schwartz was born in New York City
on March 6, 1948.
• He studied piano and composition at the
Juilliard School of Music and graduated from
Carnegie Mellon University in 1968.
• His first major accomplishment
was the title song for the play
Butterflies are Free.

3. Background on Stephen Schwartz
• Stephen Schwartz runs musical theatre
workshops in New York and Los Angeles and
serves on the ASCAP board.
• He is also currently president of the
Dramatists’ Guild.
• Some of his famous works are in Pippin,
Godspell, Pocahontas, The Prince of Egypt,
Wicked, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

4. Background on Stephen Schwartz
• Stephen Schwartz has won 3 Oscars, 4
Grammys, 4 Drama Desk Awards, a Golden
Globe Award, 2 Broadcast Film Critics Awards,
Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Broadway Hall
of Fame.
• He has recently been given a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.

5. Hellfire
• It is a lyric poem.
• I chose this song because it is in one of my
favorite Walt Disney movies: The Hunchback
of Notre Dame.
• It is probably one of the most darkest Disney
songs.
• It is a very deep and beautiful song.

6. Hellfire

7. Hellfire
• Beata Maria
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, weak,
licentious crowd
• Then tell me, Maria
Why I see her dancing there
Why her smold'ring eyes still
scorch my soul
•
I feel her, I see her
The sun caught in raven hair
Is blazing in me out of all control
•
•
•
•
Minister Frollo is praying to Mary
whom he calls Maria, who is the
mother of Jesus Christ.
He is praising himself and telling
Mary how good of a man he is.
So he does not understand why he
is having this problem if he is so
righteous.
He uses imagery when he talks
about the gypsy woman,
Esmeralda, when he says, “Why I
see her dancing there/Why her
smold’ring eyes still scorch my
soul/I feel her, I see her/The sun
caught in raven hair.”

8. Hellfire
• Like fire
Hellfire
This fire in my skin
This burning
Desire
Is turning me to sin
It's not my fault
• I'm not to blame
• It is the gypsy girl
The witch who sent this flame
• It's not my fault
• If in God's plan
• He made the devil so much
Stronger than a man
• Symbolism: Fire = his sin which is
lust. His sin is growing and
consuming him like a fire.
• Shift: “This burning/Desire/Is
turning me to sin/It’s not my
fault/I’m not to blame.” He
sounds almost guilty and about to
admit his sin but then quickly
changes his mind and says it is
not his fault and blames it on the
gypsy and God.

9. Hellfire
• Protect me, Maria
Don't let this siren cast her spell
Don't let her fire sear my flesh
and bone
Destroy Esmeralda
And let her taste the fires of hell
Or else let her be mine and mine
alone
• Hellfire
Dark fire
Now gypsy, it's your turn
Choose me or
Your pyre
Be mine or you will burn
• This man is clearly troubled. He
has a passionate, burning, and
dangerous lust for this gypsy.
• He is selfish. He does not care for
or truly lover her. He just cares
about her pleasurable beauty.
• Shift: “Destroy Esmeralda/And let
her taste the fires of hell/Or else
let her be mine and mine alone.”
First, he wants Mary to kill her,
but then he changes his mind and
says to destroy her UNLESS she
belongs to him. He is giving the
gypsy a choice to choose either
him or her fire, death. If he can
not have her, no one can.

10. Hellfire
• God have mercy on her
• God have mercy on me
• But she will be mine
Or she will burn!
• Shift: “God have mercy on
her/God have mercy on me/But
she will be mine/Or she will
burn!” He almost sounds like he
feels guilty for what he is doing
but then he quickly turns back
into a selfish and evil man.

11. Purpose and Theme
• I think the purpose of this poem is to show how sin
can overcome someone and anyone.
• The theme is pride can blind. Minister Frollo is totally
“blind” to his sin because he is prideful and believes
he is a great and holy man when he says, “Beata
Maria/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, weak, licentious
crowd” (Schwartz l. 5-7 and 9-11).

12. Sources
• http://islamickorner.net/showthread.php/10013-Hell-Fire-(Naar-Jahanum)/page11
• http://ashlynnlooi.nm.ru/hell-fire.htm
• http://www.fpx.de/fp/Disney/Lyrics/Hunchback.html#Hellfire
• http://www.stephenschwartz.com/bio/
• http://www.theaterdogs.net/2008/06/18/stephen-schwartzshares-musical-snapshots%E2%80%99/
• http://wicked.wikia.com/wiki/Stephen_Schwartz
• http://gashouseradio.com/2011/09/join-the-new-hellfireclub-on-this-tuesdays-sunshinecast/