I love writing meta for hond, but this one makes me nervous because it explains my preference for the movie version over the musical version in one aspect, and that is the development of Phoebus’s and Esmeralda’s romance. As a qualifier, I stress that I ADORE the musical, and can go on for days talking about my love for it, but this is not the post for that.
I’m going to do a comparison of the progression of their romance in both movie and musical.
In the movie, Phoebus and Esmeralda first meet in the street. He is immediately taken to her, while she is ever the consummate performer who doesn’t miss a beat even with this dashing man standing in front of her. She even smirks a little at him, probably accustomed to men being besotted by her.
It is when soldiers interfere that things begin to heat up. Phoebus witnesses the bias the soldiers show when they assume she stole the money she actually earned. Esmeralda breaks free from the soldiers’ hold and runs off, while Phoebus blocks the soldiers by using Achilles and then reveals himself to be a captain.
