She was born in 1447 in Rheims, Paris (perhaps on the Rue de Folle-Peine).  I have no exact birthdate.  At the time of the book, she was either 35 or 36 -- probably 36.

She died the day that Esmeralda was executed.  After trying to defend her daughter from the soldiers, she latched onto Esme as they dragged the gypsy away.  Upon reaching the gibbet, and as they started to carry Esme up to hang her, Paquette jumped up and bit the hangman's hand.  She was pried off, where she fell and hit her head on the cobblestones.  And didn't move again.  When I first read the book, I just assumed that she had fought to save Esme with the very last breath in her body.  That's a bit of a more romantic notion than her dying by blunt trauma to the head.

Paquette actually has the most complicated past in the entire book.  She was born in Rheims, France to Guybertaut, a minstrel on the boats of Rheims, and her mother, the sister of Monsieur Mathieu Pradon, a master coppersmith and tinman in Paris in the Rue de Parin-Garlin  (rues are streets).  Her father died while she was young, and so her mother had to raise her.  Her mom taught her a bit of braiding and toy-making, and with those skills, they managed to etch a living for about a decade.  They just barely scraped by, and while they were quite prosperous when her father lived, they were quite poor after he died.  However, Paquette was very lovely, even at the age of 14, and so they took to calling her La Chantefleurie.  And in the winter, when she became red in the cheeks from the cold, they called her "Paquette" or "Paquerette."  When she was 14, she came to church wearing a gold crucifix, and the entire town seemed to realize (without it being stated explicitly) that she had lost her virginity.  Then proceeds a list of all the men she sold herself to, which isn't interesting enough to recount.  But the point made by such a list is that she started very high, and as time wore on, she began to descend.  Soon, she was too old and too used to be wanted by any high official, and she became common property.  Prostitution started bringing just as much money as her braiding used to.  But on St Paula's Day, in 1466, she gave birth to a baby girl, which she named Agnès (she had long since lost her family name).  She devoted her entire being to the child, looking for love through it that she never received from anyone else.  She gave it everything she could, making dainty clothes for it, adorning it with ribbons, and even making these two very beautiful, very tiny pink satin shoes.  Then one day, several months later, a tribe of gypsies came to Rheims.  She took her daughter out to see them and they admired the little girl as they told her fortune.  Upon getting back to town, Paquette put her daughter to bed and then ran to a neighbor on another street to tell her what the gypsies had said.  When she returned home, she found her child missing, only one of the satin shoes left.  Distraught, she went about town searching for the child, but couldn't figure out who took her.  When she went home again, a neighbor reported seeing two gypsies enter her house with a bundle, and the sounds of a baby were coming from inside.  However, in her room wasn't her daughter, but a hideous monster of a child, squawling and dragging himself across the floor.  They took it away, because she was starting to freak out.  Yet when they went to search for the gypsy camp, it was gone.  And two days later, a few ribbons were found near a fire, with some blood and goat's dung, and they assumed the gypsies ate the baby for their Witches' Sabbath.  Paquette was beside herself, and the next day (her hair having turned gray over night) she left Rheims.  No one knew what happened to her -- all they could find was her golden crucifix hanging from a stone in a field.  Some say she drowned.            But instead, she had walked to Paris, where she had locked herself in this sort of cell  -- it's a cell built into the side of the Tour-Roland, with nothing but a barred window (don't ask my how penitents get in).  It was built by Madame Rolande who wished to mourn the loss of her father during the Crusades, and made for all women who wished to pray, fast, and hide away from the public for all their days in mourning.  Women who lost loved ones would stay in there, with no fire, no food, no water.  All they have is a slab of rock to lay their heads on, and the charity given by people who pass the window.  Above the window is written TU ORA, which the people took to calling "Trou-aux-Rats" which basically means "the rathole".  This is where Paquette locked herself for 16 years, dressed only in sack cloth (thin, itchy cloth) and constantly praying.  She took on many nicknames, since no one knew her name, such as Sister Gudule, the Recluse, the Sachette (named after the sack-cloth she wears).  And no one knew anything about her, except she absolutely hated gypsies with a passion, and would scream at them when they passed.  She especially hated the gypsy La Esmeralda.  Later in the story, Frollo turned Esmeralda over to Paquette, to have the lady hold her.  However, upon consulting, they discovered that Esme had the match to the little satin slipper Paquette had.  And discovered that Esme was her daughter.  So Paquette broke open the bars of the window, dragged Esme in, and tried to protect her from the soldiers searching for the girl.

I could quote from the book, but there are too many passages, too thinly spread out.  So I'll just describe her as the book goes along.  She started out very young and very pretty.  I would assume she had black hair, but they don't mention that.  She had pretty teeth and beautiful eyes, and rosy cheeks in winter.  However, as she got older, she developed wrinkles and her expression become morose.  That all changed when she had her daughter, and she positively glowed again.  Then her daughter was kidnapped, and Paquette's hair turned gray.  This is how she looks during the book:       She has long gray hair that reaches her feet.  Her eyes are sunken in, her face is gaunt and sickly pale.  Her lips are blue, and her hands are claw-like.  I think the picture above is a good one of her.

Paquette doesn't have much written about her in the book.  There's a recount of her history by another person, and except for the last few chapters, all she really does is scream at people/Esmeralda.  But I'll try to derive her personality from her actions.       Her father died young, meaning she had a lack of male influence in her life.  Speaking as nothing close to a professional psychologist, I would assume this caused her to seek male companionship in her later years, and started her downfall.  She couldn't be spoiled, because both she and her mother had to work hard for many years.  Honestly, Hugo doesn't have much of a grasp on women (seeing as he ain't a woman) so she's fairly stereotypical.  At the age of 14, never having anything, but being quite a beauty and quite aware of it, she was charmed into the bed of a Viscount, and given a gift.  I don't think she ever understood what prostitution was.  She was just a little girl who was in love with a Viscount, and learned she could get trinkets for that love.  However, after a while, he got tired of her, and she, still seeking both that male companionship and those little signs of love, took someone else.  Slowly, she went down the ladder.  She knew her life was getting worse, but she just needed someone.  And no one would have her.  So she took her love the way she could -- by selling herself.  And when all seemed lost, and she would never find true love, she instead starting wishing for a child.  A child that would most definitely love her.  God did give her a daughter, and she drowned herself in that child.  All the love, all the attention she had ever wanted was given to her through her baby girl.  She didn't even realize that the baby wasn't doing anything -- she was doing it all.  She didn't realize that by giving all of her heart, she was receiving the love she so desperately wanted.  Therefore, seeing as the child was the only thing she could love, she became obsessed with it.  And when she lost it, it destroyed her.        In this book, you're either passionate or you're impassionate (don't you just hate it when you realized you've been using a word wrong?  Don't ask).  And Paquette's one of the passionate ones.  Upon losing her daughter, she devoted herself to the mourning of that daughter.  She locked herself up for 16 years.  Now, I know it's hard to lose a child, and you never get over the pain.  But this woman takes it to the extreme.  She dwells in her sadness.  All the energy she devoted to her daughter, she now devoted to missing her daughter, and vowed never to live again unless her child returned.  This is pretty dang emphatic.  Whenever she saw a gypsy, she took to screaming at it like a madwoman.         And I would say that she was a madwoman, except for her last, and greatest, scene.  She made the most heart-rending speech, to save her child.  She wasn't a madwoman -- just a mother protecting her daughter, which can be the insanest of all sometimes.  Another, and final, thing I'll point out.  In her speech, she never said a thing about Esme.  She just talked about herself, and how they couldn't take her daughter from her now that she had her back.  Paquette seems to have always been a selfish little thing.  I suppose in her mind, her daughter never grew up.  And in that infant stage, the child was nothing more than a prized possession of hers.  She always liked trinkets.  And it was that way until the end.

Oh, this woman has so many names.  La Chantefleurie, Paquette, Pâquerette, Sister Gudule, the Recluse, the Sachette.....I don't even know where to begin.  I need to do some research on two of the names (I believe Paquette means 'ruddy-cheeked' but I need to check), but here are some things to point out.  First of all, there are three names each for two phases of her life.  The beautiful, gay names describe her in her youth.  The last three sterile, harsh names describe her later in her life.  I'll theorize on this when I have time to think.  Another thing to point out -- Paquette first gained the name La Chantefleurie (the flower song) when she was a beautiful, young teenager.  Her daughter, around the same age as she was, has a similar name in form -- La Esmeralda.  And just like her mother, Esme has no name to claim before this one.  She's forgotten it, also like her mother.  More on this when I have time...

The Many Faces of Paquette

Alright, Paquette is, like, the least important character in all of the versions.  That's becuase she's literally non-existent in almost every single one.  Yup.  I watched them.  I know now.  Paquette is despised by the movie industry.  They feel like they got a good enough story without giving it anymore depth.  So, therefore, Paquette is rendered useless.  Except in one movie...       There is a Sister Godule in the 1923 silent film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, staring Lon Chaney.  Played by Gladys Brockwell, she of course spends most of her time ranting at Esme.  There's a nice, quick scene that catches the audience up to date about her past, and how her kid was stolen.  Then that's pretty much ignored until practically the end, when Paquette comes out of her cell, starts harrassing the gypsy who's being carted by, accidentally pulls a medallion off of her (in this version, a medallion was given to Esme when she was a kid, not a pouch with a shoe), realizes it's her kid, and falls down and dies from.......don't ask stupid questions.       Well, as far as I know.....that's it!  You have the entire list of the movies that the Sachette has appeared in.  Ain't that impressive?  I don't think she's very essential to the plot.  I mean, she's only needed to show the ironic twist of fate that destroyed the lives of two star-crossed souls.  I think it's a neat little twist that really adds something to the book.  However, the book's too long for a movie as it is.  So they have to cut something out....and I suppose they think too many plot twists (that meaning one) would be too confusing for the general public.

Back to Fleur de Lys                  Return to Characters' Page

This page (c) Misty Woodard 2000-2001 Graphics and links will be removed upon request Please do not use the text or banners on this page without permission