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The Magician and Seven of Wands

At first glance, the contrast we see between the Frollo brothers is nothing special. It's obvious, one can spot it from miles away. You don't need to try to decipher many confusing metaphors in order to figure out their dynamic. However, less is often more. A simple contrast was perhaps the best way of establishing their relationship to the reader. 

Dom Claude is somber, serious, studious. He values science and knowledge, and takes his job as the archdeacon of Josas seriously. His free time is mostly spent locked away in his secret chamber, reading various books and doing alchemy experiments. He takes his chastity vows seriously and stays far away from women. He's also somewhat of a recluse, spending most of his time alone and far away from people and other priests. Jehan Frollo is his polar opposite. He's a lively lad who prefers to spend his time in the brothel or drinking with his friends to being at school. Jehan doesn't care about his studies. Instead, he focuses on momentary pleasures such as sex and alcohol. He's also shown to easily get into fights. He lies and uses various manipulative tricks to get money from his older brother. 

Personality wise, it seems as though Jehan is everything that Claude isn't. However, it is also important to note that they also share many qualities as well. Both brothers are intelligent and passionate. While Jehan is more open about his passions, Claude's are repressed. The archdeacon drowns his passions in books and knowledge, while the scholar uses wine, women and brawls. The difference between them can also be seen in their relationship with Quasimodo. While Claude is seen as his master and protector, Jehan deepy detests Quasimodo. Their interests in women are also polar opposites. While Jehan prefers older, fair and blond women, Claude is lusting for Esmeralda - a young, raven haired, Romani girl. 

Their personalities and interests aren't the only things that make the brothers polar opposites. Appearance wise, Claude and Jehan are also quite different. Jehan is young, blond, fair and blue eyed, while Claude is described as looking older than he actually was, bald, broad-shouldered and with dark eyes. Jehan is 'thought of Cupid for beauty' and Claude is described as ugly. Of course, there's the obvious contrast of young and old. It's worth mentioning however that the brothers die in the same way - being pushed off Notre Dame by Quasimodo, breaking their skulls and bodies on the hard stones below them.

Why exactly does this contrast work so well? It's simple. It works because it's obvious and easy to understand. It helps both the writer and the readers. It saves the writer from having to explain the differences between two characters, and it saves the audience confusion that more often than not comes with metaphors. With a contrast as plain and simple as this one, the reader doesn't have to wonder what the author actually meant when writing something, and helps the writer easily establish a character. However, despite Jehan and Claude being basically polar opposites, Hugo made sure to include some things that made them similar. They might be tougher to spot and pick out among various differences, but they are still there. Contrast in literature mostly exists to help writers easily establish scenes, characters etc. without having to spend too much time writing them. The Frollo brothers are a perfect example. Despite Jehan being a background character and appearing in a handful of scenes, we still know almost all there is to know about him. And ultimately, writing Jehan and establishing his character at the same time helps further establish Claude's character and vice versa. "Notre Dame de Paris" has a few obvious contrasts, but the most noticeable one is without a doubt the Frollo brothers one.