Esmeralda (French: [ɛs.me.ʁɑl.da]), born Agnès, is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (French: Notre-Dame de Paris). She is a French Roma girl (near the end of the book, it is revealed that her biological mother was a French woman). She constantly attracts men with her seductive dances, and is rarely seen without her clever goat Djali. She is around 16 years old and has a kind and generous heart. Her kindness and beauty attract the attention of several men, including the cruel archdeacon Claude Frollo and the handsome Captain Phoebus.