A reason visit to an amazing short story has intrigued me to write this blog. It is none other than the famous Phantom of the Opera written by Gaston Leroux. We all have heard the story and even a movie and plays have been conducted based on this story. What can I say, a story that drives us deep into a love story that is hard to leave and at the same time difficult to cherish. I would not be dramatic to say that I teared up at the last chapter, but I would say that my heart felt heavy after completing the chapters. You want to know why?
Well today I’m here to share this wonderful love story with all of you in terms of an assignment that is done with 3 other group members and myself (Kusha, Saranya, Siti Hamidah), so here we are to briefly narrate the story of the Phantom of the Opera and don’t worry it is not going to bore you’ll.
Not waiting for any cue, let’s dive in!
What is the Phantom of the Opera all about?
To begin with the story begins by introducing the readers to the Opera house and the members, but it also gives a gist about the mystery behind the Opera Ghost (that is how the members call it). This Opera Ghost’s story gives thrill and chill to everyone, but in funny circumstances it does not affect the new managers, M.M Richard and Moncharmain. With growing fear about the Opera Ghost and the current death of Joseph Buquet (the chief of stagehand) , here begins the introduction of two childhood buddies, Christine Daae (a performer in the Opera House) and Raoul de Chagny (a viscount). As much as Raoul can remember Christine and how he returned her scarf, Daae seemed not to remember him or the incident. But all seems certain to Raoul that Christine might be in love with someone when he eavesdrops on her conversation with a man who says, “Christine you must love me”. Therefore, is it real that Christinne is in love with someone?
The question of Daae's relationship has started consuming the viscount. He is not able to know if she is in love with someone else. As this continues, Christine decides to meet Raoul after their first meeting and here Christine says she remembers him and also has come to see the Angel of Music (it is to be believed from Heaven and both Raoul and Christinne have heard about it from Christine’s father’s stories). But her encounters do not make up Raoul’s mind and when he decides to discover further he too comes across the Angel of Music, but not too long after that he is knocked off that night after witnessing Daae to have visited her fathers grave at Perros. As the days pass in grief over the relationship, Raoul soon discovers that Christine has been a victim or prisoner to someone who controls her action and commands her to not marry anyone. But Christine's action does work in similarity to Raoul’s vision of the situation. She decides to tell him about the Angel of Music who turns out to be none other than the vicious Opera Ghost, who feeds fear to everyone. Christine's explanation angers Raoul as he gets to know how Erik (the name of the Opera Ghost) abducted Christine the first time, how he sympathetically told he is in love with her and while the flashback reveals Christine’s captivity state, she was also eager to look behind the mask of Erik to know how he looks like. To her terror, she finds a face that is a corpse like, no nose, has human skull bulging out, more dreadful appearances (no offence but all from the story’s actual description) and this made Christine even more afraid. As she already knows how he looks, a promise is made to live with him forever, but Christine diverts it to tell Erik that she shall leave and will return to him soon.
The promise of returning back seems less likely because Erik knows Christine’s idea of trying to escape with Raoul. As the viscount is much in anger he decides to hurt Erik at any cost, but his actions seem madfull to his brother, the Count de Chagny. The brother’s fear increases as the public has come to know that the viscount and Christine will run away and marry each other, which is true, but things take a different turn when Christine disappears the night of her performance. Who took her? Where did she go? Is it Erik? I too had all these questions and the answer to these questions led Raoul to find Christine. But this time, there is someone to lead the way for him. Persian is someone who works in the Opera House is aware about the abduction of Christine and his instincts were right that this situation shall take place because Erik himself told the Persian that he is in love. The Persian have met Erik before personally twice by the lake house (which is located under the Opera House and this is the place Erik keeps Christine captivated) and this is where he got to know that Erik is in love. The Persian shows the way to reach the lake house via the inner cellars that were built by Erik. Somehow they manage to reach the lake house, but gets trapped in a room that is known as torture-chamber (Erik is very much familiar in building this rooms because he has experience in it). Their effort to get out from the room seems vain because Erik has sensed their presence and decides to roast them in heat first then drown them in water. The latter decision was made by asking Christine to choose between a grasshopper or scorpion (the former is to burn the entire lake house with gun powders in barrels and the latter for her to accept Erik’s proposal).
The epic love story of Erik is stopped as he narrates to the Persian that he is dying of love. He tells that eagered man that when he tried to kiss Christine’s forehead by exposing his unlovely face, but Christine did not feel scared or turned her face away instead she said “poor Erik”. He also continues that this is the first time he has kissed a woman even though his mother did not allow him to kiss her because of his appearance. And when I said the epic love story comes to a stop because Erik decides to let Daae go with her beloved viscount as he knows that the beautiful woman is only in love with Raoul. He also felt her tears mingled with his and he felt complete for living as others because of her care. After hearing this story the Persian remains silent and Erik finally concludes his words by saying that he gave back the golden ring (the gift he gave to Christine as a symbol of her taken) to Daae and told her that once he is dead she shall bury the ring with him. With that, he leaves and the news of Erik’s death comes three weeks later.
A story always has its own beauty when we include the setting (time or place in a literature component) of a story for readers pleasure of reading. Thanks to my member, Siti Hamidah for listing out the settings that can be found in this story.
The Phantom of the Opera was originally the fictional story of French author Gaston Leroux. It first appeared as a serial in 1909 and 1910. Many people are familiar with two popular versions of the novel: the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney and Andrew Lloyd Webber, who won the 1986 music production. The Phantom is set in the Opera House of Palais Garnier, Paris, France. This is the famous setting that is easily found by readers because the Phantom of the Opera takes place originally in Paris.
Below are the other settings included in the Phantom of the Opera:
1) Perros-guirec ; this setting is found in the flashback (Chapter 5) how Christine and Raoul met each other when they were young and how again they met each other to discuss Daae's relationship and about the Angel of Music.
2) The lake house ; this setting is located below the Opera House where Erik takes Christine as his captive to keep her there.
3) Rue du Faubourg ; this is the setting of one of the performers, Carlotta. She lives here and this is found from Chapter 7 when she received an anonymous letter from the Opera Ghost.
Aren’t we all a little picky to choose our favorite genre? It can be for movies, songs or even short stories and in this story my group member, Saranya has helped all of you to choose the genre or themes easily by listing the themes for each chapter. I would not suggest any readers to skip other chapters which do not include your favorite themes but you can choose to read again, but only this time on the chapters that have your favorite themes.
A) Life is a masked ball (the overall theme of this story)
A writer does not set his gothic horror story in the setting of an opera house without addressing issues of reality, illusion, and perception. The plot revolves around seemingly impossible feats, overwhelming drama, and misdirection; in this sense, the entire novel becomes an exercise in arguing that most of what we experience in life is, to some extent, an illusion.
B) Family (Chapter 1-10 and Chapter 13)
The love Daae had for her father even after his death she decided to let go of music. On the other hand will be the devastated brother Comte de Chagny (Raoul’s brother) who cares about his brother's sudden change in action.
C) Jealousy vs. Love (Chapter 2, Chapter 9 and Chapter 13)
Raoul’s desperate to know if Daae is in a relationship whereas Erik who is jealous of Daae’s love for the viscount. They both share the same feeling of being in love with the same girl and being suspicious and jealous when she talks aor feels for either Raoul or Erik.
D) Revolt Against Society (Chapter 3, 4 and Chapter 25)
The rejection because of his appearance enraged him towards the society that gave him an idea of exploding the Opera House for his satisfaction to kill the human race.
E) Looks vs. Talent (Chapter3)
Just because Erik;s figure has been his weakness it let down the guard in him that only good looks can perform. Which is not true, a skillful and talented person can anytime propose his talent openly without including the physical appearance to be a barrier. As there is talent, looks do not bother the audience.
F) Anger (Chapter 6-11)
An emotion that speaks less, but acts out vigorously. It is a dangerous emotion that can be used to start a murder and here, being humilated and has been tremendously hurt, Erik decides to use this anger into a weapon that hurts anyone who come across him. Be it the incident of fearing the managers that they should not sell the Box Five, giving him time to time payment, warning Carlotta to not perform because he wants his loved one to perform. A tool that can ruin every aspect of a person’s life.
G) Revenge, Violence, and Redemption(Chapter 8,12,13,14,16.22,23,24,and Chapter 25)
Another truly absurd thing we human race do is take revenge. It is not helpful because it makes things even more complex for you until your loved ones hate you. Erik does not look great with the plan of killing the human race that neglected him, he is not giving good but earning a full sin.and being violent just to attain what you want is selfish and by attempting violence on Daae made her hate him first. We are no one to hurt someone and gain our profit.
H) The Supernatural vs. the Natural (Chapter 1-15,17,18,19,20,21,22,24 and Chapter25)
Not everything we see becomes natural or not everything we feel invisibly is supernatural. Let's not let the latter feel confusing for us. Just like how Gaston tries to reveal to his readers that the death of Joseph is done by a ghost and the one that has been creating disturbing events in the Opera is an unknown figure. Well supernatural may exist, but sometimes it is up to us to not let it affect us just like Daae who believes the Angel of Music is true and she was trapped by Erik. God is not supernatural, he is natural and that is why we humans are a reason for his existence.
I) Beauty vs. Ugliness(Chapter 1,2,4,6,8,10,13,17,20,22, and Chapter23)
Neither beauty tells the truth nor ugliness is required to fall in love. There is no such thing as that. Beauty or not your heart should be pure for one to feel you and understand you. Erik seems to be scary and ugly, but Daae understood his grief and the love he has been longing for.
*READ THE ENTIRE STORY TO LEARN ABOUT THE STORY!
“Inside out’, is a movie that has a metaphor in the title itself. The title and the storyline (shows the emotions of an individual) does not make sense, and that is why it is a metaphor. Connecting 2 unfamiliar things into one. Here in our blog, Kusha, a member of the group has penned out the metaphors that can be found in this Gaston Leroux’s fantasy. Hope you don’t forget to leave the he-art in dreaming for metaphors.
• The Phantom's mask
The Phantom's mask is a metaphor for deception and false looks. While the Phantom is connected with the mask, every character in the novel wears a metaphorical mask and pretends to be someone else in order to be accepted by the society in which they live.
• The Cave
There are many parallels between the Phantom's home cave and mythological descriptions of the underworld. As a result, the cave can be interpreted as a metaphor for death.
• The Theater
The theater is a place where anything can happen. Inside the theater, illusions come to life, and for some characters, the theater is a place where reality and illusion collide, interact, and go unnoticed. As a result, the theater serves as a metaphor for illusion and communication between reality and irrationality, as well as a link between dreams and reality.
Didn’t I mention that for this assignment we shall also include our favorite characters? Oops! I did forget that part, but the below are some characters we chose from the story that we like and somehow are related to us, we have given reasons based on the plot (chain of events), setting, theme and metaphor.
THE PERSIAN:
Why do we like him?
In my opinion, a reader's perspective to choose a character is always to find it in the flow of the story. Sometimes it looks like the major characters are our favorite, but as soon as we dive into the story we know exactly what descriptive we are finding in our characters. My perspective of choosing a character, is by always to know how the character has contributed in the story and that is why I have chose the Persian and his character that spoke some negative side of the Opera Ghost may seem wrong, but he at the same time is willing to risk his life to safe Christine’s by helping Raoul to lead the way to the lake house. It normally does not take much courage to protect ourselves, just imagine doing this for another person? That is how I really got fascinated with his character and I feel related too.
A THEME as an honor to the Persian?
The amount of bravery to enter the torture chamber, die of heat, drown of water, explode by barrels of gun-powder, these cannot be taken easy for someone who is helping another, therefore a theme to only describe his chapters would be “A heart to risk for others”.
Where did the Persian become famous?
Even though the entire story revolves around Christine, Erik and Raoul, the storyline that helped Raoul is the great one which is from Chapter 20-26, helping Raoul to find the cellars that lead to the lake house, experiencing the heat, water and fear (which will be included as the climax of the story, a boiling point of conflict) and lastly rescued from death with Raoul and knowing the truth about Erik giving away his love (which would be the falling action).
Where was the character involved?
The Persian was involved in bringing Raoul through the cellars that Erik built, heading towards the lake house. Apart from it will be his appearance in the lake house, before helping Raoul and while he was helping the viscount. He also ended up in a torture chamber build by Erik in the lake house.
CHRISTINE DAAE:
Why do we like her?
It was very easy to connect with Daae because she is the life in this story and whatever she does holds our heart into it. One thing which directly lifts us into spirit is her kindness for caring for others, especially not judging their looks. This is specific to Erik, but the way she cares for him is certainly a feeling not everyone would express. This kindness melts us down.
Theme for the chapters she appeared in?
It is hard to not give away the best theme for the chapters she appeared in and for that we would like to give away a theme which is, “The Angel of Kindness”. Her kindness that she showed to Erik when he abducted her and brought her to the lake house, even though there was a fear in her and especially after encountering his face, she did manage to calm him down and to not make him feel even more ugly of himself.
Where exactly did Daae get our attention?
We were overwhelmed with her kindness when she projected it in Chapter 12, the flashback of revealing Erik kidnapping her to Raoul. This chapter is known as rising action (a part of the plot in which the conflict increases). And together with that we can see her kindness in the last chapter which is known as the denouement (the end of the plot) where she did not fear Erik kissing her forehead and how she took in the kiss without hesitating for his look.
The settings for Daae where she appeared?
She appeared in the Opera house mostly for her performance, the kidnapping, when she met Raoul after so long and when she decided to tell Raoul about Erik. She also appeared in the lake house that Erik built under the Opera House to keep her there.
CARLOTTA:
Why do we like the soprano?
She is one of the minor characters too, but her act of bravery is what we are impressed with. It is simply what we need in a woman to show out that she can fight or stand for her own rights and with that, we definitely relate to this point that she was brave and we love to be brave just like her.
A theme for her bravery?
Even though she appears in a few chapters, bravery is still an act we should talk about. A theme that we can give to her in Chapter 7 will be, “The guts to stay strong”. She did attend the performance that evening even though she received a warning letter from the Opera Ghost.
Her bravery is spotted where?
Her bravery was spotted at the rising action of the plot in Chapter 7 when she decides to do her performance she was muted with a toad’s sound, but she decided to continue until things took a different turn. Another bravery act of hers would be in Chapter 14, she came back to the Opera House to settle down with Daae’s performance and this would be the first time after the toad’s incident, but that did not keep her from feeling shamed.
Carlotta’s famous place?
She was definitely famous from the performance she made in the Opera House. Apart from that would be her house when she received the letter from Erik to not perform, which is Rue du Faubourg St.Honore.
PHANTOM:
How is he related to us?
Phantom may seem to be the antagonist of the story, but that did not stop us from including him to be one of our favorite characters. We like Phantom because he is passionate about music. He is known from this story to be a musical genius, may be hidden in the walls, but he is unmistakably pulling the strings. Though he is a quiet poltergeist in general, he is willing to be more malevolent when he wants something. Knowing his other side of wanting to be in love is really sympathetic for us.
A theme that is dedicated to Phantom?
It was hard to differentiate if the Opera Ghost was Erik, but as we found out from Daae’s confession the best theme to give for his act in all the chapters would be, “Masked in the face, but the emotions are true”. Which is totally true because he may seem masked up because of his hideous face, but his emotions to be loved, his anger due to disobedience are truthful.
Where did we really like Phantom?
It is specifically found in Chapter 12. When Daae explains to Raoul about Erik the night before her second abduction took place, she told Raoul that he has been working on a masterpiece which is Don Juan Triumphant, a musical that he is working on for the last 20 years. The passion he shows for this work makes him not realize anything going around him. This really shows how much he loves music.
His metaphor as a remembrance?
The mirror. The mirror represents Christine's denial that the Phantom is merely another face of herself and the Phantom's destruction of the mirror represents her denial. When conversing to the Phantom, Christine states, "I am the mask you wear." This is her telling her genuine self that she is concealing her true self and putting on a show. Christine recognized herself in the mirror after it was shattered. She was dressed in a wedding gown. This essentially suggests that she desires to be loved, which is a vital aspect of any marriage. Raoul is the one who has feelings for her.
Where was he found?
Erik or I should say Phantom was found in the Opera House, his lake house and lastly at Persian’s house.
