The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera, most famous nowadays as an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, is based on the gothic horror novel Fantome de l'Opera by the French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published in the English language by Mills and Boon (?!) in 1911.

It has been an enduring tale which has spawned two musical plays and several movies.

In the Lloyd Webber theatrical version, the Phantom appears to have almost mysterious superhuman magical powers and the mystery of the story is not knowing whether he is real or is a ghost.

In other versions of the tale, the Phantom is less otherworldly. In the novel, he is called Erik. In the 2004 movie, he is presented as a tortured man with a physical deformity.

However in all versions, the Phantom has demonic connotations.

Like most characters which are suggestive of the Devil, the Phantom is an ambiguous figure – seductive, pitiful, scary, repulsive and attractive at the same time.

In the 2004 movie , the Phantom, as a boy, was nicknamed the Devil’s Child. The disfigured child is seen in a flashback in a cage, as one of the attractions in a travelling carnival, who is mocked and mistreated by onlookers until one day he kills a carnival worker in a rage.

He is rescued and grows up in hiding in the Paris Opera House where he is known as the Opera ghost.

Angel or Demon

“Henceforth, Satan became the enemy of man, appearing to him in the guise of an angel of light to seduce him (compare II Cor. xi. 14).” http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=758&letter=A

Like Lucifer "the lightbringer", the Phantom has angelic traits. In the novel , Christine's father used to tell her a fairy tale about the 'Angel of Music'. So years later, as a chorus girl, she assumes this shadowy music teacher is her guardian angel.

Under his tutelage, Christine Daae becomes a talented singer. She is almost seduced by her mentor until she sees the face behind the mask.

The Faust Connection

The reference to the opera Faust throughout the novel is another allusion to the Devil for Christine will be asked to pay a heavy price in exchange for her musical gift.

In Chapter 7 of the novel, entitled Faust and What Followed, the Phantom issues a series of threats as to what will happen if his protégée does not sing the part of Marguerite in their current production of Faust.

When his demands are not met, Erik causes the the leading lady Carlotta to lose her voice and the chandelier to fall from the ceiling, wounding several audience members and killing one “wretched woman who had come to the opera for the first time in her life”.

Another allusion to the devil, is at the beginning of the Lloyd Webber versions of the story when an auction is being held and the number of the ill-fated chandelier that is being auctioned is Lot 666.

Inside the Torture Chamber

In the novel, the Phantom has a torture chamber which is "a little six-cornered room, the sides of which were covered with mirrors from top to bottom." (Chapter 22)

As mentioned in the Mirror Mirror post, mirrors are allegedly used by mind control experts for sinister purposes such as inducing the victim to disassociate from their own identity so that their mind can be programmed to perform various (usually nefarious) deeds.

Origins of the Phantom Story

Some believe that Leroux's story was inspired by George Du Maurier's novel Trilby which features the evil hypnotist Svengali.

In Trilby, Svengali transforms a tone-deaf artist's model into a great opera singer who delivers great performances in a [Sarah Brightman-esque] mesmerised trance.

Others believe that Leroux based his story on true events, that the Swedish opera singer Christine Nilsson was the inspiration for the Swedish-born character of Christine Daae and that there really is an Opera Ghost wandering about the Paris Opera House.

Related Posts

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Beauty and the Beast

The Many Faces of Faust