| ~ The Birth of a Phantom ~ |
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| "The Opera Ghost really existed." Thus begins Gaston Leroux's marvelous tale of a disfigured genius who lives deep below the Paris Opera House and masquerades as a ghost. Published in 1911, the Phantom's story did not garner much attention right away. The device of a dark character on the fringes of society who spirits away the woman he loves was a commonplace theme at the time. And yet, no other figure but the Phantom would command as much attention in the years to come. Leroux had long wished to write a novel that would rival the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. With "The Phantom of the Opera," he did just that. His story combined elements of gothic horror, suspense, romance, and unconditional love. |
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| The Phantom himself, Erik, appears as "an apparition" of a man "with a face like a death's head." He hides his deformity behind a mask, and yet he is gifted with the voice of an angel. It is through his voice that he is able to court the lovely Christine Daae, a shy unknown opera singer. Christine has been in mourning for the loss of her father, and when she hears Erik's voice echoing throughout her dressing room, she assumes he is her "Angel of Music," whom her father has promised to send her from Heaven. She can find no physical trace of him (he is hiding behind her full-length mirror), and Erik promises to teach her to sing like a great diva, so Christine pledges her earthly devotion to her heavenly suitor. Thus, their courtship begins. However, Christine is also being courted by a handsome young aristocrat, Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny, who sees her perform and remembers her from childhood. When Raoul tries to woo Christine, the Phantom becomes jealous and finally appears before her. He "steals her away with his voice" and takes her down to his lair below the Opera House. Though he appears to be a frightening figure with his black cloak and mask, he is able to seduce Christine with his voice. He brings her into his house beside the subterranean lake, and plays his organ for her, encouraging her to sing. "I was filled with a magnificent terror," she later tells Raoul, who jealously thinks of such feelings as equating with love. Christine subtley agrees, admitting she felt "attracted and fascinated" by Erik. She even makes a physical move towards him, "enticed by his passion." But she longs to see "the face of the Voice," so she tears away his mask, thus beholding his terrible "death's head.". She is shocked beyond horror, and the Phantom hurls a thousand curses at her, "Are you satisfied?" he sobs, and then he turns vicious, "When a woman has seen my face...she belongs to me. I am a kind of Don Juan, you know!" But then he breaks away from her and returns to his organ where he can give voice to his despairing emotions. Christine again finds herself "intoxicated" by his music, his voice, and she cannot bear to leave him, so she stays with him for a fortnight. When she returns to the "normal" world, she takes refuge with Raoul and tells him about the Opera Ghost. Raoul becomes jealous and determined to save her from the Phantom. He asks Christine to marry him, and she reluctantly agrees, obviously torn by her conflicting emotions for these two very different men. From here Leroux's Phantom becomes more monstrous, as his fear of losing Christine propels him to abduct her and threaten violence. Raoul and Nadir, an old friend of Erik's from his time in Persia, go after the Phantom and try to rescue Christine. However, Erik catches them in his torture chamber and uses their dilemma to force Christine to marry him. Afraid for Raoul, Christine consents to marry Erik, and the Phantom saves the two men from the torture chamber. He then returns to Christine and is surprised to find that she is waiting for him, "alive and real," and unafraid. She even inclines her head towards him when he makes a meek attempt to kiss her, and he is so moved by her behavior that he falls to her feet weeping. "I felt her tears," he later tells Nadir. "They mingled with my own... And she didn't run away from me! She didn't die! She stayed alive, crying over me...with me! We cried together! God in heaven, you gave me all the happiness in the world!" Overcome by Christine's acceptance of him, the Phantom frees her and tells her to return to Raoul. He also begs her to come back to bury him, as he knows his death is near. Christine promises to do so, and then, to Erik's great surprise, she kisses him on the forehead. It is a moment he has longed for all of his life. Three weeks later, Erik dies and Christine returns to his home to fulfill her promise. She then disappears (with Raoul, it is assumed), and is never heard from again. Touchingly tragic, filled with romance and suspense, the Phantom's story has inspired many artistic adaptations. It was first brought to the silver screen in 1925. Lon Chaney played Erik and took great pains to physically transform himself into the disfigured Phantom. He had hoped to maintain the integrity of Leroux's novel, but the film was altered to include a "chase scene" at the end, which was popular at the time. Thus the Phantom's redemption was lost in favor of a violent death (a mob kills the poor Opera Ghost). Numerous other films followed, each going along a slightly different path. Brian de Palma even fashioned a more modern Phantom in "The Phantom of the Paradise," a rock musical which combined the Faust and Phantom legend. |
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| And then, in 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber introduced his beautiful musical to the world, captivating audiences with his enchanting masterpiece. Webber adapted the story to include the Phantom's own opera "Don Juan Triumphant," and focused heavily on the romance of the tale, allowing Christine's kiss at the end to be a passionate testament of her love for the Phantom. In the end, Erik still releases Christine and Raoul, and then simply disappears before the angry mob can get to him. |
| It has been rumored that Webber was inspired to write the musical for his then-wife, Sarah Brightman, whose angelic voice can be heard on the original cast recording. And the Phantom himself was brought to life by Michael Crawford. Crawford's "tender and hypnotic singing voice, and the tortured body movements of a man constrained emotionally and physically, gripped the audience with as powerful a hold as that of Erik over Christine," wrote George Perry in "The Complete Phantom of the Opera." Indeed, Michael Crawford seemed to embody the very essence of Erik in his performances, and he captured the hearts of millions everywhere. Crawford's performance may have also sparked the imagination of author Susan Kay, who wrote the gorgeous novel, "Phantom" in 1991. This story gives a more detailed account of Erik's life, from his birth to his death, and beyond to his legacy. "There is a curious, timeless fascination to this legendary character," Kay writes. "He has been altered and molded to fit the contours of... imagination....and I have no doubt that the process of reinterpretation will continue over decades to come." ~ Back to the Phantom's Masquerade ~ |
| Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford |