The Phantom of the Opera

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This article is about the Gaston Leroux novel. For the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, see The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical). For other works based on the novel, see The Phantom of the Opera (adaptations).
The Phantom of the Opera

1920 edition
Author Gaston Leroux
Original title Le Fantôme de l'Opéra
Country France
Language French
Genre(s) Gothic, Horror, Drama, Romance
Publisher Le Gaulois
Publication date September 23, 1909 January 8, 1910
Published in
English		 1911
Media type Print (Serial)
ISBN NA

The Phantom of the Opera (in French, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a French novel by Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialization in Le Gaulois from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910. Some believe it to have been inspired by George du Maurier's Trilby. Trilby is based on real events related to the Paris Opera House which Leroux investigated, initiated by stories of an opera house ghost. Initially, the novel sold very poorly and was even out of print several times during the twentieth century. Today, it is considered to be a classic of French literature, though it is overshadowed by its many subsequent adaptations. The novel was translated into English in 1911. It has since been adapted many times into and stage productions, the most notable of which were the 1925 film depiction and Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical, starring Michael Crawford as the Phantom, Steve Barton as Raoul, and Sarah Brightman as Christine. The Phantom of the Opera musical is now the longest running Broadway show in history and the most lucrative entertainment enterprise of all time, its worldwide box office over the past 20 years out-grossing even the highest grossing film in history, Titanic.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

The Phantom of The Opera is a gothic novel, combining romance, horror, mystery and tragedy, which is, according to Leroux, based on a true story.

Leroux's original 1910 novel is set in late 19th-century Paris at the Opéra Garnier, which was built between 1857 and 1874. During construction it became necessary to pump underground water from the foundation pit of the building, creating a huge subterranean river. The employees claim that the opera house is haunted by a mysterious ghost who wreaks chaos and destruction when displeased. Erik, a horribly deformed musical genius known as the "Opera Ghost", uses this facade to send the managers of the Opera Garnier repeated threats of catastrophe should they not pay him a monthly salary of 20,000 francs and perpetually reserve Box Five for him at every show. This arrangement, unbroken during the many years of the manager's tenure, is abruptly terminated when two new proprietors, Armand Moncharmin and Firmin Richard, take over the opera house and refuse to give in to what they view as the empty threats, thinking that it is a practical joke by former managers.

Meanwhile, Erik has taken on a protégée, Christine Daaé. He explains to her that he is the "Angel of Music", a heavenly spirit sent by her dead father to help her, and proceeds to give her regular voice lessons through the wall of her remote dressing room. Under the tutelage of her new teacher, Christine makes rapid progress in her vocal studies and mysteriously achieves sudden prominence on stage when she is selected to replace Carlotta, who was suddenly ill that day. Christine stuns the audience with her seemingly new vocal talent when she performed selections from Faust. During the performance she faints on stage, which deeply troubles her childhood friend Raoul, Vicomt de Chagny.

Erik becomes envious of Christine's relationship with Raoul and finally appears to her in person, wearing a mask to hide his features. He takes her to his dark world beneath the opera house. Christine quickly finds that there is nothing angelic about Erik; she learns with disappointment that he is "neither an angel nor a genius", only that he and the ghost are one and the same - just a man. And comes to know him as malicious, volatile, dangerous and somewhat bitter, yet also brilliant and pitiful. She is infuriated at having been deceived and demands to be set free. Erik promises to release her after five days. After some awkward moments (dining by herself while he watches, being shown his room which looks like a death chamber, his bed a coffin), Erik and Christine eventually begin a duet from Othello, and Christine rips off his mask, dying of curiosity. "If I live to be one hundred, I should always hear that superhuman cry of grief and rage which he uttered before that terrible sight reached my eyes", Christine later tells Raoul. Erik is furious at having his deformity exposed to someone who, he thinks, could love him. He threatens to keep her in his home forever, but later changes his mind. Christine is released, but only after promising to return by her own will and swearing never to give her love to anyone else. Christine does return out of pity and fear.

But Erik isn't the only one with an envious nature. After Christine's debut performance, Raoul overhears her succumbing to a tyrannical, disembodied voice in her dressing room (Erik). He becomes suspicious that another man is taking advantage of her innocent belief in an "Angel of Music" in order to seduce her. He starts spying on her in an attempt to find the mysterious seducer. Christine suddenly becomes aware of this and is very angry but, after Erik reveals himself to be the Ghost (and after Raoul's threat of leaving Paris on a suicidal polar expedition), she decides to tell Raoul, on the roof of the Opera Garnier, everything that has happened between her and Erik. The two of them plan to run away from Paris and the "horror of Erik".

Erik eavesdrops on their conversation, and comes up with another one of his ingenious plans of action. He abducts Christine from the stage during her final performance at the Opera Garnier as Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, at the point where Christine, as Marguerite, is appealing to the angels to carry her soul to heaven (the aria is best known as "Anges purs, anges radieux"). Raoul follows them down into the depths of the cavern beneath the opera house, and is guided to Erik's house by a character known as the Persian. Unfortunately for both of them, the route they take to Erik's house leads instead to a torture chamber (a catoptric cistula), where they are captured by Erik. Raoul and the Persian listen helplessly as Erik rages at Christine, accusing her of lying to him and betraying him. He threatens that should Christine not marry him, he will destroy the Opera Garnier. Christine, already on the brink of suicide, sadly accepts his proposal at 11pm the next night, Erik's "deadline".

Eventually, Christine shows Erik genuine sympathy and displays her love for him by being kind to him despite his extreme ugliness, not running away when he takes off his mask, and even kisses him on the forehead. This grants Erik a happiness he never thought possible. In despair, Erik releases Raoul and Christine and gives them his blessings to marry. He asks only that Christine come back after his death, and bury him with the ring he gave her. Erik dies three weeks after he lets Christine and Raoul go.

Right before his death, Erik delivers a dramatic monologue expressing his grief, in which he describes how Christine was the only woman to let him kiss her, his brief euphoria when she kissed him, his despair at having the love of his life betrothed to another, and his gratitude to the Persian daroga (Persian for "chief of police"), who once saved his life.

[edit] Illustrations

  • The original French book publication of 1910 was illustrated with five oil paintings by André Castaigne. the paintings served as an inspiration for the 1925 film, and have appeared in many subsequent reprintings and translations.

An adaptation by Shannon Donnelly was illustrated by Robert Schoolcraft. An adaptation of the French original by Kate McMullan was illustrated by Paul Jennis. The Essential Phantom of the Opera translated and annotated by Leonard Wolf was illustrated by Max Douglas. An adaptation by Doris Dickens was illustrated by Wayne Anderson. An adaptation by Peter F. Neumeyer was illustrated by Don Weller. A Leather-Bound Collectors Edition translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos published after the success of Webber's was illustrated by Rick Daskam. Greg Hildebrandt's illustrated version was published by Unicorn Publishing House. Rachel Perkins's illustrations were published in the 2007 Barnes & Noble Classics edition. A children's adaptation by Jenny Dooley was illustrated by Nathan. 1987 The Complete Phantom of the Opera written by George Perry and published in 1987, covered the opera house, the original Phantom, the author Gaston Leroux, many of the film versions, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version, and included the libretto (the complete script) for the Lloyd Webber's musical version with photos and illustrations from the films and the musical (c. 1986). In 2004, the portuguese newspaper "Público" sold a version of "The Phantom of the Opera" (under the portuguese name of "O Fantasma da Ópera") illustrated by Isabel Alves.

[edit] Editions of the original novel

  • 1911 The Phantom of the Opera (1911 translation) translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos. Published by Bobbs-Merrill (America) and Mills and Boon (Britain). Contains 5 color plates by André Castaigne. Hard cover.
  • 1926 Operaens Hemmelighed translated into Norwegian/Danish by Anna Høyer. Published by V. Pios Boghandel (Norway) - Povl Branner (Denmark). Front cover with Norman Kerry and Marry Philiben from the motion picture from 1925 with Lon Chaney on the cover with red background. No illustrations. Hard Cover.
  • 1943 The Phantom of the Opera translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos. Published by Dell Publishing.
  • 1970 Fantóm Opery translated into Czech by J.V. Svoboda. Published by Ivo Železný.
  • 1985 The Phantom of the Opera with foreword by Peter Haining. Published by Dorset Press, NY.
  • 1987 The Phantom of the Opera translated into English by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos. Published HarperPerennial, a division of HarperCollins Publishers. The front cover shows the title in broken glass and a red rose next to it and a white mask (both trademarks of Really Useful Group) with a black background. No illustrations. Soft Cover. ISBN 0-06-080924-8. Includes a bonus chapter about the Paris Opera written by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos.
  • 1988 Fantomen på Operan translated into Swedish by Ulla Hornborg. (Translated from the English translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos). Published by Trevi
  • 1990 Fantomen på Operan translated into Swedish by Ulla Hornborg. Published by Trevi (Translated from the English translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos). Black cover with a painted half-mask on the cover and an eye on the opposite side of the mask. No illustrations. Hard cover. ISBN 91-7160-938-5
  • 1990 February The Phantom of the Opera translated into English by Lowell Bair. Published by Bantam Books. Front cover shows Erik taking Christine over the underground lake with a blue background. No illustrations. Soft Cover. ISBN 0-553-21376-8. Forgets the ^ over the o in Le Fantôme.
  • 1995 The Phantom of the Opera (Wordsworth Collection) translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos. Published by NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company
  • 1995 The Phantom of the Opera translated into English by Alexander Teixiera de Mattos. Published by Penguin Books. On the front cover by James Pryde is Lumber: A Silhouette. Soft Cover. ISBN 0-14-062174-1. Includes a bonus chapter about the Paris Opera written by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos.
  • 1996 The Essential Phantom of the Opera translated into English by Leonard Wolf. Published by Plume.
  • 1999 The sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, "The Phantom Of Manhattan", was published in the year 1999 in the Bantam Press edition. The book is written by Frederick Forsyth, with the help of Andrew Lloyd-Webber.
  • 2000 Fantomet i Operaen translated into Danish by Lea Brems. Published by Klim. Front cover is black with Erik's silhouette.
  • 2001 Fantomet i Operaen translated into Danish by Lea Brems. Published for book clubs
  • 2004 The Essential Phantom of the Opera translated into English by Leonard Wolf. Published by ibooks. Front cover by Sergio Matinez shows Erik taking Christine over the underground lake. Illustrations by Max Douglas. Soft Cover. ISBN 0-7434-9836-4. Includes an introduction and footnotes by Wolf. And lists of Leroux's works in English and French, and of some Phantom adaptations.
  • 2004 October The Phantom of the Opera adapted into English by Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier. Published by Black Coat Press [1]. Front cover red/black with Erik's face as depicted in the original novel barely visible. Illustrated by 48 different illustrations by 48 different artists depicting anything from Lon Chaney, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom, Gaston Leroux or original concepts. Soft Cover. ISBN 1-932983-13-9. Also includes the original short story "His Father's Eyes" by the Lofficiers themselves.
  • 2005 Fantomet i Operaet translated into Danish by Lea Brems. Published by Klim. Front cover is a picture from Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. Where Gerard Butler is taking Emmy Rossum to his lair. Only illustration is a picture from the opening night of the Paris Opera. Soft Cover. ISBN 87-7955-384-2. Afterword by Peter Haning, original published 1985. Wrongfully says that Le Fantôme was published in 1911.

[edit] Adaptations

See: The Phantom of the Opera (adaptations)

There have been literally hundreds of literary and dramatic works based on The Phantom of the Opera, ranging from light operas to films to children's books. The best known stage and screen adaptations of the novel are probably the 1925 silent film version starring Lon Chaney, Sr. and the 1986 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Among novels, Susan Kay's 1990 Phantom is one of the best known and most beloved by fans, particularly for its in-depth study of Erik's life and experiences. More recently Big Finish released an audio adaptation of the story with success.

Erotica author Colette Gale released an erotic, romanticized version of The Phantom of the Opera, titled Unmasqued, which was released by Penguin in 2007.

[edit] External links

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