The Phantom of the Opera

Christine Daaé is the protagonist of the story, as the tale follows her relationships with both Erik and Raoul. Christine begins the text having experienced a mysterious change of musical talent that surprises the audience, who are used to her solid but average singing. Christine was a musical prodigy in her youth, and “those who heard her prophesized that she would be the greatest singer in the world” (59). Christine lost her love of music when her father died, but her interest revived when Erik, disguised as the Angel of Music, offers to teach her singing in secret. Her rapid progress with the Angel frightens her, and she fears there is “a sort of witchcraft behind it” (122). With her new voice, Christine feels “as if [her] soul was leaving [her] body” (123) when she sings in public, and so she avoids such exertions whenever possible. Christine continues to speak with the Angel of Music even after doubting his heavenly nature because he and “the memory of [her] father were so closely intermingled” (122) that she didn’t want to lose that connection.

Christine has conflicting feelings towards Erik when he finally reveals his identity. First, she is frightened of him and assumes he is a madman who is locking her underground forever. The fear he instills in her causes a physical change in her face, making “a mortal pallor [cover] those features, which [Raoul] had known so charming and so gentle” (101). However, Christine also deeply pities Erik and cries for him whenever he cries at her feet in love and sorrow. Erik has his soothing and heavenly voice, which has the power to return Christine to health. Christine’s kindness and pity towards Erik catalyzes a change in the “monster,” leading to his ultimate redemption and death of love. This change allows Christine to elope with Raoul and return to her homeland of Sweden.

Christine’s other love interest is Raoul, her childhood sweetheart. For most of the text, Christine hides her true feelings from Raoul and tries to avoid him because she fears Erik’s jealousy. Raoul, unable to explain Christine’s strange actions, believes her impressionable and naïve mind are being twisted against him by a mysterious man. Although Christine is soft-hearted and quick to cry or swoon, she can also be assertive and stubborn when her position is questioned. For example, when Raoul tries to control her meetings with the Angel of Music, Christine states “I am the mistress of my own actions, M. de Chagny” (107). Christine is altruistic, and her decisions always have the best interest of everyone at heart, regardless of her personal pain. She chooses to stay with Erik to protect Raoul and eventually agrees to marry Erik to spare the Opera from destruction.

Raoul, the Viscount de Chagny, is the text’s deuteragonist. Raoul’s primary narrative arc revolves around his love for Christine and his desire to understand her strange behavior. Raoul has been in love with Christine since their childhood—a love which was rekindled when he saw her sing at the Opera. Christine eventually reciprocates Raoul’s love, but they must remain cautious because of Erik’s dangerous jealousy. Christine and Raoul have a fake one-month engagement before Raoul must sail away to the North Pole on an expedition. Raoul himself is deeply jealous of Christine’s mysterious relationship with the “Angel of Music” which throws him into fits of anger and despair. In these moods, Raoul lashes out with his words, even to those he loves, like when he calls Christine “an opera wench” (99) who will make him die of shame. Due to his coddled upbringing, Raoul is emotionally immature, experiencing his feelings in their simplest and most potent forms—feelings like love, anger, jealousy, sadness, and happiness. Many characters describe Raoul as “childish” because of this simplicity and because of his fragile mind.

Raoul is 21 years old, and the text describes him as “handsome and apparently delicate” (27) with “a small, fair moustache, beautiful blue eyes and a complexion like a girl’s” (28). Raoul’s youthful appearance reflects his innocence and immaturity. Raoul is a foil character to Erik, which the text establishes through their shared obsession over Christine. Where Raoul is the beautiful lover, Erik is the monstrous lover, but these lines blur as their similarities bubble to the surface. Like Erik, Raoul follows Christine around in the shadows, watching to make sure she isn’t unfaithful to him. Raoul’s angry jealousy mirrors Erik’s, the only difference being Raoul doesn’t use violence or kidnap Christine. Raoul also deludes himself into believing his love gives him authority over Christine, even before she openly requites his affections. Raoul’s temperament remains much the same throughout the text, and even becomes more fragile within the torture-chamber setting. Christine and Raoul ultimately elope and run away to the anonymity of the North with Mamma Valérius.

Moncharmin and Richard are secondary characters whose side investigation into the truth of the ghost provides comic relief amidst the dark mystery of the story. Moncharmin and Richard have little to no prior connection to opera business, so they begin the story completely out of their element. The men hardly know the members of their staff, and the ones they do know continue to frustrate them with stories of the ghost. The men are introduced as skeptics, laughing at the terrified Debienne and Poligny’s tale of the ghost, thinking it is nothing but a “charming little joke” (40). The new managers hold firm that the ghost’s tricks must be an elaborate practical joke, and they accuse almost everyone—even each other—of being in on the hoax. Richard has an especially rash temper, and any mention of the ghost puts him into a fury.

Most of the managers’ plot arc concerns their obsessive investigation to unmask the ghost, which is never successful. Their various attempts to catch the ghost red-handed leads them to believe in his existence even more. The men each see a shaded figure in Box Five in Chapter 6, and hear the ghost’s disembodied voice in Chapter 7, which chills them with fear. The managers try to trap the ghost while giving him his allowance, but Erik’s ability to steal the money without their notice convinces the men that “witchcraft” is involved. Mifroid comments that the managers’ increasingly strange behavior makes him feel as if “he had strayed into a lunatic asylum” (177). The men end the text never knowing whether the ghost is real, but they let the matter lie because Erik returns their money to them.

The Persian is a secondary character who appears in the final act of the book to help Raoul find Christine. The Persian knows Erik from “the rosy hours of Mazederan” (213) when Erik worked as an assassin for the Shah-in-Shah and when the Persian was a police chief. He has witnessed Erik’s fatal cruelty firsthand, so he keeps watch over Erik, Raoul, and Christine within the Opera. The text describes the Persian as “the man with ebony skin, the eyes of jade, and the astrakhan hat” (181).

The Persian’s first-hand memoirs shift the perspective of the narrative in Chapter 21. This memoir helps to develop not only the Persian’s character but Erik’s character, turning the monster into a multidimensional, tragic character. The Persian is a witness to Erik’s architectural and engineering genius, and laments that his talents are wasted on cruel contraptions. The Persian saved Erik’s life in Persia because “Erik had shown him some slight services and procured him many a hearty laugh” (261), further illustrating Erik’s complexity beyond simply “evil”. The Persian almost dies in Erik’s torture chamber, but Erik spares him at the last minute, as he did with the siren trick. The narrator visits the Persian 30 years after the events and believes his story because he is an “upright man, incapable of inventing a story that might have defeated the ends of justice” (11). The Persian’s possession of Erik’s possessions and Christine’s letters provide physical proof to the narrator of Erik’s existence.

The narrator of the story is Gaston Leroux’s in-text persona. Like the real-life Leroux, the narrator is an investigative journalist who takes it upon himself to solve the various mysterious incidents that occurred at the Paris Opera 30 years earlier. The bulk of the text is the result of the narrator’s investigation, the methods of which he outlines in the Prologue and Epilogue. He gathers stories from multiple people—like Mme. Giry, the Persian, and the old managers—and multiple sources—like police reports, letters, and memoirs. Within the narrative, he inserts his opinions with interjections either confirming, denying, or mocking various pieces of the story. For example, in Chapter 1 he gives his opinion on Joseph Buquet’s death and the disappearance of the noose: “I think of the exact spot where the body was discovered—the third cellar underneath the stage!—imagine that somebody must have been interested in seeing that the rope disappeared” (23). By Chapter 22, the Persian finds this missing rope in Erik’s torture chamber, proving the narrator’s hunch correct. The narrator purports to have an outsider’s objective view of events, and his comments on the story throughout present him as the final judger of truth. The narrator speaks his tale directly to the reader, addressing them and entreating them to make up their minds for themselves after hearing the facts.

Mme. Giry is a minor character who is the box-keeper for the ghost’s private box and one of the only characters Erik reveals his generous side to. The text describes Mme. Giry as always wearing “her faded shawl, her worn shoes, her old taffeta dress and dingy bonnet” (49). Despite her humble appearance, Mme. Giry has a great pride in her years of service and refuses to be insulted by her superiors. Mme. Giry is long-winded in her speeches, and she provides comic relief in the text through her habit of breaking into song mid-sentence.

Mme. Giry symbolizes unwavering belief in the supernatural. Due to her interactions with the ghost, she believes wholeheartedly in his existence, and she even views those who don’t believe in the ghost, like the new managers, as the foolish ones. Erik is kind to Mme. Giry because she listens to his demands without a fuss. For her service, Erik leaves her monetary tips or small gifts. Mme. Giry is the mother of Meg Giry, one of the superstitious ballet dancers. The new managers fire Mme. Giry from her post after hearing stories about the ghost, but they reinstate her immediately when they hear the ghost for themselves.

Philippe de Chagny is Raoul’s older brother and develops into a minor antagonist for the young man. After the death of their parents, Philippe became the head of the Chagny household and was responsible for raising the young Raoul. Philippe spoils and dotes on Raoul but wants to expose him to the realities of the world. Philippe has a flirtatious relationship with La Sorelli at the Opera and initially encourages Raoul’s “school-girl” (30) infatuation with Christine. As Raoul and Christine’s relationship becomes more serious—and as Raoul becomes noticeably agitated by its complications—Philippe grows to dislike Christine. Due to the disparity in their class, Philippe thinks Christine is toying with Raoul and trying to get his money and status for herself. This creates conflict between the brothers. Philippe dies by the end of the text, having fallen out of a boat in the underground lake while trying to find Raoul and Christine.

Carlotta is a minor antagonist for Christine, though the antagonism is one-sided. Carlotta is the Spanish star singer of the Opera. She is an archetype of the egotistic artist—selfish, vain, and stubborn. The text describes her as “the celebrated, but heartless and soulless diva” (77). Erik consistently sabotages Carlotta in hopes of gaining the lead roles for Christine. In Chapter 7, Erik publicly embarrasses Carlotta with ventriloquism that makes it seem like Carlotta is croaking onstage in front of her supporters. Her vocal disaster deeply frightens the managers, who were also warned by the ghost that Carlotta singing the lead role instead of Christine will have perilous consequences.