Novel Unit

1. PHANTOM OF THE
OPERA

2.  Erik – disfigured composer who lives in the cellars beneath the Opera House,
frequently referred to as "the Opera Ghost"
 Christine Daae – budding young opera star, Erik's student and Raoul's love
interest
 Raoul – Phillipe's younger brother and Christine's childhood friend
 Debienne and Poligny – managers of the Paris Opera House who sell the
institution early in the novel
 Montcharmin and Richard – new managers of the Opera House, both
initially sceptical of the existence of the Opera Ghost
 Madame Giry – the Opera House boxkeeper
 Carlotta – a prima donna, a renowned singer at the Paris Opera House
 Joseph Burquet – a popular scene shifter responsible for moving and adjusting
sets during the opera's productions
 Professor and Madame Valerius – Christine's benefectors who raise her after
her father dies
 The Persian – mysterious Opera House resident, formerly of Iran, sometimes
referred to as "the daroga"
 Milford – commissary of police, a Parisian law enforcement officer

3.  Setting creates the atmosphere – hidden passages; trap doors; secret
rooms; decline from its former greatness
 Atmosphere – horror, apprehension, fear, mystery
 Protagonist – often isolated or alone; physically trapped or
emotionally isolated; secrets might threaten the protagonist
 Strong passions and emotions; dramatic and over the top; stubborn
characters
 "damsel in distress"
 Unlucky omens, supernatural elements, curses, dark forces
 Decline and decay of something that was formerly great
 The fallen hero
 Innocent woman threatened by evil man
 The Uncanny (familiar yet foreign; normal objects are threatening or
frightening- one is attracted to, yet repulsed by something at the
same time)

4.  Romanticism – focus on the individual and
nature; inner workings of the mind (madness
and creativity and imagination); awe
(realizing how small humans are in the
world, especially when compared to nature)
 Tour of the Paris Opera House
 Beauty and the Beast
 The Hunchback of Notre Dame
 Faust

6.  Faust studies for years without
success
 He makes a pact with the devil
who will serve him at the cost of
his soul
 The devil lies, tricks, deceives
 Faust seduces and corrupts a
beautiful innocent girl
 Today we often associate Faust
characters with those who pride
and arrogance lead to self-
destruction.

7. THEMES
 Art vs Artifice (appearance vs
reality)
 Art’s connection to suffering
 Social rejection/ “The Other”
 Desire for love and social
acceptance
 Love’s transforming/redeeming
power
•Evil- are we born evil or does
something happen to us?
•The individual against society
•Man's inhumanity to man
•Judging character based on
appearances
•Giving into one's obsessions

8.  Little ballerinas and the prima donna reveal
their superstition – rumors of the Opera
Ghost.
 Ghost rumors: a death's head (skeleton) in
the dress clothes; a gentleman with a fire
head; has yellow skin and no nose.
 Sorelli puts up a horseshoe as protection
 Joseph Burquet is found dead. Official report
said it was a suicide by hanging.
 Meg says her mom tells her that the ghost's
box is Box 5. He comes to watch the Opera,
but is never seen.

9.  Montcharim and Richard are taking over the theater
from Debienne and Poligny.
 Carlotta was ill and Christine Daae sang Margarita from Faust like
an angel. She has sang Romeo and Juliet, but never like this –
mysterious.
 Phillippe, the Count, is visiting the opera with his brother, Raoul, the
Viscount. The Count has been linked to Sorelli romantically.
 Christine faints after her triumph.
 Raoul goes backstage to see her, and tells her that he is the little boy
with the scarf, from the sea. She pretends not to recognize him and
sends everyone away.
 Raoul starts to think that she didn't mean to send him away, and so
goes to the dressing room.
 Outside Christine's dressing room, Raoul hears her talking with a
man, who insists, "You must love me!" However, Christine leaves the
room alone.
 Roaul goes in the dressing room after she leaves, only to find nobody
there.
 On his way out, he passes the stretcher carrying Joseph Buquet's
body.

10.  A farewell ceremony for the retiring managers.
 Everyone is preoccupied, but puts on a happy face.
 The Opera Ghost appears, and disappears during Sorelli's speech; Meg
screams.
 The Ghost was sitting at the table the whole time, with a nose that
looked slightly transparent. He talked of Buquet's death, and how it was
unnatural.
 The departing managers give the new managers the two keys that will
open every door in the Opera House, but suggest that they get the locks
changed.
 They also mention the Opera Ghost, and tell them that they have formal
orders to be pleasant to him.
 In the official memorandum book of the Opera, there is a paragraph,
written in red ink, that the Ghost should get 20,000 Francs per month,
as well as Box Five left empty for him.
 Richard and Montcharmin are offended at this, and the former suggests
arresting him, while the latter wants to sell the box anyway.

11.  Richard soon receives a letter from the Opera Ghost, telling him
not to sell his box as they've been doing. In addition, it gives
casting instructions for Christine.
 The managers think that the former managers are playing a joke,
and thus send tickets to Box Five for them.
 Soon, they receive a return letter saying that the managers cannot
accept the tickets, as that box belongs to the Opera Ghost.
 Ignoring these warnings, the managers sell the box for that
evening. However, the patrons make so much noise that they have
to be turned away.
 They note that they heard a loud voice from the walls declaring
that the box was taken.
 Madame Giry tells the managers that the ghost is annoyed with
them, and that when this happened earlier, he ended by breaking
someone's leg.
 She gives many details about her encounters with the ghost – he is
kind and a gentleman to her; leaves her gifts and tips.
 Once she leaves, the managers decide to dismiss her for her
fanciful stories and possible complicity with the ghost.

12.  After her triumph, Christine has not appeared in public for several weeks.
 She eventually responds to the Viscount (Raoul's) overtures by sending him a letter
telling him that she is going to see her father's grave.
Christine's Backstory:
 Christine's mother died when she was six, and her father was a talented violinist
who followed friends of the family to France.
 He was unhappy in France, except when they went North, which is where
Christine met Raoul, rescuing her scarf from the sea one day.
 In the present day, Raoul finds Christine and hears her story about how her father,
now dead, has sent her the Angel of Music, as he always said he would, to give her
voice lessons.
 The father told tales of musicians of great talent being visited and divinely
inspired by the Angel of Music – he was convinced Christine had a talent for music
and that she was pure and deserving of the Angel's attention.
 Raoul confesses that he hear Christine and the Angel in her room, which surprises
her as she thought she was the only one who could hear him.
 That night, Raoul follows Christine to the church where her father is buried, where
they hear perfect violin music.
 After Christine leaves, Raoul is attacked by skulls being bowled at him, and finally
sees a death's head. He passes out and is only brought to the next morning.

13.  The managers decide to visit Box Five.
 They find it silent, but are very scared.
 Things begin to move on-stage and on the walls, and
they later convince themselves they were
hallucinating.
 One of them sees a death's head, the other sees
Madame Giry.
 Frustrated, they decide that they will come on
Saturday to watch Faust from the box.

14.  The managers receive a letter from the ghost declaring war,
and saying that the only way to make peace will be to give him
his box, cast Christine as Margarita, and to send money with
Madame Giry. If they do not comply, he will curse them.
 The stud-groom comes to tell the managers somebody has to
be fired, for one of the horses is missing.
 Madame Giry comes for the money and the reply to the Opera
Ghost's letter.
 Meanwhile, Carlotta has a letter telling her not to on that
night. She thinks it is a plot against her, and will still sing, but
fills the house with her admirers.
 Richard has persuaded his concierge to do
Madam Giry's duties, and she is in the audience that evening.
 Halfway through the performance, Carlotta cannot stop
croaking like a toad, against her will.
 The Ghost comments that she is singing "to bring the
chandelier down," and sends the chandelier flying onto the
concierge, who dies.

15.  Christine disappears for two weeks, and nobody knows
where she is.
 Madam Giry has been reinstated.
 Concerned, Raoul goes to Christine's home, where
Madam Valerius tells him that she is with her teacher,
the Angel of Music.
 He asks how long she has known this angel, and
Madam Valerius tells him that she has known him for
three months. Raoul begins to think that Christine is
either the victim or seeing someone illicitly.
 He hears that she has been seen in the Bois, near
Longchamp, in a carriage, and goes there to wait for her.
When he sees her, though, she ignores him.
 The next day, Raoul gets a letter from Christine, telling
him to meet her at the masked ball, dressed as a white
domino, and to make sure that he is not recognized.

16.  Describe the music and lighting
 Listen to the lyrics- what are some
events they refer to?
 How is this different from the book?
 Why the changes?

17.  At the masked ball, Christine, dressed as a black
domino, finds Raoul, and squeezes his hand, letting
him know not to speak.
 The Ghost appears, dressed as Red Death, with a
skeleton head. Christine and Raoul flee to the box,
where Raoul wants to go after the Ghost.
 Christine, however, mentions their love for the first
time, and says that in the name of it, Raoul should not
go.
 Raoul flies into a rage and insults her, and she tells
him sadly that she will never be able to see him again,
but one day he will forgive her.
 She leaves, and he later goes to her dressing room,
where she says, "Poor Erik," without knowing Raoul is
there.
 A faint singing comes from the walls, and the Ghost
has arrived; Christine looks through the mirror and
disappears.

18.  The next day, Raoul goes to find Christine at
Madame Valerius's house, and is delighted to
see her there.
 Madame Valerius begins to suspect that
Christine is in danger from an impostor.
 Christine tells Raoul she will never marry –
but she is wearing a gold weddig band on her
hand.
 Raoul reveals the he knows the Ghost's name
is Erik, and Christine is shocked that he
heard.
 She tells him the he must forget everything he
thinks he knows, or he will be killed.
 Raoul tells her that he will, if she will send for
him. She agrees.

19.  Raoul is scheduled to go on a Polar expedition in a few weeks, and
worries that he might die.
 Christine agrees to pretend to be secretly engaged to him for his
remaining time there.
 However, one week into the performance, Raoul is so unhappy to leave
her that he says he won't go.
 After she hears this, Christine disappears for two days, before taking
Carlotta's place to sing.
 Raoul goes backstage to see her, and they are in love again, but nothing
is the same as before. She takes him on a tour of the opera, and they
listen to all of the workers tell their stories.
 Raoul asks if they can go underground, but Christine replies that it
belongs to "him." They see an open trap-door, which then closes, and
worry that it is the Ghost, but Christine says it can't be – he is working.
 Raoul says that he will not go to the North Pole unless Christine tells
him the secret of Erik and his name. She takes him to the roof.
 A shadow follows them as they go upstairs.

20.  On the roof, Raoul starts to believe Christine's story that Erik is a demon, and that
she has one day left or he will drag her with him down into the cellar.
 He wants to take her away immediately, but she says it is too cruel, and they make
plans to fly after midnight the next day, when she will have sung already.
 She tells him about the first time they met, and how jealous the Angel was of Raoul.
 Christine also talks about the night the chandelier fell, when Erik took her down to
the cellar and his home for the first time. She realized then that he was a man, not
an angel.
 Erik told her she would be in no danger unless she took off his mask.
 Raoul thinks that since he is not a ghost, they can force him to explain.
 Christine tells Raoul of being trapped in the Ghost's room, thinking he was a
madman. He sleeps in a coffin, and has been working on one piece of music for
twenty years.
 Later, she ripped off his mask, to find a decaying face; Erik told her now she had to
stay forever.
 However, he then let her go, on the condition she kept his ring.
 Raoul and Christine kiss, but notice quickly that blazing eyes are watching them
from above.

21.  Describe the scenes- what you see? (symbolic significance?)
 Music/Atmosphere
 Changes? Why? Effect?

22.  The two run, and the Persian appears to tell them which
way to go.
 Christine reveals that Erik gave them permission to be
engaged, and had promised not to be in her dressing
room again.
 Christine then realizes with horror that she has lost the
golden ring, probably on the roof. Raoul tries to convince
her to run away, but she refuses.
 In bed that night, Raoul sees eyes in the dark, and
shoots at them. Later, there is blood on his balcony. His
brother thinks he is losing his mind.
 They go to the performance of Faust, and Raoul seems to
be absent until he rises in the middle of it and sings with
Christine.
 Once he does this, the stage plunges into darkness.
 When the lights come back up, Christine is gone.

23.  Music? Lighting?
 Atmosphere?
 Effect?

24.  Everyone is in a state, trying to figure out where
Christine went.
 They check the organ, which controls the lights,
but nobody is there.
 Moncharmin comes out and demands a safety
pin, then goes immediately back into his office.
 Men from the opera decide to go hunt
themselves. They discuss how strange the
managers have been, demanding that nobody
come near or touch them, and walking
backwards.
 Raoul comes backstage and starts asking where
Christine is, as well.

25.  Raoul calls for Christine, to no avail.
 He goes to the entrance to the underground
passage on the Rue Scribe, but he can't get
in.
 The commissary of police arrives to
investigate.
 The Persian, meanwhile, tells Raoul that
Erik's secrets concern nobody but himself.

26.  The managers wait in their office. They have paid the ghost
the first time, and waited for the ghost to pick up the envelope,
watching the whole time. Several days later, the seals still had
not been broken.
 When they opened the envelope themselves, they saw that is
had counterfeit notes from "The Bank of St. Farce."
 Now, trying to pay for the second time, they talk to
Madame Giry, who reveals that she had gone along with the
ghost's plans because he had promised that her daughter
would someday make a great marriage.
 She says that she doesn't know what's in the envelope; when
the managers threaten to have her arrested, she boxes their
ears and tells them that Richard of all people should know
where they go.
 Madame Giry then tells them that she puts the real notes in
Richard's pocket, where the ghost takes them. She has a set of
counterfeit notes to do the same thing again.
 They decide to go along with the ghost's plan and catch him
out when he is taking the notes.
CHAPTER 16

27.  The managers put the notes in Richard's
pocket, which Montcharmin will watch – this
is why nobody can touch Richard, so they will
be sure who took them. They lock themselves
in the office as a further precaution.
 In addition, the managers use the safety pin
so that Richard will feel it when the notes are
taken. Just before midnight, they are still
there.
 At midnight, however, Richard feels in his
pocket to discover that the notes are gone.
 Only he had touched his pocket...

28.  The commissary still looks for Christine.
 Raoul tells the directors everything that he
knows, that she was carried away by the
Angel, who is actually the ghost, who is the
man named Erik. The police investigator,
however, does not seem to believe him.
 Phillipe's carriage has gone, and the
commissary asks Raoul if his brother opposed
his liaison with Christine (which he did).
 He then leads Raoul to believe that the Count
has run away with Christine, towards
Brussels.
 Raoul runs to catch them, but is stopped by
the Persian.

29.  The Persian demands to know if he has betrayed Erik's
secret, and is glad that the police investigator thinks that
Raoul is crazy.
 He then tells Raoul that Christine is here, with Erik.
 The Persian starts to take Raoul to see Christine, but warns
him that he must not mention Erik's name.
 Raoul leaves his tall hat in Christine's dressing room, so as
to be less encumbered.
 Darius, the Persian's servant, gives them each a pistol.
 The Persian reveals that they will go through Christine's
mirror, which has a special mechanism. However, it is not
turning.
 Erik himself built the mechanism, and may have jammed it
on purpose, now.
 The Persian shoots the mirror to let them through.

30.  In the passage behind the mirror, Raoul and the Persian see
what they think are three corpses.
 They hear the commissary near the organ.
 The men outside, including the commissary, discover the organ
operator, who appears to be drunk or drugged. The stage
manager has likewise been knocked out.
 As they continue, the Persian warns Raoul to keep his pistol up
near his eyes, as though ready to fire.
 As they descend, the two men are followed by a head of fire,
which turns out to be the rat-catcher and his lantern.
 The Persian reveals that they will get into the Ghost's home
through the third cellar (of five), where Joseph Buquet died.
 The men find a trap door, and take off their shoes to drop in
silently.
 However, once they fall, the Persian recognizes the Ghost's
Punjab lasso, and realizes that they have dropped straight into
his torture chamber.

31.  The Persian recounts the first time he entered Erik's house,
when he was confused by a siren, and yelled at by Erik. He
tried to convince Erik not to murder anybody else, as he
himself had saved Erik's life.
 Erik swore that the chandelier incident was just an accident,
that he was virtuous now that he was loved for himself.
 Erik described Christine's love to the Persian, and said that
he will let her go to prove to the Persian that she loves him, as
she will come back.
 Erik had already written their nuptial mass.
 When Christine disappeared, the Persian knew he had to act.
 The Persian and Erik had lived together in India, so the
Persian knew all of his tricks. Later, he knew that Erik had
become one of the chief contractors on the opera house.
 The Persian realizes that they dropped into a torture chamber
just like the one that Erik had constructed long ago.

32.  The torture chamber is a six-cornered room made of mirrors,
through which the men can hear Erik demand that Christine
whether she wants a wedding or a requiem mass.
 Erik does not know they are there, as there is window near the
top of the room that is open.
 Erik is crying to Christine that he only wants to be loved for
himself.
 Somebody arrives at the door, and Erik leaves Christine; Raoul
immediately calls to her.
 However, Christine is fastened down, and can't open the door for
them, though she knows that the key is near the Ghost's organ
in a bag.
 She has been tied down because she earlier tried to commit
suicide by banging her head against the wall.
 The Persian tells her to play her part; when Erik returns, she
does so, and he sets her free. However, Erik soon realizes that
she just wants his bag.

33.  Christine tells Erik that she is just curious
about the room, but Raoul makes a noise and
alerts Erik to his presence.
 A strong light goes on in the room, and
Christine looks in through the window to tell
Erik that there is nobody there.
 Erik doesn't believe her, saying she would not
be so frightened if that was the case.
 The light has revealed a forest reflected in the
mirrors.
 Erik calls that he is the greatest ventriloquist
in the world.
 He also mentions that it is an African forest.

34.  The Persian recognizes the iron tree that is reflected in the
mirrors as something Erik used when he worked for the
Sultana.
 There is nothing to hold on to in the room, which is made of
mirrors, broken in parts. This proves that Buquet had indeed
been there.
 The Persian realizes that there must be a door, but cannot find
it.
 Raoul begins going mad, knocking against the mirrors.
 Feverish, Raoul begins to believe they have been walking
through the forest for three days.
 The men hear a lion roar, and they fire at it, but just hit the
mirror.
 Raoul believes he sees an oasis, but of course he does not. He
considers shooting himself.
 Then, the Persian sees a nail in the ground, which leads to a
cellar. They descend the staircase to find many barrels, all
containing gunpowder. He drops the lamp, and they no longer

35.  Erik continues to press Christine to make a decision
about marrying him.
 She does not realize how many people will die if she says
no, and has until eleven to decide.
 Raoul breaks his watch in the now-dark chamber to feel
the hands, and thinks it is almost eleven.
 Christine, now alone, confirms outside that it is five to
eleven.
 She must turn a scorpion if she accepts Erik, or a
grasshopper if not.
 Raoul tells her to turn the scorpion, but the Persian
quickly admonishes her not to touch them, as it could be
a trap.
 When Erik comes back, Christine turns the scorpion,
which releases water – so much so that the men nearly
drown, and lose consciousness.

36.  The Persian wakes to find himself and Raoul in Erik's
house, with the masked man and Christine. Erik says
that he has saved them to please his wife.
 The Persian asks what happened to Phillipe, and
realizes that it was him who died on the bank of the
lake.
 Later, the Persian is told by Erik that Raoul has been
taken to the dungeon.
 Listening to more of his story, Christine starts to cry, and
lets her tears mingle with Erik.
 Surprisingly, this leads Erik to release her, as long as
they promise to come back and bury him when he is
dead.
 The lovers leave by the Northern Railroad, and the
Persian agrees to announce Erik's death in the
newspaper, which happens three weeks later.

37.  In the epilogue, Leroux writes
of Montcharmin's memoirs, in which each manager
thought the Ghost was the trick of the other, but finally
redeemed themselves through a large sum of money left
for them in the office.
 The house on the lake was blocked up.
 Box Five was revealed to have a hollow column inside it.
 A trap door was in the office of the managers, explaining
the disappearance of Richard's envelope.
 Finally, we learn of Erik's history, that he was French
but put in fairs from a young age, and travelled around
the world until he was sentenced to death by a Shah.
The Persian saved him, and helped him become one of
the contractors of the opera house.
 The corpse of Erik was identifiable by the gold wedding-
ring he wore.