The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera is a novel by Gaston Leroux, inspired by George du Maurier's Trilby. Published in 1910, and first translated into English in 1911, it has since been adapted many times into film and stage productions.

Plot

The Phantom of The Opera is a gothic novel - combining romance, horror, mystery and tragedy.

Related Topics:
Gothic novel - Horror - Tragedy

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In Leroux's original 1910 novel, the setting is 19th century Paris at the Opera Garnier, a luxurious and monumental building which has been built between 1857 and 1874 over a huge underground. The employees claim that the opera house is haunted by a mysterious ghost who causes a variety of accidents. The "Opera Ghost" ("le fantôme de l'Opéra") blackmails the two opera managers to pay him a monthly retainer of 20,000 francs and reserve for him a private concert booth.

Related Topics:
1910 - 19th century - Paris - Opera Garnier - 1857 - 1874 - Ghost

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Meanwhile, the young diva Christine Daaé (believed to be inspired and guided by an Angel of Music supposedly sent by her father) achieves sudden prominence on the opera stage when she replaces the current prima donna Carlotta, who has twice necessitated replacement due to a mysterious illness. Christine wins the hearts of the audience, including that of her childhood sweetheart, Vicomte Raoul de Chagny.

Related Topics:
Christine Daaé - Opera - Prima donna - Vicomte

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The Phantom then becomes envious of her relationship with Raoul and invites her to visit him down in his world beneath the edifice. Christine accepts, and down in the catacombs learns that her angel is in actuality a deformed musical genius who wears a mask to hide his abhorrent face. She screams in horror once she beholds his true visage, and the Phantom locks her in his home, agreeing to free her only after she promises to return to him of her own free will.

Related Topics:
Catacombs - Mask

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Christine is torn between her love of young and charming vicomte Raoul and her fascination with the Phantom's darkly beautiful music. When she realizes that her angel is also the Opera Ghost responsible for the accidents and murders, she and Raoul decide to marry in secret and run away from Paris -- and the Phantom's reach.

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The Phantom discovers their plan and during Christine's performance as Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, he abducts her from the stage. Down in the Phantom's home, the last confrontation between the Phantom, Christine and Raoul takes place.

Related Topics:
Gounod - Faust

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The Phantom was born as Erik in a small town not far from Rouen, the son of a master-mason. He ran away at an early age from his father's house, where his deformed face was a subject of horror and terror to his parents. For a time, he frequented the fairs, where a freak show showman exhibited him as the "living corpse." He traveled around Europe and Asia with the Gypsies. There he acquired his acrobatic and musical skills and sharpened his twisted genius. He also became an expert ventriloquist.

Related Topics:
Freak show - Europe - Asia - Gypsies

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Eventually, he ended up as court assassin and personal-engineer to the Persian Shah and built for him sophisticated traps and torture devices (such as the Punjab Lasso). After some time, the Shah feared that Erik knew too much and decided to dispose of him. Erik managed to escape, eventually making his way back to France. Based on the dating this unnamed Shah was Nasser-al-Din Shah (1831 - 1896, reigned 1848 - 1896).

Related Topics:
Assassin - Engineer - Persia - Shah - Trap - Torture - Punjab Lasso - France - Nasser-al-Din Shah - 1831 - 1896 - 1848

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Erik used his architectural genius skills and won a contract as one of the architects of Paris' Palais Garnier Opera House. Below the Opera House, an artificial lake had been created during its construction using eight hydraulic pumps, because of problems with the ground water level that kept rising. Without anyone noticing, Erik built a maze of tunnel and corridors on the lower levels. Past the underground lake he built a lair for himself, where he could live protected from the public.

Related Topics:
Architectural - Paris

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Besides being a brilliant inventor and engineer, Erik was also a musical genius, and he started to visit the Opera House in order to listen to operas and interfere with the manager's bad taste. Because he could not show his face in public, he took the guise of a ghost, using violence in order to blackmail the Opera managers and bind them to his will. He exploited the employees' superstitions and his knowledge about the building's secret passages, allowing him access to every part of the building without being noticed. He terrorized those who refused his demands and even killed people as warnings. However, he treated nicely those who were loyal to him and obeyed his command (such as Madame Giry).

Related Topics:
Music - Ghost

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