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The Phantom of the Opera belongs to the category of Literature,
which combines equals parts of horror and romance. Set in the Paris
Grand Opera house, which exists to this day, it is a most unusual
plot and quite unique from that of any other story. The author
Gastonia Leroy has made optimum use of his in-depth knowledge of the
Opera house in Paris and has concocted a truly fascinating tale,
which is both horrific and pathetic at the same time. The Opera
House at Paris is a true marvel of art constructed in the 17th.
Century. It has seven stories and has more than two thousand rooms
in addition to innumerable secret cellars, passages and even an
underground lake. Leroux uses his intimate knowledge of the Opera
house exquisitely to create an atmosphere of mystery, horror
and romance and has the reader guessing for the greater part of the
story as to who or what the Opera Ghost actually is. |
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The story opens with the day on which the
managers of the Opera, Mm. Debienne and Poligny are due to retire
and are given a final performance to mark the event. There is great
excitement in the changing room where the Opera Ghost is the main
topic of discussion. Various people claim to have seen him and many
are of the opinion that he is in some way responsible for the death
of Joseph Boquet, which is declared as a suicide due to lack of
evidence. Another cause for excitement is the discovery of Christine
Daae, a young opera singer who only a year ago played an
insignificant role in the Opera. However when the lead singer
Carlotta had been taken ill, the managers Dibienne and Poligny had
replaced her with Christine much to the surprise of everybody and
the even bigger surprise was the she was an even greater success
than her predecessor.
Here we are introduced to the Comte de Chagny, a benevolent man of
much wealth and social standing who has a brother Raoul, who is
younger than he by twenty years is and whom he loves almost like a
son. Raoul has known Christine since his childhood. Once in his
childhood he had gone into the sea and rescued her scarf. He
approaches her after the opera but Christine refuses to recognize
him and wishes to be left alone. Raoul waits outside her room and is
shocked and surprised to hear another man’s voice coming from her
room. When she leaves her room he enters but is surprised to find no
one there.
The Opera Ghost sends a number of letters to the new managers
insisting that Christine Daae’s talent is used to it’s full
potential and also that Box Five on the Grand Tier must be reserved
for him. The new managers refuse to take the Opera Ghost seriously
and sell box five. During the performance that evening strange
voices and disturbances force the occupants of box Five to leave.
The managers ask Mdm. Giry, the box keeper the reason for this and
she states in a matter of fact way that it is probably the work of
Opera Ghost, upon which the managers dismiss Mdm. Girly.
Some time later, Christine Daae writes Raoul a letter telling him
how she has not forgotten him and asking him to meet her in Perror
where she will be as it is the death anniversary of her father.
Raoul meets her there and reaffirms how much he really loves her.
However when Raoul asks her about the voice that he heard in her
dressing room on the night of the Opera, she gets upset and locks
herself in her room. Later that evening she tells Raoul that the
person whose voice he had heard in her dressing room was none other
than that of the Angel of Music. Raoul is not convinced of this and
tries to tell her that someone is trying to make a fool of her but
Christine refuses to believe this and runs away.
Raoul follows her to the graveyard where her father is buried and
hears her singing to the most perfect music coming from a violin
whose player is unknown. After she finishes, Raoul is knocked
unconscious by somebody who apparently does not want him to find out
more about what is happening. Meanwhile the managers inspect Box
Five and find that there is no Opera Ghost inside. Finding all other
things satisfactory, they decide to view the next Opera from the
same Box. On the morning of the Opera, the managers receive another
note from the Opera Ghost demanding that they reserve Box Five
exclusively for him. He also insists that Mdm. Giry is re-instated
as the box- keeper and that Christine Daae is given the lead role in
Faust. The managers do not give into his demands and watch the Opera
that evening from Box Five, quite confident that the Opera Ghost
will not come. But they are in for a nasty shock. After the first
two acts are over, Carlotta’s otherwise clear and pristine voice
suddenly changes into a croak. The managers rush out to see what has
happened and on their return hear the Opera Ghost’s voice coming
from Box Five. He shouts out that Carlotta is singing to bring down
the chandelier. Before the managers realize what he means by this
the huge 200 kilogram chandelier falls from it’s place on the
ceiling onto the head of the lady who has replaced Mdm. Giry,
killing her instantly and injuring many others. By the end of the
evening, Carlotta is taken ill and Christine has disappeared. Raoul
is much worried and goes to the home of Mdm. Valerius in the hope of
finding her there. He is told that she is with her angel of music.
Later that evening, Raoul sees her passing by in a carriage and
calls out to her but she does not seem to hear him.
The next day she sends him a note saying that she wants to meet him
that night at the masked ball. When he meets her there she takes him
to a private box to talk to him. On the way they see a man dressed
in scarlet and claiming to be “Black Death”, who in reality is the
Opera Ghost. He follows them but Christine realizes the imminent
danger to Raoul’s life and prevents him from going out of the room.
Raoul realizes that this is a trap and tries to leave the room but
Christine prevents him from doing so. She then tells him that she
will never sing onstage again or see him anymore. Saying this she
leaves Raoul and goes away. Raoul hides behind the curtains in her
room and sees Christine write something on some sheets of paper and
hide them away. Then suddenly out of nowhere he hears a man’s voice
in the room. He peeps out from behind the curtain but is astonished
to see that there is no one there in the room besides Christine.
Raoul steps out from his hiding place but before he can reach
Christine a strong cold blast pushes him back. Then for a minute he
sees about twenty images of Christine and then she disappears. Raoul
is very curious to know where Erik has disappeared to and who this
man Erik actually is.
The following morning he is surprised to see that Christine is back
at the house with Mdm. Valerius. He informs Mdm. Valerius that the
Angel of Music is taking advantage of Christine’s good faith. Upon
hearing this Christine is much angered and tells him that no one but
her husband has any right to demand an account of what she does.
During this conversation Raoul happens to see a gold band on her
finger. She tells him that he should forget about the man whose name
he heard in the dressing room and give up trying to fathom the
mystery of the man’s voice. Then she promises Raoul that she will
call him to visit her but that he must never again enter her
dressing room without her permission. Raoul agrees to this and
leaves. Click here for part 2
of the summary of Phantom Of The Opera |
