Persons who are visited by the Angel quiver with a thrill unknown to the rest of mankind. And they cannot touch an instrument or open their mo
Persons who are visited by the Angel quiver with a thrill unknown to the rest of mankind. And they cannot touch an instrument or open their mouths to sing, without producing sounds that put all other human sounds to shame.
Erik, AKA The Phantom of the Opera, is Paris's Heathcliff. This book is a dark tale of a man's descent into violence and madness, and the woman who forms the obsession at the centre of his life.
I should probably confess: I am a shameless lover of The Phantom of the Opera musical, which I have seen many and not enough times, as well as the 2004 movie version starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum. I think the story, the setting, and the music make up one of the most beautiful displays of love and loneliness that I have ever seen. It can also be incredibly sexy, but that might have a little something to do with Mr Butler.
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The musical version is truly wonderful. If you're curious, watch this wonderful scene from the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t75ST... There's just so much love and sadness wrapped up in just a two and a half minute reprise. Honestly, this story is one of the few things that thaws my cold, unromantic heart.
♪ Christine: In the night there was music in my mind And through music my soul began to soar And I heard like I've never heard before Raoul: What you heard was a dream and nothing more. Christine: Yet in his eyes, all the sadness in the world ♪
I couldn't help but compare this book to my favourite book of all time - Wuthering Heights. I felt myself drawing so many parallels between the two stories, even though one is a rough and wild story set on the Yorkshire moors and the other is set amid all the finest luxury of nineteenth-century Parisian high society. Both stories create complex villains that earn our pity as well as our disgust. Neither Erik nor Heathcliff is meant to be excused, or even forgiven, for their violent and cruel behaviour; they are not romantic heroes despite the love and passion that fuels both stories.
As with Wuthering Heights, this book is about a man who has lived his whole life with nothing but cruelty and hatred from others (in this case, due to his facial disfigurement). His own mother presented him with a mask so she didn't have to look upon his face. Erik becomes obsessed with Christine Daae - the object of his love and desire - and makes her the centre of his universe. But no man or phantom or angel of music can suffer through a loveless childhood and years of being a freakshow attraction without developing some serious issues. And the phantom, quite frankly, is as messed up as he is a musical genius.
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Erik manipulates, terrorizes and even kills to fulfill his mission of furthering Christine Daae's career in the Opera House. He really is the best kind of character - twisted, complex, angry and evil, but I don't think we ever really hate him. I like how this book doesn't turn into something akin to a modern day YA romance where the heroine falls for the bad dude anyway because it's TRU WUV; that isn't the story being told here. Erik is not a hero, but a monster. And this is the monster's story.
It is the monster's deep, unrequited love that makes him human to the reader. I don't want Christine to be with him, that would weaken the true power of the story... but nevertheless, I had to fight back tears when he says:
"And yet I am not really wicked. Love me and you shall see! All I wanted was to be loved for myself. If you loved me, I should be as gentle as a lamb; and you could do anything with me that you pleased."
The *almost* ending scene is my favourite in the musical, in the movie, and now in the book too. The movie's sad reprise of the song Masquerade sung by the phantom just hits me in the heart every time:
Masquerade... Paper faces on parade Masquerade... Hide your face so the world will never find you.
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