Erik

The novel, __Phantom of the Opera__ by Gaston Leroux is a Romance that deals with a love triangle consisting of Raoul, Christine, and the Opera Ghost. Raoul and Christine grew up together and her father always told them that every musician gets visited by the Angel of Music once in his or her life, so after his death, when Christine becomes a small-part singer in the Paris Opera House that all of a sudden becomes a smash hit, everyone becomes curious as to how she became so amazing so suddenly. Raoul soon finds out that she has been visited and given lessons by the Phantom that Christine first believed to be the Angel of Music that her father had prophesied. The novel climaxes at Christine’s unexplainable disappearance in the middle of her singing role on stage and Raoul’s desperate attempt to find and save her from her kidnapper, the Opera Ghost, which ends successfully but after two near-death experiences in the Phantom’s torture chamber and the death of the Phantom himself. **Archetypal Role:** The main character, the Phantom, makes his archetypal role of an anti-hero very lucid through being marginalized from society, rejecting societal values, establishing his own rules and ethics, being deemed a failure, and often being angry. The Phantom (or Erik as we later find his name out to be) is both marginalized from society by others as well as by himself because he knows that everyone is repulsed by his disfigured appearance as well as he is disgusted by himself, but no matter what, he puts himself in a place in which no one can get to him without him getting to them first, sometimes ending tragically for the intruder. Even on the rare occasions that he steps foot into the public eye, he does so in disguise, sometimes with a sign saying “don’t touch me! I am Red Death” (91). “Under the canopy, an open coffin. ‘That is where I sleep,’ said Erik” (126). By this quote alone, Erik makes himself clear that he does not adhere to what is socially acceptable for a living space, rejecting society’s norms so far that Christine becomes so frightened that she does the unthinkable and rips off his mask ending in his untamable fury. No matter what pressure Erik has to do so, he never conforms to what is expected of a Parisian of that time period. Another way that Erik perfectly forms to his archetype is by not caring about any of society’s rules whether written or understood, so he creates his own through bribery and threats to get what he wants. At one point, after bribing the Opera House managers’ safety in turn for 20.000 francs, he threatens the lead singer that “if [she] appears tonight, [she] must be prepared for…a misfortune worse than death” (71) just so Christine could take her spot in the show. Many people in the Opera House viewed this ghost to be a failure and a joke because of the faceless threat he provided; in fact, when the managers were first told about Erik, they said that “[we] had never laughed so hard in our lives” (34). Most people in the opera had never been directly affected by Erik or personally endured his wrath, so although they were wary when they first were told of his threats, they ultimately believed him a joke. Lastly, and most apparent, is Erik’s very sensitive temper that usually ended in a rampage of fury when tampered with in the tiniest bit. The reason for most of his anger though was because he was completely in love with Christine and took the smallest occurrence as a threat to what he believed to be a connection between the two. Christine was forced to endure this for fear of her safety and “each of those visits [to Erik’s underground home], instead of calming him, as [she] hoped, made him mad with love” (131). Throughout the analysis of Erik’s archetypal role, his similarities to Victor’s creature in __Frankenstein__, also an anti-hero, became more and more defined. Both of these characters were marginalized from society because of their frightening appearance which opened the door to their rejection of accepted norms and going off to live on their own, the creature in the wilderness and Erik in the Opera House cellars. The creature also was deemed a failure but only by those who actually saw him before learning his story consequently leading to his constant anger at anything that frustrated him in any way such as the denial of a companion; therefore someone who has read both novels clearly sees how these two characters shadow each other almost perfectly through their characterizations and actions.
 * Synopsis:**

**How to Speak Like a Phantom** In the famous Paris Opera House, a creature so terribly misunderstood existed in the deepest cellars: the Phantom of the Opera, the Opera Ghost, O.G.. No doubt, this ghost named Erik did some pretty terribly torturous crimes, but wouldn’t anyone if they too were “built up of death from head to foot” with not even the love of a mother? Cruel as Erik seems, he was quite the complex character, an anti-hero, who in a round-about way was just trying to be happy for once in his life. Confused by this multi-dimensional behavior? Not to worry. Just stick to these five steps and in no time you will be speaking and behaving like the Red Death himself.

//Step One: LET IT OUT!// We have all been told since the day we were born to not keep out emotions and feelings bottled up inside of us, and no other being who lived ever took that advice so seriously as our Opera Ghost. Erik, when not isolated in his dungeon home, used the rest of his time with his love, Christine, outpouring his feelings, mostly in anger. Don’t see the method to this madness? It really is simple, just let it out! This outpour of angry words will only enhance your ghostly character of striking fear into the hearts of those who once tormented you; this shows them just what you are capable of. For example, instead of saying: “Would you mind coming with me?” (153), a more aggressive way would be to exclaim: “So I shall keep you here!” (129) The latter not only expresses your true feelings, but speaking angrily like Erik has just demonstrated truly gets your point across that will never again be forgotten.

//Step Two: No Trespassing// Now that you have established a forced sense of respect from your peers through expressing angry words and thoughts that are usually held back by normal people, it is time to defend your fort. Without a doubt, those angry words left a little bit of a sour taste in some people’s mouths, so naturally, they will come looking for you in search of an explanation. Whatever you do, do not let them come to close, claim your territorial boundaries and let no one compromise them! If you did not get the chance to really release all of that anger through spoken words, now is a great time to really harness and embrace what is left and use it against those that push the limit. Although a close eye is kept on those trying to track you, some will inevitably sneak their way through and end up where they can even see your house. This is unacceptable! You must stop them before they get too close; if they still get through, great measures must be taken; just be ready to use the excuse “he fell very awkwardly…but simply and naturally” (251). This method will not only return your right to privacy, but it will give it to you on another level! Just imagine, no more uncomfortable encounters with obnoxious neighbors for as long as you live!

//Step Three: “Just a hunk, a hunk of burning love”// Since no one dare come to your fortress now after hearing the tales of those who got away and the tragic endings of those who did not, a little privacy can be appreciated. One may ask what to do with this privacy. Simple. Find a girl worth dying for…literally. Erik clearly displays for us that once a perfect match is found, if you cannot obtain her reciprocal love, there is no more reason to go on in life. If you think this step sounds like a romantic scene in a Shakespearean play, __Romeo and Juliet__ perhaps, prepare for a __Hamlet__ styled conclusion because if Erik cannot have his love returned through marriage vows, he has prepared to have everyone “buried under the ruins of the Paris Grand Opera” (239) through a fiery explosion of gunpowder stored underneath his torture chamber. The rules to this step are simple and clearly cut, but with one ragged edge because it might just end with your death, so choose the lucky – or perhaps unlucky – lady wisely because if you do find her, just imagine how happy your life will be!

//Step Four: Pause…Play// Time for more syntactical patterns that will bring you even closer to becoming another version of the Phantom himself! Throughout many of Erik’s monologues, he often paused very frequently after every few words or clauses. Why? Suspense! Erik was all about constantly keeping those who were around him or influenced by him in anyway on the edge of their seats wondering what unthinkable statement or action would come from him next, so you know what to do. Instead of just saying: “Please tell me you love me,” you should exasperatedly and slowly demand: “Tell me you love me!...No, you don’t love me…but no matter, you will…” (225). See how much more chilling and threateningly suspenseful the latter appears? Just pausing for a moment to let your listener anticipate what will come out of your mouth next will not only keep their attention for as long as you wish to speak, but also this will emphasize your point more and more with each phrase you slowly reveal.

//Step Five: Give It Up!// By “give it up” you undoubtedly think that this means for those who are tortured by the ways of Erik to stop resisting and give in to his way, but actually this step means the complete opposite. In the end of the novel, Erik completely releases his prisoners, including Christine, back to live their lives as they wish, but he pays the ultimate cost and dies of a broken heart. This sounds as if this step could be the most unproductive yet to you, but what could be more romantic? The saying is extremely cliché, to let go of the person you love and if the love is meant to be, they will come back, but if you follow this step correctly, you will not get far enough as to see if your loved one returns to you because, like Erik, life without your love should be pointless and not worth living, so that is exactly what you will do: not live without that special person. If you are comfortable with one person like Erik was with the Persian – that is if anyone can stand you after following the first four steps – you may wish to tell them fully as to why you are dying, and why your love is worth dying for. Then, like the Persian stating in the infamous last lines of the novel that “Erik is dead” (255), your death may too become a runner in the competition for most romantic love story that ever was told.

So you see, to be like Erik is an easy one, two, three!...four…five, and this five step process will slowly build your name recognition into fame, then your fame into an undying tale of the life, love, and death of a poor, tortured soul that was just never understood. Hey, even if you are not poor and tortured, why not become a legend with a guide this easy to follow? The choice is yours.

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Works Cited: Leroux, Gaston. //The Phantom of the Opera//. New York: Harper Perennial Library, 1987. Print.