The Phantom of the Opera
On December 22, 2015, I was lucky enough to go see the Phantom of the Opera. Now it is one of my favorite musicals of all time! (Even though I've only seen the Phantom of the Opera and Les Mis... But nonetheless, One of my favorites!)
So I kinda just wanted to Talk about the phantom as a character. Obviously, if you've seen the phantom of the opera, you would know that there are two prominent views on him. For those of you who don't know the Phantom of the Opera...
A Short Plot Summary
Opera singer Christine gets the lead role in the opera. Her old childhood friend, Raoul, hears her sing and falls back in love with her. At this time, there are rumors of a phantom living at the Opera and he makes himself known to the managers through letters and acts of grandeur. Later on prima donna Carlotta plays the lead, against the Phantom's wishes. During the performance, Carlotta loses her voice and the chandelier plummets into the audience.
Christine is kidnapped by the phantom and is taken to his home in the cellars of the Opera house. He keeps her there in hopes that she will love him but change his plans when she unmasks him only to see his burned and unsightly face. So, in fear that she should leave him, he plans on keeping her forever. But she requests to be released and is asked to wear a ring as a sign of faithfulness.
On the roof of the opera house, Christine tells Raoul that the Phantom abducted her. Raoul promises to take Christine away the nest day. But Christine wants to sing a song to the Phantom because she pities him. The phantom is secretly listening to their conversation and feels betrayed.
The following night Christine is abducted once again during a production and tries to force Christine to marry him. He states that if she refuses, he will use explosives to destroy the entire opera house.
Raoul attempts to save Christine but ends up in a noose. Christine saves Raoul by pleading for pity and kissing the Phantom. In the end, the Phantom releases them both and is later pronounced "dead".
Okay so that was short ish And mainly based off the opera/movie than the book. Hopefully I will read the book this summer. But i highly recommend the movie to anyone who is interested.
Now...
The phantom can be seen as a crazy person no matter what. He goes to extremes, kiss people and writes amazing music. BUT it can be inferred that he was abused in his childhood and abandoned by his family. So on one hand he doesn't know better because he hasn't been exposed to the outside world. and on the other hand his actions are just horribly wrong. And let us not forget Christine's role in this. She is the first person to show him kindness and her pity lets him get away with things.
So really I just wanted to get that off my chest because My aunt and I were having an argument about this the other day.
To end this off I shall leave a video from the movie which gives insight to the phantom's past. Enjoy!