Phantom of the Opera
...characters – Erik, Christine and Raoul. They probably still pity his unrequited love for Christine, and the way in which he was mistreated. Night Magic, another adaptation, is much lighter reading and aimed at a different audience than the more literary variations. Night Magic is the modern-day romance version of Phantom, spanning two decades. Erik becomes a reclusive scarred contractor, and Christine is now Marisa, a spoiled and orphaned teenager with a beautiful voice. The traditional Erik kills without a thought when he feels threatened, while Erik’s most raging moment in Night Magic consists of him throwing a stool across the room when a client has been flirtatious with Marisa . This adaptation is lacking the “dangerous” side of Erik, so as not to scare off the light-hearted reader. A third version with numerous modifications is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s award-winning musical. In this variation, seemingly crucial details such as the scene with Raoul in the torture chamber, and the entire character of Erik’s Persian confidante are removed for the sake of time constraints and simplicity. Webber’s Phantom of the Opera is known as a family musical, enjoyable for people of all ages. Thus, the modification of language and plot details is used to target the story to different ages and individuals, but the fundamentals are consistent. Characters like Erik are often seen in literature, and our society is drawn to his personality. At one point he sobs, “...my poor, unhappy mother would never...let me kiss her....She used to run away...and throw me my mask!” . His pitiful emotional pleas captivate even the most unemotional reader because sympathy is a typical human behaviour. Charles Cooley writes, “sympathy is selective, and . . . illustrates a phase of the vital human process” . Readers are attracted to Erik because they hope for a gentle soul beneath his life of anger and shame. Erik is the product of his own environment, and at points in the story he becomes the monster the world expects him to be. Charles Darwin discusses the vicious circle caused when actions are ruled by emotion in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals: “He who gives way to violent gestures,” Darwin writes, “will increase his rage” . Again, it is humankind’s natural response of pity which increases the attraction while reading about Erik’s struggle with anger. Other famous legends with a similar grotesque-man-and-beautiful-girl plot are Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The theme of all three remains the same: the woman’s love rises above the man’s physical appearance and changes his life. People enjoy this type of emotional transformation and are often able to personally relate to the characters’ inner conflicts. Therefore, society can identify with this story because of its archetypal character of the Phantom. The relationship between Erik and Christine also contains many archetypes. A consistency throughout the different versions is the age difference between them, Christine being the younger by at least 15 years. One can identify with her possible pursuit of a father figure, her own father having died several years before she meets Erik. Although the transformation of Erik does not turn him into a “handsome prince”, he does learn the meaning of love. In Joseph Henderson’s supplement to Jung’s Man and His Symbols, he identifies the archetypal initiation scenario to be “the liberation of transcendence” – a transformation separate from the hero monomyth. It is a personal experience with a single moment of revelation as opposed to a ritual process. This revelation occurs during a romantic moment between Erik and Christine, and he realizes what it means to love and be loved. Their relationship appeals to the reader because of its universally understood patterns. The “lover’s triangle” among Christine, Raoul and the Phantom is an archetypal behaviour. This pattern of a male or female torn between two members of the opposite sex has a long history, even back to the traditional depiction of the Lovers tarot card, which illustrates a man torn between two very different types of women. Christine is drawn to Erik because of his mystery, voice, and genius. Her love for Raoul is an uncomplicated, innocent love, going back to when they were childhood sweethearts. Erik is the shadowy masked man, while Raoul is the dashing aristocratic blonde. This struggle is “an ancient archetypical pattern of behaviour” , as Christine is torn between the archetype of good and evil, or light and dark. Because of this archetype, the reader is able to relate to their relationship. Her indecision between the two opposite men is a typical human behaviour. Many other symbols in The Phantom of the Opera possess their own archetypes. Firstly, Erik’s underground lair, or labyrinth, represents a spiritual journey that Christine is taking through her struggles. Secondly, her journey fo...