The Phantom of the Opera French Novelist Gaston Leroux

Details an unusual occurrence in the basement of France’s largest opera house in the early twentieth century. The narration begins by candidly professing to the audience that the 'Opera Ghost' indeed existed, that his residence within the Opera House went deeper than any myth or legend. A foreword from Gaston Leroux proceeds to chronicle his quest at the National Academy of music, in which he sought to resolve the tale of Erik, the renowned 'Phantom'. Albeit the account that Leroux relays have been falsified, there is a basis of truth to The Phantom of the Opera; for instance, the lake below the Opera Populair which Erik deemed his home was no invention of Leroux’s mind.

However, it is impossible to unearth for certain if the proceedings that arise truly transpired. The saga is centralized around a love affair involving Erik (a man with a facial disfigurement who has become a recluse from society), Christine (an ingenue and gifted soprano) and Raoul (a dapper young man of power).

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Raoul and Christine became familiarized with one another when they were both mere children. Christine was singing on the streets of Perros, France alongside her father, an esteemed violinist, when without warning, her red shawl floated off into the sea. Raoul, a passerby, happened to be so captivated by Christine's voice and charm that he ran into the ocean to retrieve it for her. Their fondness for one another continued to flower until the unforeseen passing of M. Daaè. Christine having had both her parents perish was forced to live with her new benefactress, Me.

Valèrius. She remained under such care until she began her career as a songstress performing at the Opera Populair. The Phantom first becomes acquainted with Christine under the ruse that he is her 'Angel of Music.' When Christine was a young girl, M. Daaè would always tell her stories of a spirit that comes to every musician once in their life. Prior to his death, he promised her that when he is in heaven, he will send this angel to her. Unfortunately, this information falls into the wrong hands, and Erik begins using this to manipulate Christine into believing he is her angel.

Christine begins taking voice lessons with him in the basement of the opera house, while The Phantom starts becoming infatuated and possessive over Christine. So much so that he ends up kidnapping her in his lair for several months. While pent-up beneath the opera house, Christine's curiosity begins to fester. She wonders why the face of the man who has been teaching her all these months, is always covered in a white mask. She ends up removing the mask one night in the lair, revealing a face so deformed it was hardly a face at all. In a fit of embarrassment and rage, The Phantom release her from the lair, feeling betrayed and broken.