Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Phantom of the Opera, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Natural vs. the Supernatural
Love vs. Jealousy
Violence, Revenge, and Redemption
Beauty vs. Ugliness
Summary
Analysis
Raoul and Christine run away from a pair of frightening eyes and suddenly come across a mysterious man, the Persian, who leads them forward. While they run, wondering if they might both have imagined Erik’s presence, Raoul once again insists that they could leave tonight. However, Christine says that she has promised Erik not to see Raoul outside of the Opera, and does not want to bring them bad luck by breaking her pledge. Raoul, however, expresses his fear that she might not actually love him.
Once again, it remains ambiguous whether Erik has shifted shapes, turning into a bird of prey, of simply appears to be one in the confusion of the night. Once again, Christine’s inability to run away immediately highlights her lack of knowledge about the danger that awaits them, now that Erik has discovered her true feelings for Raoul.
Themes
Christine says that they could go to her dressing-room, where Erik has promised never to listen. She also says that Erik can hear her anytime she calls, because he has talents beyond human capacities. She also insists that Raoul should take her with him by force if she refuses to leave. While Christine prepares to leave to return to Erik’s abode, she suddenly panics, realizing she has lost the gold ring Erik once gave her, which he told her was a sign of her faithfulness to him. However, instead of looking for it, however, she decides to leave at once.
Despite Raoul’s fears, Christine proves that she does love him by showing him her trust and explaining that he should decide what is best for them by taking her away. Although Christine does not hate Erik, the fear he inspires in her expresses itself through her anguish at losing the ring, which also highlights Erik’s desire to control her—despite adopting a seemingly compromising attitude by promising not to spy on her in one specific location of the Opera.
Themes
That night, Raoul sees two burning eyes at the foot of his bed. Shaking, Raoul strikes a match but does not notice anything unusual. He begins to wonder if he has lost his mind. However, when he blows out the light, the eyes return. Raoul then slowly grabs hold of his pistol, takes aim, and shoots. Servants and Count Philippe immediately come running and, noticing Raoul’s feverish face, they wonder if he has gone mad. However, Raoul stands up and sees blood on the floor, concluding that the ghost is indeed a normal human being. Count Philippe argues that Raoul must have shot a cat, as the trail of blood goes does the balcony through a drain-pipe, and Raoul laughs, saying that Erik can indeed take whatever form he wishes. The count—and, later, the examining magistrate M. Faure—becomes convinced that Raoul must have gone mad.
Although Raoul apparently wounds the Phantom, no other mention is made of this fact later in the narrative. This creates uncertainty about Raoul’s state of mind. Indeed, it remains ambiguous whether Raoul actually wounded the Phantom or whether the events of the day left his mind scarred, making him more paranoid than usual. After hearing Christine’s story, though, Raoul now seems to accept that the Phantom truly has supernatural powers, such as the capacity to shift forms. However, the Count and M. Faure’s belief that Raoul is mad is misguided, since Raoul is correct in accepting the Phantom’s existence and understanding him as a violent threat.
Themes
When the servants leaves, Raoul yells that he plans to take Christine Daaé away with him. Later, during police investigations, the servants told M. Faure, the examining magistrate, that such fights were not uncommon between the two brothers. The next morning, Count Philippe hands a paper to Raoul, in which someone has written that Christine Daaé and Viscount Raoul de Chagny are engaged, despite Count Philippe’s resistance. Philippe tells Raoul that he must have gone mad, to want to leave with this girl, but Raoul refuses to answer. Instead, he spends the entire day preparing for his escape with Christine.
The servants’ mention about the fights between Raoul and Philippe serve to (wrongly) convince M. Faure that the Count’s death and Raoul’s disappearance must have something to do with their disagreement about Raoul’s relationship with Christine Daaé. Raoul reveals his determination and rebelliousness when he rejects societal standards about marriage, preferring instead to give more weight to his feelings of love.
Themes
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In the evening, Raoul goes to the Opera, leaving his carriage by the entrance, ready for his escape. That night, Christine Daaé is welcomed coldly on stage, as the public considers that, as a mere singer, she is not fit to marry into the French nobility. Although this initially makes Christine uncomfortable, she soon immerses herself in the beauty of the moment in Faust in which she ascends to the sky, calling up to the angels. In the middle of her heartrending performance, the lights suddenly go out for a few seconds and, when they return, Christine is no longer there. Although it seems as though Christine has been taken up by the angels, the audience turns toward Raoul, to figure out if he might be involved in this disappearance. The conductor then steps onto the stage and announces that Christine has vanished through some mysterious, unknown means.
The society’s reaction to Christine’s rumored plans to marry Viscount Raoul highlights the extent to which social judgment can lead one to isolation—as has happened, in a more extreme manner, which Erik, who has always been rejected because of his appearance. The beauty of Christine’s singing and her subsequent disappearance are symbolic. Her call to angels is reminiscent of her belief in Erik as the Angel of Music. Exercising his talent as an illusionist, Erik thus makes her abduction seem like a divine deed, instead of a merely human, jealousy-driven action, meant to keep her under his control.
Themes
