The Phantom of the Opera

For various reasons, which the narrator promises to disclose later, Christine Daaé takes a break from the stage before performing beautifully again at a Duchess’s soirée. Later, though, she cancels all her scheduled performances, making it seem as though she were afraid to be too successful. Some said that Christine was too modest or, on the contrary, too proud, but the narrator asserts that Christine’s behavior can be explained by sheer terror, which a letter from the Persian’s collection confirms.

The Viscount de Raoul Chagny sends Christine many letters, and finally receives an answer from her, in which she explains that she does remember the child who caught her scarf in the sea. She tells him that she will be in Perros-Guirec, in Brittany, the next day, to honor the anniversary of her father’s death. Without a moment of doubt, Raoul hurries to take the train to Perros. Overwhelmed by his love for Christine, he is excited by the prospect of speaking to her alone.

During his journey on the night train, Raoul recalls Christine’s life story. Christine’s father was a Swedish peasant farmer who was passionate about music. His talent as a musician made him famous as the best fiddler in Scandinavia. After his wife died, he played in many fairs, where a professor, Professor Valerius, noticed him and took the father and his daughter with him to Gothenburg then to Paris. There, Christine pursued her musical education, and Mme Valerius treated her as a daughter. Christine’s father, however, was so homesick that he barely left his room, where he played the violin softly. The man only showed enthusiasm and energy during their trips to Perros-Guirec, a fishing village in Brittany, where the ocean reminded him of home. During the religious festivals, Christine and her father would take part in celebrations, sleeping in barns yet asking for no money for their performances.

A young boy, Raoul found himself fascinated by Christine’s voice. Once, when a gust of wind scarf threw Christine’s scarf toward the sea, he ran into the water to fetch it. Christine’s father agreed to give an insistent Raoul violin lessons, and the two children grew up together. They loved asking locals to share Breton legends with them.

One story in particular, in which a little girl, Lotte, is visited by the Angel of Music every night before falling asleep, remained impressed in their minds. The Angel of Music appeared in various stories, and gave characters striking musical talent in the most unexpected times, like when characters were sad and depressed. From that moment on, such people became genius musicians, making every melody divine. Although Christine’s father told the children he had never heard the Angel of Music himself, he promised his daughter to send it to her after his death.

Three years later, Raoul met Christine again at Perros. Christine’s father welcomed him graciously, saying that Christine talked about him all the time, but Christine behaved in a shy, cautious way. On his way out, Raoul told Christine that he would never forget her, although he regretted this action later, as he knew that a Viscount could never marry a mere singer. Christine, on her part, tried to forget Raoul. When her father died, she seemed to lose all of her musical passion and talent. She still entered the Paris Conservatoire, but did not prove to be a particularly talented student.

When Raoul first heard Christine sing at the Opera, he was mesmerized by her beauty but slightly disappointed by her singing, which seemed emotionless and detached. He often followed her to her dressing-room, but she always seemed indifferent and never recognized him. Now, Raoul wonders why she pretended not to know who he was and why she has suddenly written to him.

When Raoul finally reaches Perros, he goes to the only inn in the village. There, he sees Christine and is overwhelmed by her beauty. The two of them look at each other for a long time, and Christine says that her father told her he would come. Raoul then confesses his love to her, adding that he cannot live without her. However, Christine tells him he is crazy and says that she does not know why she wanted him to come.

Raoul is dismayed by Christine’s behavior, which he describes as both tender and full of pain. Christine admits that she had noticed Raoul previously at the Opera, but does not explain why she never addressed him. Furious, Raoul then tells her that he knows she was talking to a man in her dressing-room. When he tells her everything he heard, Christine is overcome with emotion and begins to cry. Although Raoul tries to comfort her, Christine suddenly leaves the room, visibly distressed.

Raoul feels jealous and confused by Christine’s attitude. However, he still feels convinced of Christine’s purity and virtue, and doesn’t understand why she ran away from him. In the afternoon, he walks around the graveyard, where he sees fresh flowers on Christine’s father’s grave. He also notices a corner of the graveyard where skulls are piled up, which he finds gloomy and disturbing. He goes to sit on top of a hill, looking out at the scene, and Christine walks up to him. Shaking, she tells him she has something important to say. She tells Raoul that her father has sent her the Angel of Music, who has been visiting her. Raoul does not understand what she means, but Christine insists that this is the Voice that Raoul heard in her dressing-room, where the Angel of Music gives her music lessons.

When Raoul laughs at such an idea, Christine becomes furious. She accuses him of forgetting who she is—a woman who would never be alone in her dressing-room with a man—and tells him he must have changed. However, Raoul, still unconvinced, simply says that someone must be playing a joke on her. Unnerved, Christine cries out and runs away again, telling him to stay away from her.

Back at the inn, Raoul learns that Christine has locked herself in her room. Confused, he wonders what she might be thinking and doing. Late at night, he suddenly hears Christine’s footsteps and hears her exit the room silently. He listens to the landlady give Christine a key and then hears nothing but silence. Raoul then decides to leave the inn through his own window, so as not to attract the landlady’s attention.

The narrator then transcribes Raoul’s interview with Inspector Monfroid, who investigated the mysterious events taking place at the Paris Opera. Raoul explains that he followed Christine through the snow into the churchyard, though she was so concentrated on her task that she did not notice him. In the cemetery, despite being surprised by Christine’s behavior, Raoul feels confident and unafraid. When the church bells strike twelve, however, Christine ecstatically raises her arms toward the sky and Raoul hears music emerge from nowhere—Lazarus, the same music that Christine’s father used to play on his violin when they were children. Remembering Christine’s story about the Angel of Music, he becomes fascinated, entranced, as though he were entering another world and Christine’s father might suddenly revive.

When the music stops, Raoul heads toward the collection of skulls, where he believes to have heard a sound. At the same moment as Christine is leaving the cemetery, all the skulls start tumbling down, rolling toward Raoul and terrifying him. He suddenly sees a shadow emerge from the skulls and rushes after him, grabbing hold of the man’s dark cloak after they enter the church. When the man turns around, Raoul sees a skull face with burning eyes, which he compares to Hell and Satan. Raoul then faints and is found the unconscious the next morning by the church altar.