Ironically, Erik's conduct (not his appearance) causes people to hate and fear him. He believes that his face scares people above anything else, but his behavior is what scares them. This becomes clear as Christine talks about her fear of his acts of "insane love" even as she is able to show sympathy for Erik's extreme physical imperfection. For example, in Chapter 27, Christine is able to look beyond Erik's disfigured face and recognize his humanity:
I [Erik] tore off my mask so as not to lose one of those falling tears … and she did not turn away! She did not die! She stood there, weeping over me, weeping with me. We cried together! Almighty God, you have granted me all the happiness a man could ever wish for!
Here, Christine does not turn away from Erik. Instead, she takes his hand and kisses him on the forehead. Her physical gestures and weeping over Erik show that she does not fear him for his face. She calls him "poor unhappy Erik" and displays great sympathy.
Throughout the story, though, Christine remains in constant terror of his power over her. The Phantom's violent actions often frighten Christine, and in Chapter 13 she admits that the main reason that she obeys his commands is not out of respect or admiration, but rather out of fear:
Believe me when I say that with each of my visits to Erik my horror of him has grown; for, instead of calming him, as I hoped, each of those visits only served to heighten his insane love! And I am afraid of him, so very afraid!
If Christine were afraid of the Phantom's appearance, then her first visit would have been the worst. However, her visits get progressively more terrifying as his behavior devolves into madness. This is ironic because readers would expect Erik's appearance to elicit hatred and fear, but it's actually his behavior that has this effect.
Ironically, Erik's conduct (not his appearance) causes people to hate and fear him. He believes that his face scares people above anything else, but his behavior is what scares them. This becomes clear as Christine talks about her fear of his acts of "insane love" even as she is able to show sympathy for Erik's extreme physical imperfection. For example, in Chapter 27, Christine is able to look beyond Erik's disfigured face and recognize his humanity:
I [Erik] tore off my mask so as not to lose one of those falling tears … and she did not turn away! She did not die! She stood there, weeping over me, weeping with me. We cried together! Almighty God, you have granted me all the happiness a man could ever wish for!
Here, Christine does not turn away from Erik. Instead, she takes his hand and kisses him on the forehead. Her physical gestures and weeping over Erik show that she does not fear him for his face. She calls him "poor unhappy Erik" and displays great sympathy.
Throughout the story, though, Christine remains in constant terror of his power over her. The Phantom's violent actions often frighten Christine, and in Chapter 13 she admits that the main reason that she obeys his commands is not out of respect or admiration, but rather out of fear:
Believe me when I say that with each of my visits to Erik my horror of him has grown; for, instead of calming him, as I hoped, each of those visits only served to heighten his insane love! And I am afraid of him, so very afraid!
If Christine were afraid of the Phantom's appearance, then her first visit would have been the worst. However, her visits get progressively more terrifying as his behavior devolves into madness. This is ironic because readers would expect Erik's appearance to elicit hatred and fear, but it's actually his behavior that has this effect.
