The Phantom of the Opera

778 Words4 Pages
The Phantom of the Opera is a story which combines romance, horror fiction, mystery, tragedy, and adventure. It's about a man, the Phantom, named Erik, who has a devil's appearance but an angel's voice. He lives underneath the Paris Opera House with a lonely heart because he was abandoned by his parents with no place to go. Erik falls in love with the chorus singer named Christine, as he patiently teaches her how to sing. After reading the story, one is touched and ponders over what lead to the Phantom's distorted character and miserable love. Under the mask, there are sure to be some complicated reasons contributing to his misfortune. The following essay will analyze the unique personalities of the Phantom and how these personalities bring about the tragic love under his deformed face. By exploring in depth, one can find there are several underlying reasons that lead to the Phantom's distorted personalities. It is not difficult to find it is these personalities; inferiority, jealousy, and desire for true love that makes his love pathetic and wretched. During the phantom's childhood, nobody wanted to get along with him. Adults thought he was a devil which brought bad luck to them. Children teased him and made a fool of him. His shameful face made his parents hate him and ignore him. They even asked him to wear a mask and kept him away. "Erik himself laments the fact that his mother was horrified by his appearance and that his father, a master mason, never saw him." Being deserted by the whole world, Erik had a strong sense of inferiority, choosing to close his heart and live alone in the darkness. The Phantom sings to Christine as an angel, he teaches her how to sing, and he uses his beautiful voice to control Christine and make Christine love him. He does everything to make Christine his own. He begs secretly behind the mirror: "Christine, you must love me!"
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