As I hope you all know, Gaston Leroux was the man to bring Erik and his genius to us and begin the entire collection that exists today.
How does it differ from today's Phantom?
Today, based on Webber's musical and Schumacher's movie, people have had a completely different perception of the Erik that had started it all.
Summarized below for those who want to understand the story more. Please excuse the awful summary- I typed this all at once and will come back to edit it..
The book's most obvious difference revolves around Erik's appearance. In the musical today, only half of his face is disfigured- the other half is typically handsome, giving the viewer the assumption that it couldn't possibly as terrible as he makes it out to be. But in the original book, Erik wears a full mask that completely covers his face. His eyes are deep black pits that glow red in the darkness, and his skin is sickening yellow. He was told to have "Death's hand" and his touch was cold as ice.
It was to no surprise, then, that as soon as Christine passed through the mirror that she was struck with dumb terror.
That's right, everyone. Christine was not willingly taken into the lair. She had screamed in terror and struggled as Erik led her into the depths of the opera house. He had to place his hand to her mouth to stop her screaming, and she claimed it was "a hand that smelt of death." Through her entire time in his lair, tthe majority of the emotions she felt for him were fear and pity. Erik was angered that she had only loved him as The Voice, but eventually let her leave.
Later in the story, she promises to return to his lair, and she does. Once she removes his mask, however, he changes his tune..
"As long as you thought me handsome, you could have come back, and I know you would have come back. ."
Erik refuses to let her leave, until she claims that she loves him despite his appearance. This of course was a lie.
Later in the story, Christine tells Raoul of what had happened. As soon as Erik realizes that she had lied when she said she loved him, he makes plans to take her back. She disappears in the middle of song (Erik was not in the performance itself, he was busy managing the trap doors under Christine).
After this we are introduced to the Persian(though he was mentioned earlier in the book). The Persian was Erik's only friend, and he had saved Erik from those who wanted to kill him for the crimes he committed.
The Persian helps Raoul into Erik's lair, telling him that if he does not keep his hand at the level of his eyes, he will be defeated with the Punjab lasso. Raoul and the Persian come across Erik's torture chamber, constructed exactly as it had been back in Africa. Listening to the wall, the Persian hears Erik and Christine speaking. Erik departs as he hears someone enter his lair, which gives Raoul and the Persian a chance to speak with her.
Christine was tied to a chair, because she had attempted to commit suicide after being left alone in Erik's lair. Erik had given her two decisions. Either she would promise to marry him, or everyone would be dead and buried.
The Persian and Raoul convinced the tearful girl to make Erik believe she would not attempt suicide again and use her freedom to find a key to the torture chamber. After Erik unties her, Christine manages to get her hands on the key, only to be found out by Erik.
Erik, being the intelligent fellow he is, realizes that there is someone in the torture chamber, then turning the light on and causing an illusion of a forest to appear, heat slowly rising in the room and driving the two insane. After finding a small hole in the ground, the Persian helps Raoul into it and out of the heat, where they find many barrels of gunpowder, which gives the answer to why Erik had claimed everyone would be dead and buried.
The decision begins as Erik introduces her to the scorpion and the grasshopper. The little figures are to signal her decision to him. If she turns the scorpion, it will say that she wants to marry him. However, if she turns the grasshopper, it tells him that she does not wish to marry him. He leaves her with a final warning:
"A grasshopper does not only turn: it hops! It hops! And it hops jolly high!"
As Erik leaves, Christine returns once more to the door of the torture chambers to tell Raoul and the Persian of her troubles. They come to the conclusion that in the grasshopper there is a bomb, and it would set off the gunpowder if she turned it. Raoul, very intent on not dying, begins to shout to Christine to turn the scorpion. The Persian disagrees and argues that it may be another one of Erik's tricks- and the scorpion could be the figure concealing the bomb. Before they can rest on a decision, Erik returns and offers to turn the grasshopper for her. With Christine's hesitation, Erik reaches for the grasshopper, and panic ensues. Raoul falls to his knees praying, and the Persian begins to scream.
Amidst the noise and panic, Christine shouts "Erik! I have turned the scorpion!" and water rises to the gunpowder, soaking it and causing it to be unusable. It also drowns the Persian and Raoul to the very last bit of life they have, and it is Christine who tells her husband to let them free. After he speaks with them and lets the Persian go, Raoul is still in his lair.
After Erik had chained Raoul up, Christine approached him. He kissed her forehead and was overwhelmed by such love they began to cry together. They shared a tearful moment when Erik realizes that he must free her and Raoul. He does this, then telling the Persian of what had happened, crying and claiming he was dying of love.
The final words of the last chapter were:
"Erik is dead."
Having said this, I will also leave you with a quote from Leroux, and an explanation of this quote from the official fansite of the Phantom of the Opera.
The Opera ghost really existed. He was not, as was long believed, a creature of the imagination of the artists, the superstition of the managers, or a product of the absurd and impressionable brains of the young ladies of the ballet, their mothers, the box-keepers, the cloak-room attendants or the concierge. Yes, he existed in flesh and blood, although he assumed the complete appearance of a real phantom; that is to say, of a spectral shade.
-Gaston Leroux
Did the Phantom exist?
Whether Phantom is a true story or not is a much-debated topic amongst fans.
Gaston Leroux was an investigative journalist, and the novel is written in the style of a true narrative - Leroux wrote an article some 15 years after the novel's publication in which he again insisted that the story was true, but as this coincided with the release of the Lon Chaney film one has to regard it as a publicity ploy as much as anything else.
Leroux's diaries, in which he detailed some of his thought processes in creating the characters, apparently exist but have not been published. It is not thought that he claims the story is real in any way in his journals.
Certain events and characters were based on, or inspired by, real occurences - the counterweight of the chandelier once fell, Carlotta was based on a person named Mlle. Carvalho, and Christine's story and childhood are clearly based on the singer Christine Nilsson.
Other research has found a real de Chagny family whose names make it clear that Leroux was referencing them with his characters (such as Mme de La Martinière, Raoul's mother).
Although staff at the Paris Opera House usually prefer not to talk about the Phantom, at least one former staff member has talked about the Phantom legend, and claimed that a skeleton with a ring (as described by Leroux) was found early in the 20th century, along with a house built into the cellars of the opera. I am not aware of any external verification for these claims.
How does it differ from today's Phantom?
Today, based on Webber's musical and Schumacher's movie, people have had a completely different perception of the Erik that had started it all.
Summarized below for those who want to understand the story more. Please excuse the awful summary- I typed this all at once and will come back to edit it..
The book's most obvious difference revolves around Erik's appearance. In the musical today, only half of his face is disfigured- the other half is typically handsome, giving the viewer the assumption that it couldn't possibly as terrible as he makes it out to be. But in the original book, Erik wears a full mask that completely covers his face. His eyes are deep black pits that glow red in the darkness, and his skin is sickening yellow. He was told to have "Death's hand" and his touch was cold as ice.
It was to no surprise, then, that as soon as Christine passed through the mirror that she was struck with dumb terror.
That's right, everyone. Christine was not willingly taken into the lair. She had screamed in terror and struggled as Erik led her into the depths of the opera house. He had to place his hand to her mouth to stop her screaming, and she claimed it was "a hand that smelt of death." Through her entire time in his lair, tthe majority of the emotions she felt for him were fear and pity. Erik was angered that she had only loved him as The Voice, but eventually let her leave.
Later in the story, she promises to return to his lair, and she does. Once she removes his mask, however, he changes his tune..
"As long as you thought me handsome, you could have come back, and I know you would have come back. ."
Erik refuses to let her leave, until she claims that she loves him despite his appearance. This of course was a lie.
Later in the story, Christine tells Raoul of what had happened. As soon as Erik realizes that she had lied when she said she loved him, he makes plans to take her back. She disappears in the middle of song (Erik was not in the performance itself, he was busy managing the trap doors under Christine).
After this we are introduced to the Persian(though he was mentioned earlier in the book). The Persian was Erik's only friend, and he had saved Erik from those who wanted to kill him for the crimes he committed.
The Persian helps Raoul into Erik's lair, telling him that if he does not keep his hand at the level of his eyes, he will be defeated with the Punjab lasso. Raoul and the Persian come across Erik's torture chamber, constructed exactly as it had been back in Africa. Listening to the wall, the Persian hears Erik and Christine speaking. Erik departs as he hears someone enter his lair, which gives Raoul and the Persian a chance to speak with her.
Christine was tied to a chair, because she had attempted to commit suicide after being left alone in Erik's lair. Erik had given her two decisions. Either she would promise to marry him, or everyone would be dead and buried.
The Persian and Raoul convinced the tearful girl to make Erik believe she would not attempt suicide again and use her freedom to find a key to the torture chamber. After Erik unties her, Christine manages to get her hands on the key, only to be found out by Erik.
Erik, being the intelligent fellow he is, realizes that there is someone in the torture chamber, then turning the light on and causing an illusion of a forest to appear, heat slowly rising in the room and driving the two insane. After finding a small hole in the ground, the Persian helps Raoul into it and out of the heat, where they find many barrels of gunpowder, which gives the answer to why Erik had claimed everyone would be dead and buried.
The decision begins as Erik introduces her to the scorpion and the grasshopper. The little figures are to signal her decision to him. If she turns the scorpion, it will say that she wants to marry him. However, if she turns the grasshopper, it tells him that she does not wish to marry him. He leaves her with a final warning:
"A grasshopper does not only turn: it hops! It hops! And it hops jolly high!"
As Erik leaves, Christine returns once more to the door of the torture chambers to tell Raoul and the Persian of her troubles. They come to the conclusion that in the grasshopper there is a bomb, and it would set off the gunpowder if she turned it. Raoul, very intent on not dying, begins to shout to Christine to turn the scorpion. The Persian disagrees and argues that it may be another one of Erik's tricks- and the scorpion could be the figure concealing the bomb. Before they can rest on a decision, Erik returns and offers to turn the grasshopper for her. With Christine's hesitation, Erik reaches for the grasshopper, and panic ensues. Raoul falls to his knees praying, and the Persian begins to scream.
Amidst the noise and panic, Christine shouts "Erik! I have turned the scorpion!" and water rises to the gunpowder, soaking it and causing it to be unusable. It also drowns the Persian and Raoul to the very last bit of life they have, and it is Christine who tells her husband to let them free. After he speaks with them and lets the Persian go, Raoul is still in his lair.
After Erik had chained Raoul up, Christine approached him. He kissed her forehead and was overwhelmed by such love they began to cry together. They shared a tearful moment when Erik realizes that he must free her and Raoul. He does this, then telling the Persian of what had happened, crying and claiming he was dying of love.
The final words of the last chapter were:
"Erik is dead."
Having said this, I will also leave you with a quote from Leroux, and an explanation of this quote from the official fansite of the Phantom of the Opera.
The Opera ghost really existed. He was not, as was long believed, a creature of the imagination of the artists, the superstition of the managers, or a product of the absurd and impressionable brains of the young ladies of the ballet, their mothers, the box-keepers, the cloak-room attendants or the concierge. Yes, he existed in flesh and blood, although he assumed the complete appearance of a real phantom; that is to say, of a spectral shade.
-Gaston Leroux
Did the Phantom exist?
Whether Phantom is a true story or not is a much-debated topic amongst fans.
Gaston Leroux was an investigative journalist, and the novel is written in the style of a true narrative - Leroux wrote an article some 15 years after the novel's publication in which he again insisted that the story was true, but as this coincided with the release of the Lon Chaney film one has to regard it as a publicity ploy as much as anything else.
Leroux's diaries, in which he detailed some of his thought processes in creating the characters, apparently exist but have not been published. It is not thought that he claims the story is real in any way in his journals.
Certain events and characters were based on, or inspired by, real occurences - the counterweight of the chandelier once fell, Carlotta was based on a person named Mlle. Carvalho, and Christine's story and childhood are clearly based on the singer Christine Nilsson.
Other research has found a real de Chagny family whose names make it clear that Leroux was referencing them with his characters (such as Mme de La Martinière, Raoul's mother).
Although staff at the Paris Opera House usually prefer not to talk about the Phantom, at least one former staff member has talked about the Phantom legend, and claimed that a skeleton with a ring (as described by Leroux) was found early in the 20th century, along with a house built into the cellars of the opera. I am not aware of any external verification for these claims.
