Author: Gaston Leroux Published: 1910Setting (Place, Time): Paris Opera

House, France late 1800’s

A Time of PeaceThe long stretch of time between

the collapse of the empire of Napoleon III in 1871 and the start of the First World War in 1914 was a relative peaceful and prosperous period for France.

A new and Improved CityNapoleon, like his predecessor

Napoleon Bonaparte, had sought to remake Paris on a grand scale, restructuring its centuries-old layout and adding outlying provinces to the city proper. He had also, however, tried to leave his mark as a great military leader, which ended up in his defeat by the Prussians.

The Opera House is Born The fall of the emperor was followed by a four-year

period of political anarchy, marked by the uprising known as the Paris Commune (discussed in The Phantom of the Opera for the rebels who hid under the tunnels under the opera house). Stability was established under the Third Republic, which came to power in 1875, the same year that the magnificent opera house designed by Charles Garnier was completed.

TECHNOLOGY = A NEW WAY During the final decades of the nineteenth century and the first

decade of the twentieth, Paris saw a burst of technology that was integrated into ordinary daily life with ease. Electric lighting became available in the early 1880s and spread quickly

In the 1890s, automobiles became available Just before the turn of the century, the first moving pictures

were exhibited. The 1900 Paris Expo, a large party to herald in the twentieth

century, hosted nearly fifty-one million visitors: more than the population of the entire country. While France had spent much of the nineteenth century under the rule of Napoleon and his heir, Paris entered the twentieth century as one of the world’s great capital cities. This period was known as the Belle Époque, also called the Banquet Years or the Miraculous Years.

Opéra de Paris or Opéra Garnier The Palais Garnier was designed as part of the great Parisian

reconstruction of the Second Empire initiated by Emperor Napoleon III, who chose the Baron Haussmann to supervise the reconstruction. In 1858 the Emperor authorized Haussmann to clear the required 12,000 square metres (1.2 ha) of land on which to build a second theatre for the world renowned Parisian Opera and Ballet companies. The project was put out to open competition in 1861, and was won by the architect Charles Garnier.

In 1896, the falling of one of the counterweights or the grand chandelier resulted in the death of one person. This incident, as well as the underground lake, cellars,

along with the other elements of the Opera House even the building itself were the inspirations of Gaston Leroux in his classic 1910 Gothic Novel, The Phantom of the Opera.

The Phantom of the Opera is told from the point of view of a narrator whose name is never given, who is examining the events of the novel thirty years after the fact. The Preface gives details of his search: how he examined the records of the opera library, interviewed people who had been present at the time of the story (including Little Meg Giry and the Persian, whose name is withheld but who proves to be a major part of the action in the book’s final chapters), and examined a skeleton found in the catacombs under the opera house, assuming it to be the remains of the phantom. Throughout the course of the novel, this narrator sometimes makes his presence felt, with statements like “I assume” and “we know now that,” but for the most part he stays out of the story and relates the facts as a third person narrator would.

There are several ways in which this narrator gives over the telling of the story to other participants. One way is in quoting songs that were sung at the opera while the story was being lived, giving readers a greater sense. It is significant that, at the height of this suspenseful story, the narrator changes to one of the two people who is actually involved in the action.

Sensitive Soul or Sinister Stalker? •The mysterious character with a dark side.

•Think of how many, male characters there are in stories with a dangerous exterior; however, underneath their lurks a loving heart ready to bloom when the right woman comes along….

•The Beast from Beauty and the Beast •Edward Cullen from Twilight •Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice

•However, the Phantom is unlike these characters in many ways because he crosses a clear moral boundary AND he is physically deformed (when you remove the mask). He is attractive due tohis musical genius

A type of novel that flourished in the late 18th and early 19th cent. in England.

Gothic romances were mysteries, often involving the supernatural and heavily tinged with horror, and they were usually set against dark backgrounds of medieval ruins and haunted castles. Gothic literature combines romance and horror in attempt to thrill and terrify the reader.

Common Characteristics: gloomy and very strong architecture explores the nightmares under the surface of the

“civilized” mind and/or aberrant psychological states dealing with a degenerate character, usually the main

male character, restored by a pure heroic character, usually the main woman character,a nd they usually come from aberrant and twisted family situations.

woman (or other culturally disempowered person) in distress needing to be rescued

bad, nasty, evil, controlling, dominating, lustful villain (often the lust is perverse) who has the power, as king, lord of the manor, father, or guardian, to demand that one or more of the female characters do something intolerable. The woman may be commanded to marry someone she does not love (it may even be the powerful male himself), or commit a crime

apparently supernatural events that is not infrequently explained later by science

omens, portents, visions—often the story is based on a prophecy (and in more modern versions often contains one concerning society beyond the story)

evokes terror through the depiction of physical and, more often, psychological violence

Possible features in a gothic novel are foreign monsters, ghosts, curses, hidden rooms and witchcraft. Gothic tales usually take place in locations such as castles, monasteries, and cemeteries, although the gothic monsters sometimes cross over into the real world, making appearances in cities such as London and Paris.

Dreary/ Eerie Imagery

Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839) as an example of the main themes of "Gothic" literature:

The Gothic is an anti-Enlightenment exploration of darkness and irrationality "During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher" (also: gloom dungeons, etc.)

"The room in which I found myself was very large and lofty. The windows were long, narrow, and pointed, and at so vast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be altogether inaccessible from within. Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellissed panes, and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent objects around ; the eye, however, struggled in vain to reach the remoter angles of the chamber, or the recesses of the vaulted and fretted ceiling. Dark draperies hung upon the walls. The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered. Many books and musical instruments lay scattered about, but failed to give any vitality to the scene. I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow. An air of stern, deep, and irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all."

The Gothic is about "doubles" or "doppelgangers"

—Roderick and Madeleine Usher as doubles:

"Having deposited our mournful burden upon tressels within this region of horror, we partially turned aside the yet unscrewed lid of the coffin, and looked upon the face of the tenant. A striking similitude between the brother and sister now first arrested my attention ; and Usher, divining, perhaps, my thoughts, murmured out some few words from which I learned that the deceased and himself had been twins, and that sympathies of a scarcely intelligible nature had always existed between them."

This opera is being performed in the novel Phantom of the Opera.

Setting: Germany in the 16th Century Author: Charles Gounod Synopsis: Aging Dr. Faust sits at his desk brooding about his life, feeling

it was worthless. Preparing to drink poison, he calls on Satan. Mephistopheles obligingly appears and offers Faust whatever he wants in exchange for his soul. Faust wants youth and its joys. Mephistopheles shows him a vision of a beautiful young woman named Marguerite. Faust seals the bargain with Satan. He is transformed into a handsome young man. Mephistopheles and Faust travel to Marguerite’s home. Marguerite’s brother is leaving for war and is worried about leaving his sister alone.

Once he leaves, Mephistopheles produces a chest full of jewels to help Faust entice Marguerite. She finds the jewels and is dazzled and excited. Faust and Marguerite walk in the garden and Mephistopheles calls on the powers of nature to cast a spell over them. Marguerite eventually succumbs to Faust’s advances while Satan laughs.

Marguerite, alone and pregnant, has been abandoned by Faust. She is mocked by the townspeople and fearful of her future. Her brother Valentin returns from war and is full of anger over Marguerite’s condition. Faust appears with Mephistopheles and Valentin is goaded into a duel. Faust mortally wounds Valentin, who denounces and curses his sister as he dies.

Marguerite loses her senses. In her madness she kills her newborn child and is in prison, awaiting execution. Faust and Mephistopheles appear in her cell. She recognizes Faust and is overjoyed, but when she sees Mephistopheles she recoils, instinctively sensing his evil. She asks for salvation and falls dead. Satan tries to claim her, but angels appear and bear her soul to Heaven. Faust falls to his knees and Mephistopheles turns away.

Forbidden knowledge/power is often the Gothic protagonist’s goal. The Gothic "hero" questions the universe’s ambiguous nature and tries to comprehend and control those supernatural powers that mortals cannot understand. He tries to overcome human limitations and make himself into a "god." This ambition usually leads to the hero’s "fall" or destruction; however, Gothic tales of ambition sometimes paradoxically evoke our admiration because they picture individuals with the courage to defy fate and cosmic forces in an attempt to transcend the mundane to the eternal and sublime.

•1925 Silent Horror Film •2004 Film adaptation of the Webber’s musical

•1986 Adaptation by Andrew Lloyd Webber to Broadway

Using the handout provided, create a interview between you and Gaston Leroux.

Let’s say… you are a hip young writer living in New York, who works for Vogue Magazine. Your first big break is to interview Gaston Leroux the author of Phantom. After reading over the information provided, create interview questions and then write the expected answers. The interview should be a least 1 – 2 pages. If you get done early you can present the interview to the class with a partner. However this assignment should be done individually.