Erik In Gaston Leroux's The Phantom Of The Opera

Barring the novel’s title, the word “phantom” is never again used in reference to Erik in Gaston LeRoux’s The Phantom of the Opera; in other words, the choice of the word phantom appears to be an entirely deliberate ploy to convey a reality of Erik’s nature. To examine LeRoux’s motivations in selecting such a word in his title, one must examine the etymology of the word in its original French form, fantôme. In spite of its contemporary meaning of “a ghost or apparition,” the word is derived from the Ancient Greek phantasma, “a mere show; an illusion” (MyEtymology). To explain, even though Erik enjoyed initial success in convincing both Christine and, through her, Madame Valérius that he was the prophesied and benevolent Angel of Music, he was later exposed as a mortal and unhappy creature of deformed flesh and blood. That is, Gaston LeRoux uses the word “phantom” to refer to Erik in novel’s title to foreshadow that the

To expand, Erik is the “mere show” that the title suggests because he is the greatest and most profound illusionist of the book. As an illustration, according to Christine’s rooftop monologue to Raoul, Erik had revealed his humanity to Christine during their first meeting in his lair, in essence admitting that his appearances as the Angel of Music were only facades. In fact, this revelation greatly troubled the idealistic Christine, who believed that the voice was her father’s promised Angel of Music; Christine even confessed to Raoul during her rooftop monologue that “the voice, the voice which I had recognized under the mask, was on its knees before me, WAS A MAN! And I began to cry” (LeRoux 141). As a result, Christine struggled with this for a time; even after Erik had told her of his humanity, she still went on to