Masquerade

The history of the masquerade is quite fascinating. The event originated in Venice Italy in the 15th century as elaborate dances for the upper class, which eventually evolved into costumed balls and festivals for the public. The masquerade spread in popularity through Europe in the 17th and 18th century. It was an event that brought people together of all classes, nobleman and commoners. It was became an outlet for many to depart from their lives and enter into a world of pretend, hiding themselves behind masks, and taking on another identity.

The most frequently used masquerade costume was called the “domino.” It was a very simple disguise that consisted of a black loose hooded cloak that enveloped the body, accompanied by a mask white or black in color. It gave the illusion of intrigue and mystery.

The Phantom’s dress was similar to the domino. His hair concealed by a wig, his face hidden by a mask, his body enveloped in a cloak of black. It provided him the opportunity to hide his hideous appearance and become someone who was mysterious, alluring, seductive, and attractive in appearance. He lived his life dressed in masquerade while in his Opera House, until Christine exposed him.

Even today in the 21st century, there are still costume parties and masquerade balls where you can take on another identity and hide the real you behind a costume. We are often unsatisfied with our own identity in real life. Being part of a masquerade gives us the chance to be someone else pehaps more mysterious, alluring, and seductive in appearance.

So let's have a Masquerade Ball at the Opera House. Your choice of costumes consist of the characters in the Phantom of the Opera. If you had the opportunity to masquerade as one of the characters, who would you become? Whose face would you place over yours? Whose identity would you like to make your own?

For me, it’s Meg Giry. Remember, she’s the one who asked Christine, “I only wish I knew your secret. Who is your great tutor?”

Movie Note to the Curious: Why was Christine dressed in pink at the masquerade ball? The costume designers purposely picked the masquerade colors of white, black, silver and gold to give the "Phantom a great platform when he suddenly appears at the ball and he’s dressed head to toe in bullion and scarlet. We dressed Christine in pink because, at this point in the story, she is tinged by his spell." (Quoted from: The Phantom of the Opera Production notes)

Best regards,
The Phantom's Student

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Music Box

Embodied in the music box is more meaning than what I’ll post here. The music box is a monkey dressed in Persian robes, playing the cymbals. In the original Leroux work, the Persian was an individual who knew much about the Opera Ghost's past.

What I’d like to focus on, here however, is what fascinates me the most about it, and that is Raoul purchasing it at auction. It’s that deed alone that peaks my imagination and opens up a world of possibilities, some of which have, and will continue to be, searched out in sequels to the Phantom of the Opera.

However, the movie does not give us an answer; it only teases our imagination to wonder why Raoul, who fought so hard to free her, buys a memento of her captivity with the Phantom and leaves it at her grave.

Christine has spoken often about the piece. The music box playing the tune Masquerade. Was Christine playing a masquerade of her own? Her outward face loving Raoul, and behind the mask still loving the Phantom.

If I had the creative ability to write a story from this one act, I would. However, I don’t, so I’ll leave it to the wonderful authors who do. My interpretation? I see in that one act that Raoul knew throughout his life with Christine, that though she married him, part of her heart always belonged to the Phantom. Raoul, now in her death, decides to acknowledge her longing for him by leaving at her grave something that was precious to the Phantom. What climax the scene holds, however, that after this selfless act, as if he’s giving that part of her back, he is astonished to see the Phantom’s rose, the black ribbon, and the ring he gave Christine on her gravestone. As the stag ran ahead of him along side the car as he drove to the cemetery, so the Phantom had always been one step ahead of him all along the way. He's left his message that as he always had a part of her in life, now in death he will have her for eternity.

What meaning do you find at the grave of Christine in the act of the music box and the rose? As you can tell, I'm a hopeless romantic. No doubt you are as well.

Phantom's Student

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Box 5

Box 5, the Phantom’s requested seat in the opera house. Did he demand Box 5 because it was the best seat in the house? Was it because the box had a secret entrance that allowed him to come and go at will? Perhaps there is deeper symbolism. After all, the Phantom demanded that the box was his alone, to be kept empty and not shared with another.

If we just focus on the number itself, there are symbolic meanings that can be attributed to the Phantom. Biblical interpretation relates the number five to bondage or prison. The musical staff has five lines. Some roses have five petals. The pentagram has five sides (representation of magic or Lucifer). Humans have five senses. The Opera Ghost supposedly lived five stories under the Opera House.

Is the box just about the number or does it have a deeper meaning? If the opera house was the Phantom’s domain since childhood, and he was the ultimate ruler of it, Box 5 may be a symbol of his throne of authority and dominion. From his seat in Box 5, he could see the stage, Christine, and the domain he had power and control over.

When Raoul sat in his box, the Phantom wanted to know why his box was not kept empty as instructed. Assuredly, Raoul seated in the Phantom’s box was a threatening act, a sign that Raoul was usurping the Phantom’s claim, invading his territory, and gaining power over Christine. His domain was under attack, his throne threatened. Was that the reason why next he kills? Did he kill to reassert his authority over his domain because his instructions were not obeyed?

Perhaps if the Phantom were here, we could enter his darkened mind and ask the true reason why he insisted on Box 5. What are you thoughts? Was it just the best seat in the house or perhaps the symbolic throne of his domain -- the Opera Populaire.

If you're at an opera and have the fortune to sit in Box 5, let us know how the view is, please. I'm sure we'd all be curious to know.

The Phantom's Student

NOTE: Since posting this article, I have found someone who has been in Box 5! Read the article about the Opera House in Paris written by Ladyghost.

Chandelier - Lot 666

Symbolism abounds in the lot number. Probably the most obvious reference to darkness, the number 666, the lot number used to identify the chandelier at auction. It’s the biblical reference in Revelations attributed to the mark of beast (“Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man, and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.” NASB Revelation 13:18)

The lot identifies the portion in life assigned to the Phantom by fate, which is one to live in a world of darkness and rejection, assuredly associated with hell. As he drags Christine back down to his world in his last attempt to have her, he cries that he's taking her back to his dungeon, prison, and hell.

The chandelier on the other hand is a grand representation of light before destruction. It illuminated the world of the Opera Populaire at the height of its grandeur, but is destroyed and becomes a chandelier in pieces. The Phantom succeeds in ultimately destroying the beauty of the world he loves and plunges the opera house into darkness and burning fire. Yet, at the auction, the chandelier has been somewhat repaired and illuminated once again, and is hoisted up as if to ask for someone to resurrect it from the darkness it’s been plunged into and restore it as it was once before.

What lesson can we draw? Perhaps, your lot in life is not one you would have chosen. Are you looking for someone to redeem you from the darkness you’ve been plunged into and resurrect you into a new life? Let your mind wander through the symbolism of the lot number and the chandelier and see where it leads you.

The Phantom's Student

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Angel of Music

“The Angel of Music played a part in all Daddy Daae's tales;
and he maintained that every great musician,
every great artist received a visit from the Angel
at least once in his life.”

There have been many hypotheses that the allegories in the Phantom of the Opera point to Erik (the Phantom) as a type of Satan. I agree to some point there are hidden symbolic meanings weaved throughout the story (some of which will be alluded to in other posts) that point to that possible theory. Yet, there is one stark difference that makes this assumption somewhat challenged.

The Phantom poses as the Angel of Music to Christine throughout, deceiving her that he is the Angel of Music sent to her by her father to tutor her. In comparison, the Bible references Satan’s origin as once to be the anointed cherub, an angel of music, who because of pride was cast out of heaven to then become the great deceiver and murderer of mankind.

The Phantom uses this deception to lure Christine into his world of darkness bidding her over and over to come to the Angel of Music, that he is her Angel of Music. Yet toward the end Christine declares the Angel deceiver her. The Phantom allows Christine and Raoul to leave, but cries to them that they swear never to tell that he is the Angel in hell.

The symbolism is there, yet the challenge I make is that the Phantom, however, longs for love and redemption, which Satan does not. After the passionate love felt kiss that he receives from Christine as she lays down her life to save another, he truly is touched by the meaning of redemption. Only then, can he himself, feel what compassion and love is, having never received it himself, and then willing he gives her up to Raoul as he lays down his evil desires to keep her in his captivity.

What is the lesson to be learned? Evil can come to us as an angel of light. (“Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:13). If not careful, we all can be victims of deception. Is the angel who calls to you one of light or darkness? Make sure that the voice that bids you to come is not someone else in disguise.

The Phantom's Student

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Rose

“They were marvelous red roses that had blossomed in the morning,

in the snow, giving a glimpse of life among the dead,
for death was all around him."

The rose is a beautiful flower. It's been adored throughout history. A flower of romance and symbolism. We write songs and poems about it. We hold tournaments and parades in its honor. We crush its fragrant petals to make perfume. It's the flower of choice to give to someone you love, as the Phantom did with a black ribbon tied around its stem.

As beautiful as the rose is, however, it holds a hidden dark side. If it's not handled carefully in its beauty, it can cause great pain. How interesting that nature has designed a flower so beautiful to look at, but so painful to the touch. Has nature (or God) left a message in creation that as beautiful as romantic love can be, it can contain a thorn to pierce our hearts as well?

In the Phantom of the Opera Christine carries the red rose he's given her to the rooftop. After she declares her love for Raoul, she drops the rose that the Phantom had given her in the cold snow. As he picks up the discarded symbol of his love, he feels the thorn of rejection once again in the beauty of the rose. Rejection doesn't always drive us to madness as it did the Phantom, but it can drive us to heartbreak that is nearly unbearable.

Rejection from someone we love is no doubt the most powerful human hurt any individual can experience. Perhaps you live with the thorn of rejection because you cannot find love and acceptance from someone either. I speak from my heart that this writer has felt the power of the thorn in my own life and the rejection from one I loved deeply.

So what can we say about the passion of love? Do we learn to handle it carefully, overwhelmed by its beauty and aroma, but always cautious that we never use its hidden thorn to pierce another person's heart? If we have already been the victim of its pierce, how do we overcome the hurt and pain? There is really no right answer or counsel for a broken heart or rejection from the one we love. Does time heal all wounds? Perhaps. Do we need to carry the hurt forever? Not necessarily. Does the pain eventually subside? In a slow way it does.

Perhaps we should learn another lesson from the rose and the Phantom who crushed its petals. That even after the rose fades, its petals fall, it's been pruned and remains dormant throughout the winter of our lives, eventually it will bloom again in spring more beautiful than before. The next time a rose blooms in your life, may it bring to you only beauty and no pain.

The Phantom's Student

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