Phantom Thoughts pt. 25

{With his face in a mask trimmed with long, thick lace, looking like a pierrot in his white wrap, the viscount thought himself very ridiculous. Men of the world do not go to the Opera ball in fancy-dress! It was absurd. One thought, however, consoled the viscount: he would certainly never be recognized!}

Picturing Raoul in a lacy getup is.. very strange. Also hilarious. (And note the example of Raoul's mental what-would-Philippe-do- apparently not go to the opera ball in fancy dress, but that's not stopping Raoul!)

{He was afraid of losing her, after meeting her again in such strange circumstances. His grudge against her was gone. He no longer doubted that she had "nothing to reproach herself with," however peculiar and inexplicable her conduct might seem. He was ready to make any display of clemency, forgiveness or cowardice. He was in love. And, no doubt, he would soon receive a very natural explanation of her curious absence.}

At least now he's forgiven her and given her the benefit of the doubt, instead of making judgments about her character! Good for you, Raoul!

{As Raoul once more passed through the great crush-room, this time in the wake of his guide, he could not help noticing a group crowding round a person whose disguise, eccentric air and gruesome appearance were causing a sensation. It was a man dressed all in scarlet, with a huge hat and feathers on the top of a wonderful death's head. From his shoulders hung an immense red-velvet cloak, which trailed along the floor like a king's train; and on this cloak was embroidered, in gold letters, which every one read and repeated aloud, "Don't touch me! I am Red Death stalking abroad!"}

Ohhh the Phantom's also in the crush-room; how appropriate!

{The black domino kept on turning back and, apparently, on two occasions saw something that startled her, for she hurried her pace and Raoul's as though they were being pursued.}

Does Christine think the Red Death is following her (I am almost certain that Christine knows that Red Death is the Phantom), or does she think it's someone else, like the Persian?

{She tried to close the door, but Raoul prevented her; for he had seen, on the top step of the staircase that led to the floor above, A RED FOOT, followed by another ... and slowly, majestically, the whole scarlet dress of Red Death met his eyes. And he once more saw the death's head of Perros-Guirec.

"It's he!" he exclaimed. "This time, he shall not escape me! ..."}

Now is not the time to play romantic hero, Raoul.

{"Whom do you mean by 'he'?" she asked, in a changed voice. "Who shall not escape you?"

Raoul tried to overcome the girl's resistance by force, but she repelled him with a strength which he would not have suspected in her. He understood, or thought he understood, and at once lost his temper.}

Christine: now, officially, just as strong if not more so than Raoul!

{"Who?" he repeated angrily. "Why, he, the man who hides behind that hideous mask of death! ... The evil genius of the churchyard at Perros! ... Red Death! ... In a word, madam, your friend ... your Angel of Music! ... But I shall snatch off his mask, as I shall snatch off my own; and, this time, we shall look each other in the face, he and I, with no veil and no lies between us; and I shall know whom you love and who loves you!"}

That's.. probably not a mask of death, Raoul. It's his face... Be more considerate- some people just have naturally ugly faces!

(Also, at this point does Raoul think that Christine was lying about the whole Angel thing to cover up that she has a lover, or does he think she's being duped by someone pretending to be the Angel in order to get in a relationship with her?)

{He burst into a mad laugh, while Christine gave a disconsolate moan behind her velvet mask. With a tragic gesture, she flung out her two arms, which fixed a barrier of white flesh against the door.

"In the name of our love, Raoul, you shall not pass! ..."}

I'm very confused. Whyyy at this point does she love him? Is it for the sake of the past? Does she recognize that he has good intentions despite his actions? Does Christine just think that stalking is really romantic? (That would explain a lot, actually.)

{"You lie, madam, for you do not love me and you have never loved me! What a poor fellow I must be to let you mock and flout me as you have done! Why did you give me every reason for hope, at Perros ... for honest hope, madam, for I am an honest man and I believed you to be an honest woman, when your only intention was to deceive me! Alas, you have deceived us all! You have taken a shameful advantage of the candid affection of your benefactress herself, who continues to believe in your sincerity while you go about the Opera ball with Red Death! ... I despise you! ..."

And he burst into tears.}

When did she give you reason to hope at Perros?? Also, I know he's trying to berate Christine here, but the self-loathing leaking in is.. disturbingly strong.

(To be fair, I would also cry in that situation, as conflict-averse as I am.)

{"You will beg my pardon, one day, for all those ugly words, Raoul, and when you do I shall forgive you!"}

That's.. really nice of you, Christine! Recognizing that he doesn't know the truth and has no reason to think you're behaving honorably right now, and that's what's driving the cruel words coming out of his mouth.

{He shook his head. "No, no, you have driven me mad! When I think that I had only one object in life: to give my name to an opera wench!"}

What about your career in the navy? Your family? You have so much more in your life to care about other than Christine- you can't hang your entire hopes on one person!

{"Raoul! ... How can you?"

"I shall die of shame!"

"No, dear, live!"}

How can he? Well, he can propose, and you two can get married, and you would take his name and title and become the Viscomtess de Chagny.

(Also, I question whether Raoul's being hyperbolic due to the strong emotions of first love, or if this situation has sparked genuinely suicidal thoughts in him? Poor boy.)

{ He risked one more sarcasm:

"Oh, you must let me come and applaud you from time to time!"}

No offense, sweetie, but that's not really funny. Or a good use of sarcasm. Maybe leave that to the Phantom.

{"I shall never sing again, Raoul! ..."}

Never sing again as in sing for an audience (as opposed to the Phantom alone), or that she just doesn't want to sing anymore because of the strife it has caused?

{"Really?" he replied, still more satirically. "So he is taking you off the stage: I congratulate you! ... But we shall meet in the Bois, one of these evenings!"}

Ohhhh he's obliquely mock-congratulating her on her engagement. Now THAT was actually good use of sarcasm.

{"Not in the Bois nor anywhere, Raoul: you shall not see me again ..."

"May one ask at least to what darkness you are returning? ... For what hell are you leaving, mysterious lady ... or for what paradise?"

"I came to tell you, dear, but I can't tell you now ... you would not believe me! You have lost faith in me, Raoul; it is finished!"

She spoke in such a despairing voice that the lad began to feel remorse for his cruelty.}

*That* is a finely worded question, Mssr. le Vicomte. An overly formal, but polite inquiry that even somewhat references mythology relevant to the situation! And you BETTER BE feeling remorse now, buddy, after what you just said.

Phantom Thoughts pt. 26

{But look here!" he cried. "Can't you tell me what all this means! ... You are free, there is no one to interfere with you... You go about Paris ... You put on a domino to come to the ball... Why do you not go home? ... What have you been doing this past fortnight? ... What is this tale about the Angel of Music, which you have been telling Mamma Valerius? Some one may have taken you in, played upon your innocence. I was a witness of it myself, at Perros ... but you know what to believe now! You seem to me quite sensible, Christine. You know what you are doing ... And meanwhile Mamma Valerius lies waiting for you at home and appealing to your 'good genius!' ... Explain yourself, Christine, I beg of you! Any one might have been deceived as I was. What is this farce?"}

Well, Raoul, you really don't seem to act like you think Christine is 'quite sensible' and knows what she is doing... (At least he's admitting that he's probably been deceived.)

{Christine simply took off her mask and said: "Dear, it is a tragedy!"

Raoul now saw her face and could not restrain an exclamation of surprise and terror. The fresh complexion of former days was gone. A mortal pallor covered those features, which he had known so charming and so gentle, and sorrow had furrowed them with pitiless lines and traced dark and unspeakably sad shadows under her eyes.}

If *that* is what causes you surprise and terror, you won't last a minute of seeing Erik's unmasked face.

{"My dearest! My dearest!" he moaned, holding out his arms. "You promised to forgive me ..."

"Perhaps! ... Some day, perhaps!" she said, resuming her mask}

Yes, she said she might not be able to forgive you right away- just think of what you said to her only a few minutes ago! (Also I love that Christine wearing a mask is emphasized and connected to her putting up a front for Raoul. One thing I miss in the ALW musical is that Christine never wears a mask herself in masquerade- only sometimes carries one.)

{ He had only time to hide in the inner room, which was separated from the dressing-room by a curtain.}

Oh, so you're trespassing in her room without permission now, aren't you, Raoul?

{Christine entered, took off her mask with a weary movement and flung it on the table. She sighed and let her pretty head fall into her two hands. What was she thinking of? Of Raoul? No, for Raoul heard her murmur: "Poor Erik!"At first, he thought he must be mistaken. To begin with, he was persuaded that, if any one was to be pitied, it was he, Raoul. It would have been quite natural if she had said, "Poor Raoul," after what had happened between them. But, shaking her head, she repeated: "Poor Erik!"

What had this Erik to do with Christine's sighs and why was she pitying Erik when Raoul was so unhappy?}

Not everything is about you, Raoul. If anything, 'poor Christine' would be more appropriate, as she's currently under more strain right now than you or Erik. (Also why is Christine pitying Erik after these events? Because of how he as Red Death was treated at the masquerade? Because she realizes that she might potentially care for Raoul more than him? Or is it something else?)

#givechristinedaaeabreak

{"Here I am, Erik," she said. "I am ready. But you are late."

Raoul, peeping from behind the curtain, could not believe his eyes, which showed him nothing. Christine's face lit up. A smile of happiness appeared upon her bloodless lips, a smile like that of sick people when they receive the first hope of recovery.}

Why is he late? Did he have too much 'fun' terrorizing people at the masquerade? Did he run into the daroga? Was he checking on Raoul's whereabouts?

{The voice without a body went on singing; and certainly Raoul had never in his life heard anything more absolutely and heroically sweet, more gloriously insidious, more delicate, more powerful, in short, more irresistibly triumphant. He listened to it in a fever and he now began to understand how Christine Daae was able to appear one evening, before the stupefied audience, with accents of a beauty hitherto unknown, of a superhuman exaltation, while doubtless still under the influence of the mysterious and invisible master.}

Oooh, there's some excellent phrases here: 'gloriously insidious' 'irresistably triumphant' 'accents of a beauty hitherto unknown'. This paragraph is just gorgeously rendered <3

{The strains went through Raoul's heart. Struggling against the charm that seemed to deprive him of all his will and all his energy and of almost all his lucidity at the moment when he needed them most}

The Phantom definetely isn't as ambigously magical in Leroux as he is in ALW, but his voice does seem to have some sort of hypnotic quality that bends people towards his will or deprives them of the strength of ability to do more than just listen enrapturedly.

{Christine walked toward her image in the glass and the image came toward her. The two Christines—the real one and the reflection—ended by touching; and Raoul put out his arms to clasp the two in one embrace. But, by a sort of dazzling miracle that sent him staggering, Raoul was suddenly flung back, while an icy blast swept over his face; he saw, not two, but four, eight, twenty Christines spinning round him, laughing at him and fleeing so swiftly that he could not touch one of them. At last, everything stood still again; and he saw himself in the glass. But Christine had disappeared.}

Okay, seriously, WHAT just happened. Is he delirious from lack of sleep or food, is this magic, hypnotism, a hallucination, or just a weird inexplicable Phantom-y trick??? I'm so confused.

{Then, worn out, beaten, empty-brained, he sat down on the chair which Christine had just left. Like her, he let his head fall into his hands. When he raised it, the tears were streaming down his young cheeks, real, heavy tears like those which jealous children shed, tears that wept for a sorrow which was in no way fanciful, but which is common to all the lovers on earth and which he expressed aloud:

"Who is this Erik?"}

I wouldn't say Raoul's entirely empty-brained. Just young and a bit thoughtless and reckless and quick to jump to conclusions. (Also for someone who was so quick to link the Angel of Music = a guy who's just pretending to be that in order to get close to Christine, how is it that he can't figure out that the man's voice = Erik??? I mean, she was just talking about Erik, and then the voice showed up so??)

{He came upon a charming picture. Christine herself was seated by the bedside of the old lady, who was sitting up against the pillows, knitting. The pink and white had returned to the young girl's cheeks. The dark rings round her eyes had disappeared. Raoul no longer recognized the tragic face of the day before. If the veil of melancholy over those adorable features had not still appeared to the young man as the last trace of the weird drama in whose toils that mysterious child was struggling, he could have believed that Christine was not its heroine at all.}

For the last time, she is NOT a helpless child that needs to be taken care of, she is a grown woman and she IS the heroine of this 'weird drama'.

Phantom Thoughts pt. 27

{"On the contrary, mademoiselle," said the young man, in a voice which he tried to make firm and brave, but which still trembled, "anything that concerns you interests me to an extent which perhaps you will one day understand. I do not deny that my surprise equals my pleasure at finding you with your adopted mother and that, after what happened between us yesterday, after what you said and what I was able to guess, I hardly expected to see you here so soon. I should be the first to delight at your return, if you were not so bent on preserving a secrecy that may be fatal to you ... and I have been your friend too long not to be alarmed, with Mme. Valerius, at a disastrous adventure which will remain dangerous so long as we have not unraveled its threads and of which you will certainly end by being the victim, Christine."}

Why are you so stuck on the possibility of her getting murdered???

{"An impostor is abusing her good faith."

"Is the Angel of Music an impostor?"

"She told you herself that there is no Angel of Music."

"But then what is it, in Heaven's name? You will be the death of me!"

"There is a terrible mystery around us, madame, around you, around Christine, a mystery much more to be feared than any number of ghosts or genii!"}

Remind me, when did she tell Mrs. Valerius that? Because I don't recall her ever disabusing the notion that her absences were simply her visiting the Angel of Music. EDIT: no, wait- she did! though in more of an 'I'm just saying this to get you to calm down' way

Also, isn't the plural of genie genies??

{"That is what you must promise, Christine. It is the only thing that can reassure your mother and me. We will undertake not to ask you a single question about the past, if you promise us to remain under our protection in future."}

That's.. nice. 'Yeah, we won't make you answer any questions about the weird things that are happening, but you can't disappear or have music lessons with this 'angel' ever again.'

(Also, Raoul sort of manipulating her by holding the conversation within earshot of her adoptive mother and deliberately making her worry in order to ensure that Christine will stay? Not cool, man.)

{"That is an undertaking which I have not asked of you and a promise which I refuse to make you!" said the young girl haughtily. "I am mistress of my own actions, M. de Chagny: you have no right to control them, and I will beg you to desist henceforth. As to what I have done during the last fortnight, there is only one man in the world who has the right to demand an account of me: my husband! Well, I have no husband and I never mean to marry!"}

YOU GO, CHRISTINE. YOU AREN'T MARRIED TO HIM AND YOU SHOULDN'T LET ANYONE ELSE CONTROL YOUR ACTIONS. (this mean you, Erik.) IF YOU DON'T WANT TO TELL THEM WHAT HAPPENED, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TO. ALSO RAOUL IS BEING RATHER NOSY AND OVERSTEPPING HIS BOUNDS.

{"You have no husband and yet you wear a wedding-ring."

He tried to seize her hand, but she swiftly drew it back.

"That's a present!" she said, blushing once more and vainly striving to hide her embarrassment.}

Yeah, maybe don't grab someone without asking, especially while you're in the middle of a disagreement.

{"Christine! As you have no husband, that ring can only have been given by one who hopes to make you his wife! Why deceive us further? Why torture me still more? That ring is a promise; and that promise has been accepted!"}

Ah, yes, why torture me still more, because my feelings are the only ones that matter... It's not her fault that you didn't notice the ring before and thus assumed she was free to be with you.

{"What I chose," said Christine, driven to exasperation. "Don't you think, monsieur, that this cross-examination has lasted long enough? As far as I am concerned ..."

Raoul was afraid to let her finish her speech. He interrupted her}

LET HER SPEAK. Just a minute ago, you demanded an explanation. Now, you might be getting one but you cut her off because you're afraid of what you might hear.

{"I beg your pardon for speaking as I did, mademoiselle. You know the good intentions that make me meddle, just now, in matters which, you no doubt think, have nothing to do with me. But allow me to tell you what I have seen—and I have seen more than you suspect, Christine—or what I thought I saw, for, to tell you the truth, I have sometimes been inclined to doubt the evidence of my eyes."}

Frankly, you should be getting down on your knees and *begging* her to let you associate with her again. Also, I really don't think 'good intentions' is a good excuse for your recent behavior, nor does it justify meddling, no matter how close you were in the past.

*insert Wicked's "my road of good intentions/led where such roads always lead" here*

by the way, she thinks the matters have nothing to do with you, and she's right! they don't. Respect the lady's wishes, Raoul.

{"I saw your ecstasy AT THE SOUND OF THE VOICE, Christine: the voice that came from the wall or the next room to yours ... yes, YOUR ECSTASY! And that is what makes me alarmed on your behalf. You are under a very dangerous spell. And yet it seems that you are aware of the imposture, because you say to-day THAT THERE IS NO ANGEL OF MUSIC! In that case, Christine, why did you follow him that time? Why did you stand up, with radiant features, as though you were really hearing angels? ... Ah, it is a very dangerous voice, Christine, for I myself, when I heard it, was so much fascinated by it that you vanished before my eyes without my seeing which way you passed! Christine, Christine, in the name of Heaven, in the name of your father who is in Heaven now and who loved you so dearly and who loved me too, Christine, tell us, tell your benefactress and me, to whom does that voice belong? If you do, we will save you in spite of yourself. Come, Christine, the name of the man! The name of the man who had the audacity to put a ring on your finger!"}

As I recall, you were pretty entrance by the voice too, Raoul, so you have no room to criticize in that regard... Also, I just hate that he says 'we will save you in spite of yourself', like he's the hero and she's the poor frightened manipulated child.

I suspect that Raoul's fatal flaw is, much like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, a 'saving people thing'. And maybe a little of Emma Woodhouse's 'I know people better than they know themselves, which justifies any manipulation of them because it's for their own good, even if they don't realize it yet' as well. (If you haven't read Jane Austen's Emma and are now thinking 'wow, this person sounds horrible'- don't worry. She gets better.)