On Monstrosity, Talent, and Perceptions of Reward and Punishment in The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I must say that with all the names being thrown around right from the beginning and the references to the complicated architecture of opera house I was very confused at first. That, however, got a lot better with the progression of the story and long after I was finished, I found myself pondering the implication that monsters may or may not be born to look the part, but ultimately made by humans/society.

I've never thought about this much before and it certainly awoke a whole new sympathy for Grendel. Did they – the phantom and Beowulf's Grendel that is – really have a choice or where they rather forced into the role of the monster by society. And if so, who is worse – they for embracing it or us for forcing this role upon them?

What's also interesting is that negative roles seem to be more reenforced than positive ones. While negative aspects like a monstrous appearance are likely to be found indicative of a person's character, positive ones like talents are often attributed to an external force. Take Christine for example. She and the Angel of Music where somewhat reminiscent of Dumbo and his feather. Like Dumbo even she herself didn't belief in her own abilities. Now, that might be good to keep a person humble and prevent them from becoming a megalomaniac or narcissist, but the underlying concept does have a serious downside.

What it comes down to is reward and punishment. Christine's talent is believed to be a reward for being good and working really hard, while the phantom's appearance is considered a punishment for being bad. The difference being that the reward is given after she put up a lot of effort, whereas the phantom's supposed punishment is received at birth. What horrible crime could he have committed in his mother's womb to deserve this? Sabotage a brother that we never heard of in a less ambivalent fashion than the biblical Jacob? Or do we believe in past lives here? And why is this punishment so permanent, when the rewards are so fleeting? Or are they fleeting because their source is corrupted?

Like Dumbo Christine only believes that she needs the Angel of Music to shine, while all she needs is really within her. And what she thought to be the Angel of Music is actually nothing of the sort, but a hoax. However, the demystification doesn't lead to her believing more in herself like it does with Dumbo. Instead it seems to make her lose her passion for music, because it now evokes negative associations – like the things linked to your psychopathic stalker will naturally do. Now, to sum this up, a book that gives you so much to think about is always well worth a read.



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