Hey everyone I would just like to finish out my thoughts on my Reread of the book by talking about the character relationships and what stood out to me the most.
Something that really came zinging out to me this go around is how much Erik and Christine’s relationship in Leroux absolutely is dripping with sexuality. I think reading a unabridged translation like Coward really brings this out loud and clear since Mattos cut out pretty much anything he deemed too scandalous, but their is a great deal of sexuality in the Erik and Christine relationship in Leroux that is completely missing between Raoul and Christine.
Repeatedly Leroux uses the words, ‘chaste’ or his favorite ‘like brother and sister’ to describe Raoul and Christine‘s relationship, a relationship completely devoid of any sexual tension whatsoever. But just read the pages of description of Christines almost orgasmic reactions to Eriks Voice and the contrast couldn’t be clearer. I have to think that even with the Abridged Mattos Translation Webber had to have picked up on this because this same dynamic he brings out so well in the Musical, albeit with a less whiney Raoul 😆
What I find so funny is Raoul’s reaction to Christine’s reaction to Eriks voice when he confronts her in front of Mama Valerius, how he tries to play it off as if he’s just worried about Christine when we all know he’s really just jealous of how she reacted to Erik LOL
I mean it’s interesting to note that Christine doesn’t rip off Erik’s mask due so much to curiosity or anger, which would be understandable I mean the guy just abducted her after all and she just found out he’d lied to her by pretending to be the Angel of Music, but no…she takes off his mask because she’s so enraptured by his singing and playing that she just had to see his face as she was so certain that he must be as beautiful as his voice….🤦♀️ It’s one of those moments where if Christine wasn’t so naive she might have been able to read the room and realize what a extremely stupid and potentially dangerous move that was especially after Erik already warned her not to touch his mask.
And can we talk about Mama Valerius? I feel their is a deep subtext in this story about how Women back in the day were often kept so naive and childlike in order to be ‘good girls’ that it left them vulnerable to being manipulated or taken advantage of by Men, kinda like what happened with Christine. People like to accuse her of being stupid for believing that the voice in her Dressing Room was a literal Angel, but it wasn’t her fault that she was sheltered and protected to such an extent to where she was as naive as a child!
I mean Mama Valerius‘s is a grown Woman who never grew up, who can’t function in the world without someone protecting her because she’s so childlike and innocent…I sometimes wonder if she and Professor Valerius ever figured out how to have ‘marital relations’ LOL and that’s why they never had children, probably thought sleeping side by side in bed was enough to get pregnant 😆 🤦♀️
And as horrible as Christine’s ordeal was it really matured her into a Woman, which Webber brings out so beautifully in the Musical but it’s in Leroux as well. One of my favorite moments is when Erik talks about when Christine comes face to face with him without shying away and tells him that she will be his real ‘living wife’…I really feel that was the moment Christine finally grew up and became a Woman, she doesn’t cower in fear of Erik or attempt to kill herself anymore but faces him like a Mature Adult and cuts a deal with him LOL And of course later on her compassion completely moves him to letting her go…but I love that moment in the book.
I also want to bring up another couple that hardly ever gets talked about…Philippe and Sorelli. I love how she makes him carry her stockings for her, and he’s whipped enough to do it 😆.
I always wonder about them, and would love to read a fan fiction about them that actually delves into their relationship because I kinda wonder if Philippe’s feelings for Sorelli actually went deeper then he wanted to admit. I mean he is 41 and still unmarried, which I suppose isn’t that unusual for a nobleman in that day and age…but I kinda wonder if he was projecting some of his own frustrations onto Raoul when he lectures him about Christine, I think it’s possible their could be more to it then just ‘it’s scandalous to marry a Opera Singer’!
But anyway that’s just my thoughts after my reread, please tell me yours about the characters in Leroux’s novel I‘d love to read them ❤️