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Chapter 14
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Phantom of the Opera, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Natural vs. the Supernatural
Love vs. Jealousy
Violence, Revenge, and Redemption
Beauty vs. Ugliness
Summary
Analysis
As the audience erupts into chaos, alternately accusing Raoul, Carlotta, or the ghost of abducting Christine, members of the staff attempt to communicate with the directors, who have given orders not to be disturbed. When their door finally opens, Moncharmin angrily asks for a safety pin. Gabriel, the chorus-master, notes that this situation must be the Phantom’s doing. Rémy, the secretary, adds that the directors have been acting strangely all evening. He saw them walking backwards up the stairs. Moncharmin got angry whenever people tried to approach Richard, whom he said should not be touched.
Although the directors’ behavior suggests they might have gone mad, or are under the influence of the ghost, it later appears that there is a logical reason for their behavior: they are trying to recreate the exact actions they performed the previous night, when they gave the Phantom an envelope full of his money, so that they might discover how the Phantom took the money without them noticing. Although many events are indeed the ghost’s doing, here Gabriel’s superstitious attitude suggests that it is difficult to discern what constitute human (if unusual) actions, as opposed to paranormal events.
Themes
Noticing that Gabriel is pretending not to know what Rémy is talking about, Rémy finally says that he saw Mercier, the administrator, take Mme Giry away, thus creating a second “disappearance” for the night by locking her up in Mercier’s office. Mercier then arrives, telling the two men that he was finally able to tell Moncharmin and Richard about Christine’s disappearance. However, they failed to show any reaction, merely saying “Good for her,” putting a safety pin in Mercier’s hand and closing the door. As the three men mutter about the strangeness of this situation, a desperate Raoul suddenly greets them, asking about Christine’s whereabouts.
Once again, Mme Giry’s disappearance is not actually connected to the Phantom’s doings, since it later appears that the directors ordered Gabriel and Mercier to lock her up, so that she would not interrupt their efforts to understand the Phantom’s actions. The mystery of the safety pin can also be explained by the directors’ strange proceedings. In this way, the novel proves that it is focused on rational explanations for mysterious events and that not all strange events are necessarily supernatural in nature.
Themes
