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Chapter 6
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
At the Opera, Messrs. Moncharmin and Richard decide to examine Box Five for themselves. In the silent, half-lit theater, the directors find the atmosphere gloomy, making them prone to fanciful ideas. In his Memoirs, Moncharmin admits that they were both agitated and apprehensive. Suddenly, when they look up to Box Five, they both witness a strange shape there and hold each other’s hand for support.
The influence of the quiet Opera on the directors’ minds mirrors the previous episode, in which the eerie atmosphere in the cemetery made the Phantom’s actions all the more terrifying, likely to make people believe that the supernatural exists. The directors’ fear suggests that they are not immune to such phenomena and, under the right circumstances, might actually be inclined to believe in the supernatural.
Themes
When the shape is gone, the directors realize that their visions were not identical: while Moncharmin saw a skull, Richard perceived the figure an old woman. They both conclude that they must have suffered from some kind of illusion and laugh about the entire episode. When they finally reach Box Five, they conclude that there is nothing to be seen. They examine the various elements of furniture but notice nothing unusual about them. They conclude that they will watch Faust from this very box on Saturday, as to prove to their tricksters that they cannot be fooled.
It remains ambiguous whether the directors actually saw something—if Erik wanted to scare them—or whether their anxious minds did, in fact, play a trick on them. The directors’ inability to notice anything out of the ordinary highlights Erik’s impressive skill, as he is able to design traps and illusions in environments that appear ordinary, but which he has adjusted to serve his own purposes.
Themes
