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Flashbacks
Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Raoul & The Phantom:
Raoul and the Phantom are foils for each other. Raoul is portrayed as an attractive young lover, whereas the Phantom is portrayed as a terrifying being that pursues Christine. In Chapter 2, the narrator describes Raoul as handsome, young, and socially fluent:
Raoul was remarkably shy and, one might be tempted to say, pure. [...] [E]xclusively female upbringing had given him candid manners stamped with a charm hitherto unblemished. He was a little over twenty-one, yet appeared no more than eighteen. He had a small, fair moustache, fine blue eyes and the complexion of a girl. Philippe doted upon Raoul.
Words like "shy" and "pure" and "unblemished" stand in stark contrast to descriptions of the haggard and violent Phantom, who by contrast is disfigured, vengeful, and hopelessly in love with Christine. In Chapter 22, the narrator describes how his appearance has put him beyond the reach of humanity:
His ghastly, unique and repulsive ugliness had put him beyond the pale of humanity; I had gathered the impression that it had freed him from any obligations towards mankind. The tone of his voice when he boasted of his newly found love only served to further my anxiety: having heard it before, I dreaded that it might foreshadow new and more appalling atrocities.
The foil between Raoul and Erik heightens the drama and intrigue of their love triangle with Christine. Although Raoul seems like the perfect husband, Christine is continually drawn to the Phantom by forces beyond her control.
Related Themes:
Chapter 22
Explanation and Analysis—Raoul & The Phantom:
Raoul and the Phantom are foils for each other. Raoul is portrayed as an attractive young lover, whereas the Phantom is portrayed as a terrifying being that pursues Christine. In Chapter 2, the narrator describes Raoul as handsome, young, and socially fluent:
Raoul was remarkably shy and, one might be tempted to say, pure. [...] [E]xclusively female upbringing had given him candid manners stamped with a charm hitherto unblemished. He was a little over twenty-one, yet appeared no more than eighteen. He had a small, fair moustache, fine blue eyes and the complexion of a girl. Philippe doted upon Raoul.
Words like "shy" and "pure" and "unblemished" stand in stark contrast to descriptions of the haggard and violent Phantom, who by contrast is disfigured, vengeful, and hopelessly in love with Christine. In Chapter 22, the narrator describes how his appearance has put him beyond the reach of humanity:
His ghastly, unique and repulsive ugliness had put him beyond the pale of humanity; I had gathered the impression that it had freed him from any obligations towards mankind. The tone of his voice when he boasted of his newly found love only served to further my anxiety: having heard it before, I dreaded that it might foreshadow new and more appalling atrocities.
The foil between Raoul and Erik heightens the drama and intrigue of their love triangle with Christine. Although Raoul seems like the perfect husband, Christine is continually drawn to the Phantom by forces beyond her control.
Related Themes:
