Welcome to Day Five of Phantom of the Opera Week here on White Rose of Avalon my Darlings!    Today’s topic is the Masquerade sequence of Phantom.   This sequence is found in the original novel and it is also found in pretty much all Phantom adaptations.    This sequence takes place after the two weeks Christine was missing, the two weeks when she was living in Erik’s Underworldly Lair!

Christine famously has an encounter with Raoul, where the two speak about their love.   Raoul, in the novel, expresses insecurity over Christine’s feelings for Erik during this time, but those concerns are largely assuaged by Christine.   In the musical, the two have just become secretly engaged after the time that Christine was with Erik.    Both times, we see this sequence as an example of the love triangle at the heart of the tale.

Erik is the character that is not directly involved with both of the others.   Christine and Raoul interact with one another throughout the sequence, but see and hear Erik, as he makes his very memorable appearance at the Masquerade.    Erik appears in full costume as the Red Death from the Edgar Allan Poe story The Masque of the Red Death!   There is not a more appropriate character for Erik to portray, as I have already covered earlier this week, Erik is himself a personification of Death, so embodying the titular Death incarnate from the Poe tale is perfect.    I also love the idea of Erik being such a huge lover of Poe’s works, as I am myself, that he would desire to embody one of the writer’s most infamous characters!

Erik is also serving a very similar role in his tale as the Red Death did in the Poe story.   Both Erik and the Red Death serve as Omens that are there to herald the news of great change for the world of the overly coddled characters at the party.   Each Death figure also serves to provide retribution for the overly lavish lifestyles presented by the upper-crust elite, who would allow the poor to suffer while they only care about indulging in their wanton desires.    In some ways, we can view Erik, especially in his guise as the Red Death, as the one sent to balance the scales and prove that the wealthy should not abuse those who are disempowered by their being born in a lesser social class.   I can see Erik as a martyr on the side of the poor, outsiders, and downtrodden, whom he identifies with, in order to become an anarchist figure desiring a revolution!   Sadly, he does not get to truly enact this, as the woman he is trying to protect and elevate with him, as his Underworldly Queen, is already in the emotional clutches of the elite, even if she was born as the daughter of a starving artist musician and lived the life of an artist herself!

So, yes, this is my favorite sequence in Phantom, narrowly overshadowing the scenes between Erik and Christine in his Lair, due to its sheer potency when it comes to the plot and our ability to understand the character development of Christine and Erik both.    It is also my favorite song from the Weber musical, as I stated in my ranking earlier this week.   That is why I just had to do a post that was giving this sequence all my love!   I hope you have enjoyed my analysis of the Masquerade sequence in  The Phantom of the Opera.   What is your favorite scene in the novel or musical?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is Erik as the Red Death.   I found the image on https://rareprintsandposters.com/products/phantom-of-the-opera-the-first-by-phantom-city-creative.

Tarot Note: I have a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services!    I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon!  Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/ 

Further Reading

• The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux