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Plan of Action for The Phantom of the Opera

 * We will look over the plot section of this article and try to make it more concise than it is right now. This will help with the ease of reading, while also giving more attention to other sections of the article.
 * We want to add critical receptions within this article to help with the context of how this novel was reviewed and thought of at the time.
 * The amount of references on this page are limited and we want to find more scholarly articles to help strengthen the content in the article as well as build the credibility of it.
 * With this new research done, we hope to be able to build new sections into the article such as themes, influences, awards, etc. This can help the readers learn more about the novel and it's origins rather than just reading the plot.

Invitation for Future Editors

 * As we worked on this project, we had big plans for what we were hoping to improve to make this article better for the public, however; we didn't get to everything that we wanted and we have some suggestions of what we were hoping to get to. First, we think that this plot needs to be shortened so that it is more concise. We know that the plot is important to have, but the amount of detail that is incorporated into it seems to not be necessary. We also noticed that the entire book is available for people to read on Wikisource, so Wikipedia users can use that if they need to better understand the plot. When some of the plot is taken out, more focus can be placed on other aspects in the article such as themes, background, receptions, etc.
 * Another aspect to help build the credibility of the article would be to go more in-depth with the themes of the novel and give more information there. We have begun this process, but being able to give more details about each theme would be helpful to the readers.
 * Research further into receptions of the novel to get more reviews on the book when it came out as well as how it is viewed now would be insightful to add to our critical reception section. Being able to find more receptions to help build this section would help readers see how the book was viewed in 1911 as well as how scholars and readers view it now.

History Behind the Novel
Leroux first decided he would become a lawyer, but after he spent his inheritance gambling, he became a reporter for, L’Echo de Paris. When he had this job, he was asked to write about and critique dramas in the area as well as being a reporter in a courtroom. With his job, he was able to travel frequently, but then he came back to Paris where he became a writer. Because of his fascination with both Edgar Allen Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he wrote a mystery with a detective called The Mystery of the Yellow Room in 1907 and four years later he published Le Fantôme de l’Opéra. The novel was first published within newspapers before finally being published as a novel in 1911.

The Phantom of the Opera's origins came from Leroux's curiosity with the phantom being real. In the prologue he tells the readers about the phantom and the research that he did to prove the truth of the ghost. His detailed account tells the audience of why he believes this phantom and the in-depth research he did to uncover what he believed to be the truth. His findings connected the corpse from the opera house to the Persian phantom himself. The claims from the prologue of his novel were ones that Leroux held onto even up until his death in 1927.

The setting of The Phantom of the Opera came from an actual opera house that Leroux had heard the rumors about from the time the opera house was finished. The details about the Palais Garnier and the rumors surrounding it are ones that are closely linked in Leroux's writing. The underground water tank that he had written about is one that is accurate to this opera house and is used only today by firefighters training. The mystery that Leroux uses in his novel about the phantom are ones that still are a mystery to this day.

Critical Reception
By the time Leroux published The Phantom of the Opera, he had already gained credibility as a crime mystery author in both French and English speaking countries. He had written six novels prior, two of which had garnered substantial popularity within their first year of publication called The Mystery of the Yellow Room and The Perfume of the Lady in Black. The Phantom of the Opera, however, did not attain as much success as these previous novels, being particularly unpopular in France where it was first published. One book review from the New York Times expressed a disappointment in the way the phantom was portrayed, saying that the feeling of suspense and horror is lost once it is found out that the phantom is just a man and not a real ghost. The majority of the notability that the novel acquired early on was due to its publication in a series of installments in French, American, and English newspapers. This serialized version of the story became important when it was read and sought out by Universal Pictures to be adapted into a movie in 1925.

Based on the critical reviews of two modern day readers of the book, Sean Fitzpatrick and Cathleen Myers, the novel is praiseworthy for its drama, but overall it does not rise to the standards of great literature. Fitzpatrick claims that "The Phantom of the Opera is not a great book, but it is a great read." He digresses that even though the book is not good enough to be in the canon of great literature, there are many aspects of it that make it fun to read such as the drama of the "whodunnit" plot, the investigative styling of the book which pretends to pull from real life newspaper articles and interviews relating to the Paris Opera House, and the character Erik (the phantom) who fills the roles of the "mad genius", disfigured monster, and one of three in a love triangle all at once. Fitzpatrick argues that all of these elements make the book good for light reading. Myers agrees that the novel makes for a good "airplane read", but says that it fails in terms of being a good mystery novel. She claims that one of the book's downfalls is that one of the important characters - the mysterious Persian - is introduced too late in the storyline. Another glaring omission that she sees in the book is that the Phantom is left unexplained. Myers also criticizes Christine's love for Raoul whom she claims is an idiot, saying he "makes Jonathon Harker and Lord Godalming in Dracula look like rocket scientists."

Adaptations
There have been many literary and other dramatic works based on Leroux's novel, ranging from stage musicals to films to children's books. Some well-known stage and screen adaptations of the novel are the 1925 film and the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. In Webber's musical, he was focused on writing more of a romance piece and found the book and the musical took off from there. Leroux's novel was more than just a mystery and had romance and other genres, that would appeal to more audiences. Webber used accounts from within the novel in the musical as well such as the real-life event of the chandelier falling. This musical even after being produced in the mid-80s, has still remained popular with people today. The musical has received more than fifty awards and is seen by many as being the most popular musical on Broadway.

Leroux’s novel was created into two silent films during the history and adaptations of the novel. The first production of the novel into a silent film was produced by German adaptation called, Das Gespenst im Opernhaus. This film though has no living proof left and is lost due to no pictures being taken or an actual copy of the film is preserved. The last living knowledge of the film is that it was made in 1916 and was directed by Ernest Matray.

The next adaptation or silent film was made in 1925 by Universal Studios. This version starred Lon Chaney Sr. as the phantom. Due to tensions on the set, there was a switch in directors and Edward Sedgwick finished the film while changing the direction the movie was going to take. His take on the novel and making it a dark romantic movie with comedy wasn’t popular by audiences. Finally, the film was adapted one last time by Maurice Pivar and Louis Weber where they took out most of Sedgwick’s adaptation and stuck to the original film. This time, the movie was a success with audiences in 1925.

Music
Leroux uses the operatic setting in The Phantom of the Opera to use music as a device for foreshadowing. Ribière makes note that Leroux was once a theatre critic and his brother was a musician, so he was knowledgeable about music and how to use it as a framing device. She uses the example of how Leroux introduces the song Danse Macabre which means "dance of death" in the gala scene which foreshadows the graveyard scene that comes later where the Phantom plays the fiddle for Christine and attacks Raoul when he tries to intervene.

Drumright points out that music is evident throughout the novel in that it is the basis for Christine and Erik's relationship. Christine sees Erik as her Angel of Music that her father promised would come to her one day. The Phantom sees Christine as his musical protege, and he uses his passion for music to teach her everything he knows.

Mystery
Stylistically, the novel is framed as a mystery novel as it is narrated through a detective pulling his information from various forms of research. The mystery being uncovered is the Phantom who lurks through the opera house, seemingly appearing in places out of nowhere as if by magic.

Gothic horror
In his article, Fitzpatrick compares the Phantom to other monsters featured in Gothic horror novels such as Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll, Dorian Gray, and Dracula. The Phantom has a torture chamber where he kidnaps and kills people, and the walls of the chapel in the graveyard are lined with human bones. Indeed, Drumright notes that The Phantom of the Opera checks off every trope necessary to have a Gothic novel according to the Encyclopedia of Literature's description which says, “Such novels were expected to be dark and tempestuous and full of ghosts, madness, outrage, superstition, and revenge.” Although the Phantom is really just a disfigured man, he has ghost-like qualities in that no one can ever find him or his lair and he is seen as a monster. People are frightened by him because of his deformities and the acts of violence he commits.

Romance
The novel features a love triangle between the Phantom, Christine, and Raoul. Raoul is seen as Christine's childhood love whom she is familiar with and has affection for. He is rich and therefore offers her security as well as a wholesome, Christian marriage. The Phantom, on the other hand, is not familiar. He is dark, ugly, and dangerous and therefore represents the forbidden love. However, Christine is drawn to him because she sees him as her Angel of Music, and she pities his existence of loneliness and darkness.