"Phantom of the Opera"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, like most modern authors of horror, Gaston Leroux professed Edgar Allan Poe to be his prime influence. The author points out that "Phantom of the Opera", which was first published as a serial in a newspaper in 1910 and negatively reviewed by the "New York Times", has been made into eighteen motion pictures, nine theater stagings and over a dozen works of novels and short stories were based on Leroux's creation. The author compares the changes in horror novels from Leroux's day to contemporary horror literature such as Susan Kay's "Phantom" (1990), in which Kay's aim is to evoke sympathy instead of Leroux's primary purpose to horrify the reader and Thomas Harris' "Silence of the Lambs" (1988) and its sequel "Hannibal" (2000), which are more psychological rather than purely physical as the physical horror of Erik's deformity.

From the Paper:

"Gaston Leroux studied law primarily to please his father. However, he never gave up his real dream: being a writer. Thus he began his writing career as a poet, publishing his work in local newspapers. This led to his position as dramatic critic in L'Echo de Paris. He then became a courtroom reporter, where his background in law served him well, and eventually became a worldwide correspondent. Leroux was an excellent reporter and traveled the world visiting countries such as Sweden, Finland, Egypt and Korea to find stories. The talent he cultivated in this way is evident in Phantom of the Opera, which is written in the style of a report. Although some did not find this appealing, the style of the novel is one of its assets."

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