The Phantom of the Opera

Passionate emotions are the root cause of many conflicts and mysteries throughout the text; these passionate emotions consume the characters, leading to obsessive and frenzied behavior. Raoul's obsessive attachment to Christine began when they were children and he first heard her sing as her “pure, sweet voice seemed to bind him to her” (57). This attachment reignited when he heard her again at the Opera. Raoul's one-sided obsession is so strong that in Chapter 2, Christine's doctor thinks Raoul must be her husband due to the immense concern he shows for her. Raoul’s long-term interest in Christine makes him idealize her as “an angel” (93) of perfection, innocence, and purity. His emotions become frantic and agitated whenever Christine doesn’t live up to his idealizations, which makes him doubt that she is really “a good girl” (91). The text shows that Raoul’s anger at Christine’s potential impurity instantaneously clouds his mind, propelling him to lash out without thinking. Like in Chapter 9 at the masked ball, Raoul cannot see the truth of Christine’s tragedy because he is consumed by his own jealousy of her secret lover—who is an invention of his own frenzied mind.