Psychotic Depressive Disorder in POTO

[igenlode]

The Phantom of the Opera: A Case Study of Severe Major Depressive Disorder with Psychotic Features - no, not the Phantom, but Christine! In this medical study, the Phantom is presented as a hallucinatory response to the stress of Christine's bereavement and her feelings for Raoul, which 'ground her' and combat her suicidal ideation -- "The candle flame which earlier represented her father's hold on Christine now becomes a means of breaking that pathological bond. Her ability to make her father's soul take flight allows Christine to give herself to Raoul" ;-D

Comments

[betweensunandmoon]

I know Erik is a real person and not a supernatural figure in the story itself; I'm just analyzing his role the way a literature student might be required to, were Phantom the sort of book that gets read in literature classes. :P

[igenlode]

See, this is why (as a reader, never mind as an author) I dislike literary analyses -- they involve making claims that are obviously not any part of the story's intention.

In this case, I'd deconstruct the story somewhere along the lines of 'Idea: man is pretending to be Opera Ghost. Why? In love with one of the opera singers, but can't let her know he's real. Why? Idea: he is hideously ugly and dare not let her see his face. But what happens if/when he tries to take this relationship further? Idea: he tries a mask. How will she react to learning he is real? What happens when she inevitably tries to learn what is beneath the mask? Trilby/Cyrano de Bergerac. We need a detective figure to misdirect feed information to the audience. Maybe he's in love with the young woman himself, which is his motivation. Someone she knows from childhood? Use background of Christina Nilsson, singing at fair etc. Detective is jealous of this mysterious figure in the background, jumps to wrong conclusions. Big reveal: the ghost is a real man. Hmm, what do we do next? Some kind of action finale needed... maybe the Ghost carries her off. Rescue/chase sequence. How do we get the backstory worked in? Maybe a new character, someone who knows all about the Ghost but isn't telling. We could have him do a witness statement or something at the end, which will make it more like a real investigation. Cliffhanger ending... how do we get out of this one? Maybe the Ghost just reforms and lets everyone go. No, that's boring. He wins but discovers he cares more for her happiness than his own -- that makes for a better moral. Then we can have him die of a broken heart, which tidies things off neatly. Oops, what am I going to do with the singer herself? Oh, she can just elope offscreen, we don't need her any more. And I still need to squeeze in the rest of that backstory somewhere... let's just stick it in the end as an explanatory chapter. Right, that should pay a few bills...'

[betweensunandmoon]

Sorry, force of habit.