![]() ![]() THE NOVEL (1910)įor Leroux, the mask as symbol is quite complex in addition to having his phantom, Erik, hide a hideous visage, Leroux writes that “none will ever be a true Parisian who has not learned to wear a mask of gaiety over his sorrows and one of sadness, boredom, or indifference over his inward joy.” We are challenged to confront that we all wear masks - not just the ghost of the Opera house that longs for the beautiful Christine. But the physicial mask that hides the horrible, or a face to be pitied (or both)? That’s unique to Romantic fiction. Carl Jung would say those are masks of the persona: the ego adapting to its circumstances. Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel, The Phantom of the Opera, has been filmed at least a half a dozen times, turned into a very successful Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, and used as inspiration for one of the most ubiquitous halloween masks.
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