Giry by the wrist and shook it violently. But she does not take her anger or disgust out on anyone but herself, showing another aspect of her delicate but firm personality.Īs for Richard, who felt himself turning red under Moncharmin’s eyes, he took Mme. She is a genuinely compassionate character that commits acts of wrongdoing only to protect the feelings and interests of others, to the point that she is willing to commit suicide to end her suffering. Erik’s character development truly comes out at the very end, when he consents to Raoul and Christine’s marriage and gives the Persian some of his belongings but that is nothing compared to how much Christine has to suffer and sacrifice throughout the novel in an attempt to keep both her lovers (and their egos) from exploding. Though Erik is (as the title suggests) is the main subject of the book, Christine is no doubt the most troubled and dynamic character. Time and time again, Christine is shown to be the character on which there is the most responsibility and pressure. She trembled lest Erik should discover where Raoul was hidden she told us in a few hurried words that Erik had gone quite mad with love and that he had decided to kill everybody and himself with everybody if she did not consent to become his wife. He lacks the intellect and cunning to carry out his goals and aspirations, an orientation that certainly does not seem to change much at all over the course of the story. This is because, though he claims to love Christine, he uses only the feelings in his heart to attempt to get her back. His love for Christine, in a sense, is a kind of lazy, apathetic love-however contradictory that may sound. After banging on the walls and calling out to Christine, he sees no other option than to die. Raoul’s uselessness and fatalistic attitude are partly a result of his love for Christine, but they are also a result of his inability to think rationally and quickly in problematic situations. This is when the Persian attempts to look for an opening in the mirrored walls of the torture chamber and gives Raoul some words of encouragement. le Vicomte for accepting death, I returned, after giving him a word of encouragement, to my panel… Narrator, page 88 This all make clear how different Christine and Raoul are from one another.Īs I had not the same desperate reasons as M. This moment is one of many that display Christine's incredible maturity, and also a moment in which Raoul-her lover-places enormous pressure on her to divulge her secrets. Nonetheless Christine does not bow under pressure and still commits to forgiving him when he realizes the mistake he has made. She is under considerable pressure, and Raoul makes no attempt to understand her, despite claiming to love her. What makes it even more difficult is that Christine does not feel at liberty to tell Raoul about Erik and his background. The quote shows how Christine is willing to take hits to her integrity and pride in order to keep Raoul safe, to keep Erik from killing him, and also more generally to maintain the delicate network of relationships that prevent Erik from causing any other kind of harm. She thought of nothing but to keep him from leaving the room. After Christine refuses to let him out of the room, he bursts into tears. He has just insulted Christine and accused her of being deceptive because she will not let him out of her dressing room to go after Erik. This quote succinctly captures the essential features of Raoul's character. "You will beg my pardon, one day, for all those ugly words, Raoul, and when you do I shall forgive you!"
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