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Lessons From "The Phantom of the Opera"
Available Only in Print.
The Phantom of the Opera is a chilling tale interlaced with darkness, despair, love, and redemption. Originally penned by Gaston Leroux, the book is classic literature. Leroux weaves the tale of a deformed man living in isolation underneath the Paris Opera House, who desperately loves a beautiful girl named Christine Daaé. The masked man has many names-Phantom of the Opera, Opera Ghost, Angel of Music, and Erik. He is a broken soul who yearns for beauty, but lives in hell. His desperate search for love takes him down a road of obsession and violence, and the cry of his despair echoes in our hearts. "All I wanted was to be loved for myself." Lessons from The Phantom of the Opera steps behind the scenes and examines the symbolism hidden in the characters, emotions, sets, and events. The book leads its readers on an emotional journey studying the motivations of the characters and the numerous symbols hidden throughout the Opera House. It examines not only Leroux's original work, but also analyzes the play and movie. As a result, lessons and life applications emerge from a timeless masterpiece for everyone to enjoy.
The Phantom of the Opera is a chilling tale interlaced with darkness, despair, love, and redemption. Originally penned by Gaston Leroux, the book is classic literature. Leroux weaves the tale of a deformed man living in isolation underneath the Paris Opera House, who desperately loves a beautiful girl named Christine Daaé. The masked man has many names-Phantom of the Opera, Opera Ghost, Angel of Music, and Erik. He is a broken soul who yearns for beauty, but lives in hell. His desperate search for love takes him down a road of obsession and violence, and the cry of his despair echoes in our hearts. "All I wanted was to be loved for myself." Lessons from The Phantom of the Opera steps behind the scenes and examines the symbolism hidden in the characters, emotions, sets, and events. The book leads its readers on an emotional journey studying the motivations of the characters and the numerous symbols hidden throughout the Opera House. It examines not only Leroux's original work, but also analyzes the play and movie. As a result, lessons and life applications emerge from a timeless masterpiece for everyone to enjoy.
226 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2009
122 people want to read
About the author
Vicki Hopkins
32 books99 followersAward Winning Author of Historical Romance, Historical Family Sagas, Gothic Romance, and Historical Fiction. Books available in eBook, Print, and Audio.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 18, 2009
Lessons from The Phantom of the Opera has been a wonderful and easy book to read. I bought it last week and I decided to start my week with this book as I take the train to go to work. I finished this morning.
It was a little jewel I have discovered. I had read many entries on Vicki's blog, The Phantom Lessons but not all of them. Various themes you can find throughout the original novel of The Phantom of the Opera, 2004 movie and stage production are described and explained in this book. Vicki's questions did provoke some reflection whenever I finished reading an article. Betrayal, Passion, Red Death, Erik, Opera Ghost, Christine, Little Lotte, Hate, etc… are themes you will discover in this book.
The themes and Vicki's questions makes you wonder about how much we can relate to Erik's story, all we long for is to be loved and appreciated for who we are.
I have appreciated Vicki's keen sense of observation as I had to take my dvd from the 2004 movie last night and watch some details – like the Hannibal portrait hanging in Carlotta's dressing room, the head on the platter is quite funny.
I hope to see a second book of Lessons from the Phantom with the recent entries in a near future. Possibilities with this story are endless as well as priceless.
It was a little jewel I have discovered. I had read many entries on Vicki's blog, The Phantom Lessons but not all of them. Various themes you can find throughout the original novel of The Phantom of the Opera, 2004 movie and stage production are described and explained in this book. Vicki's questions did provoke some reflection whenever I finished reading an article. Betrayal, Passion, Red Death, Erik, Opera Ghost, Christine, Little Lotte, Hate, etc… are themes you will discover in this book.
The themes and Vicki's questions makes you wonder about how much we can relate to Erik's story, all we long for is to be loved and appreciated for who we are.
I have appreciated Vicki's keen sense of observation as I had to take my dvd from the 2004 movie last night and watch some details – like the Hannibal portrait hanging in Carlotta's dressing room, the head on the platter is quite funny.
I hope to see a second book of Lessons from the Phantom with the recent entries in a near future. Possibilities with this story are endless as well as priceless.
January 11, 2021
There isn't much I can say about this since the author does state many times that these are all just her opinions and they were written for a blog, which is fairly obvious by the brevity of the articles. The only complaint I really have (because our opinions do differ on a variety of topics, but who cares?) is that she references the 2004 movie and the ALW play more than Leroux's novel. I find this to be sad because as far as a "character study" goes to me it would make sense to focus more on the characters as their creator wrote them originally than of the hugely successful interpretations.
May 28, 2010
Great book for all Phantom lovers. Thought provoking look beneath the Phantom's mask...exploring topics relating to POTO that can be applied to our everyday lives. Very enjoyable.
January 23, 2022
Not an academic text. Would be ok for GCSE level students but does not account for period relevant/historical factors and is largely personal interpretation. Great for an addition to the Phan-fic' cannon. Originally presented as a blog.
November 1, 2011
Overall score: 4.25
I don't recall how I came across Vicki Hopkins' blog, "Lessons from the Phantom of the Opera," but I read it for the better part of a year. This book consists of selected entries from that blog, along with what she calls "The View From Box 5" (a series of what I came to think of as study questions and, frankly, skipped even looking at after a while).
Hopkins' essays cover a variety of topics. She emphasizes that she is not attempting to be scholarly or psychological in her interpretations of various symbols and events that she chooses to examine (e.g., the mask, graveyards, religion). However, she does have a few footnotes to indicate sourcing and shares some scholarly concepts. A great many of her references are from scriptures.
While one may not agree with Hopkins' interpretations (several are based on scenes from the 2004 "Phantom of the Opera" movie, which not everyone liked), she does support her position well with evidence. I believe the essays would have been more powerful without the study questions, as the thoughts her essays provoked did not always go down the road of the questions she presented.
Overall, a good job.
I don't recall how I came across Vicki Hopkins' blog, "Lessons from the Phantom of the Opera," but I read it for the better part of a year. This book consists of selected entries from that blog, along with what she calls "The View From Box 5" (a series of what I came to think of as study questions and, frankly, skipped even looking at after a while).
Hopkins' essays cover a variety of topics. She emphasizes that she is not attempting to be scholarly or psychological in her interpretations of various symbols and events that she chooses to examine (e.g., the mask, graveyards, religion). However, she does have a few footnotes to indicate sourcing and shares some scholarly concepts. A great many of her references are from scriptures.
While one may not agree with Hopkins' interpretations (several are based on scenes from the 2004 "Phantom of the Opera" movie, which not everyone liked), she does support her position well with evidence. I believe the essays would have been more powerful without the study questions, as the thoughts her essays provoked did not always go down the road of the questions she presented.
Overall, a good job.
March 31, 2011
I enjoyed this indepth look at The Phantom of the Opera. I found myself seeing things ina way I had never thought of before about the meaning of specific points and the characters. And by the end of it I actually found myself understanding Raoul alot more than I have let myself do in the past and found myself grudgingly liking his character - THE HORROR!!
I found myself getting quite emotional during the section that discussed the music box from the musical and film version.
'The View from Box Five' at the end of each section was great. With review style questions and a personal question that got you thinking. I couldn't help but smile at the use of 'hangout' when I reached the part about Erik's lair.
Favourite quote - '...there is no way in hell I am giving that person a paddle'. That't me. Only my lake is filled with people and paddle eating crocodiles.
Loved the book, and the conversational appraoch.
I found myself getting quite emotional during the section that discussed the music box from the musical and film version.
'The View from Box Five' at the end of each section was great. With review style questions and a personal question that got you thinking. I couldn't help but smile at the use of 'hangout' when I reached the part about Erik's lair.
Favourite quote - '...there is no way in hell I am giving that person a paddle'. That't me. Only my lake is filled with people and paddle eating crocodiles.
Loved the book, and the conversational appraoch.
April 16, 2012
This book is cute and nicely written. It contains many symbols of the Phantom of the Opera, discussing mostly the original book and the 2004 movie, and there were definately some things I didn't noticed, so I'm going to re-read Leroux' version again. The only thing that slightly bothered me was that the writing was sometimes a bit too modest, for example when she wrote about death, she instantly called it 'morbid'. It contained also some specific lines, which reminded me of those help-yourself-and-be-a-better-person books. But I kinda skipped those lines and ignored them.
It was a nice, light read, but I kinda hoped to receive some information with more depth.
It was a nice, light read, but I kinda hoped to receive some information with more depth.
December 7, 2014
I found this an excellent read for any Phantom of the Opera lover who like me falls "hard for things that deeply touch my emotion", especially since the author is a die-hard fan herself.
This book is full of wonderful and deep reflections about numerous aspects found in the very original novel by Gaston Leroux, as well as those sought in Andrew Lloyd Webber's brilliant productions.
This book is full of wonderful and deep reflections about numerous aspects found in the very original novel by Gaston Leroux, as well as those sought in Andrew Lloyd Webber's brilliant productions.
November 6, 2011
I really enjoyed reading Vicki's book which had comparisons of all Phantom's from the original Leroux, to the ALW play and the movie with Gerard Butler. Like being behind the scenes and getting to know all the characters, a must read for all Phantomophiles. Highly recommended
March 26, 2024
I turn to this one again and again- the insights- chef’s kiss!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews