The Siren of the Opera: a mystery never fully explained
One of the minor characters in Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera is at the center of a small, but important, debate: was the Siren a separate character from Erik?
Leonard Wolf's translation of the text raises this question by pointing out Erik's confused grammar. Here is the relevant passage, from the Persian's narrative after Erik returns to the house, dripping wet:
"There was a heavy sigh followed by a cry of horror from Christine. Then we heard Erik's voice speaking to Christine in the personal form of address. 'I beg your pardon for showing you a face like mine. What a state I'm in. It's the other one's fault. Why did he ring the bell? Do I ask passersby what time it is? He won't ask that of anyone anymore. It's the siren's fault." (p. 280)
Wolf's footnote reads, "First Erik blames the other one, then the siren. Since Erik is the siren, we are left in some perplexity. Whom is Erik blaming?"
I never considered the implication that the siren is a separate entity, and I don't think Wolf's reading this correctly. For me, Erik's "other one" is Philippe--it's his fault. He's the one who rang the bell, after all. Later, blaming the siren, he is pushing the responsibility off on his other self, as a child might blame an imaginary friend. After all, when the Persian is almost ensnared by the siren's voice, it is Erik who emerges from the water: "'All of a sudden, two monstrous arms emerged form the water and grasped my throat and dragged me irresistibly down into the gulf. Certainly I would have been done for had I not had time to utter a cry that allowed Erik to recognize me." (p. 263) Erik then goes on to proudly demonstrate his trick of breathing through a reed--a trick the Persian calls "the trick of the siren."
If anything, I would venture that the siren--apart from being yet another shadowy figure of the Opera's underground--is Erik's feminine half, his anima (thank you, tkp). He is constantly referred to as having the voice of an "angel," though Raoul notes at the dressing room that it "did not belong to a woman." (142 p.) This doesn't entirely leave out the possibility that Erik can sound enough like a woman to warrant the siren description--especially when singing through a tube.
It has been argued that the Andrew Lloyd Webber version includes the siren(s) in the title song, the voices who sing "He's there, the Phantom of the Opera" as the Phantom takes Christine across the lake. However, in the libretto in my possession (the one in the George Perry book), these singers are merely listed as "Offstage Voices."
Like the shade, I believe there's room for interpretation of everything we see in the Phantom's domain. But I believe that as written, the siren and Erik are one and the same. For me, Erik's appropriation of a dangerously seductive mythical creature is even more interesting as an aspect of his own character, rather than a separate one. But I will open the floor now to your own observations and theories.
Leonard Wolf's translation of the text raises this question by pointing out Erik's confused grammar. Here is the relevant passage, from the Persian's narrative after Erik returns to the house, dripping wet:
"There was a heavy sigh followed by a cry of horror from Christine. Then we heard Erik's voice speaking to Christine in the personal form of address. 'I beg your pardon for showing you a face like mine. What a state I'm in. It's the other one's fault. Why did he ring the bell? Do I ask passersby what time it is? He won't ask that of anyone anymore. It's the siren's fault." (p. 280)
Wolf's footnote reads, "First Erik blames the other one, then the siren. Since Erik is the siren, we are left in some perplexity. Whom is Erik blaming?"
I never considered the implication that the siren is a separate entity, and I don't think Wolf's reading this correctly. For me, Erik's "other one" is Philippe--it's his fault. He's the one who rang the bell, after all. Later, blaming the siren, he is pushing the responsibility off on his other self, as a child might blame an imaginary friend. After all, when the Persian is almost ensnared by the siren's voice, it is Erik who emerges from the water: "'All of a sudden, two monstrous arms emerged form the water and grasped my throat and dragged me irresistibly down into the gulf. Certainly I would have been done for had I not had time to utter a cry that allowed Erik to recognize me." (p. 263) Erik then goes on to proudly demonstrate his trick of breathing through a reed--a trick the Persian calls "the trick of the siren."
If anything, I would venture that the siren--apart from being yet another shadowy figure of the Opera's underground--is Erik's feminine half, his anima (thank you, tkp). He is constantly referred to as having the voice of an "angel," though Raoul notes at the dressing room that it "did not belong to a woman." (142 p.) This doesn't entirely leave out the possibility that Erik can sound enough like a woman to warrant the siren description--especially when singing through a tube.
It has been argued that the Andrew Lloyd Webber version includes the siren(s) in the title song, the voices who sing "He's there, the Phantom of the Opera" as the Phantom takes Christine across the lake. However, in the libretto in my possession (the one in the George Perry book), these singers are merely listed as "Offstage Voices."
Like the shade, I believe there's room for interpretation of everything we see in the Phantom's domain. But I believe that as written, the siren and Erik are one and the same. For me, Erik's appropriation of a dangerously seductive mythical creature is even more interesting as an aspect of his own character, rather than a separate one. But I will open the floor now to your own observations and theories.