By Fenrir Mercury
The Phantom of the Opera and the Hunchback of Notre Dame are perhaps two of the most famous Parisian monsters in all of pop culture. With countless adaptations of both, the infamous Erik and the kindhearted Quasimodo have been analyzed and characterized in a myriad of ways. However, what most people don’t realize is that while on the surface they may seem completely different, these two may actually be cut from the same cloth.
In personality, the two couldn’t be more different. The abundance of adaptations of both stories makes them hard to analyze, so this article will be focusing on the 1986 and 1999 musical adaptations by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Menken, respectively. The phantom, Erik, having been dealt an awful hand in life, decides to give the world the vile demon the world makes him out to be. On the other hand, the hunchback, Quasimodo, is known for being very sweet and loving towards all forms of life despite being dealt an equally bad hand. Both were born horrifically deformed and raised in isolation, with the only human encounters faced by either resulting in terror and mistreatment. Both also fall in love with young women whom show them the only kindness they’ve ever known. However, this love goes unreciprocated for both, as there are other men in the picture. These elements make their stories very similar, but that’s where the similarities end due to the characters’ differing personalities.
Beginning with the Hunchback of Notre Dame, we see Quasimodo depicted as very outwardly kind and loving, in spite of the many inward struggles he faces. The vindictive Claude Frollo acts as a foil, and he first must be understood to begin understanding Quasimodo himself. To offer some backstory on both, Frollo loses his hedonistic brother in his youth when the latter falls in love with a gypsy and has a child. Years later, the child’s parents both succumb to disease, leaving Frollo to raise him alone. He finds that the child is hideously deformed and names him Quasimodo, a name translating to “half formed.” Frollo raises him in an effort to model him in his image, and to save his soul in a way he could not save his brother’s soul. Frollo is notorious for his horrific teachings, telling Quasimodo he is a monster and that the outside world is dangerous and ugly. This mistreatment is vital in forming how Quasimodo sees himself, but his opinions on humanity are formed on his own.
Quasimodo is raised isolated in the belltower of the Notre Dame Cathedral and as a byproduct of his circumstances, he invents a world inside his mind in which his only friends are the surrounding gargoyles, statues, and bells. Though he’s never experienced it himself, he watches the outside world below and longs to be part of its beauty. His imaginary friends encourage him to leave the cathedral and experience the world he craves. He gives in, leaving the cathedral and joining the Festival of Fools where he is ridiculed and attacked. This festival is a celebration of the gypsies, meant to embrace ugliness. This cruelty shows that Quasi is rejected even among his fellow outcasts. Among the crowd however, he meets Esmeralda, a gypsy who shows him the only true kindness he’ll ever experience, and whom he falls in love with.
One widely known element of the Phantom’s story is that his love turned obsession is unreciprocated. Unfortunately for Quasimodo, his story is just the same. Unlike the Phantom, however, Quasimodo’s strong morals compel him to do the right thing and protect the man Esmeralda loves instead. This strong moral sense of right and wrong is what propels Quasimodo throughout the entire story, only wavering from them at one of his lowest points. However, his good instincts take over when desperate times call for desperate measures.
In the end, Quasimodo’s good nature wins. He accepts that Esmeralda will never love him romantically, but recognizes there is still mutual love and appreciation between them. This good nature is only broken when he gets the chance to finally bury the source of his trauma, destroying Frollo and finally standing up for himself. Even after killing him, though, he does not deny that he did truly love Frollo despite his wicked treatment of him. Once both Frollo and Esmeralda are dead, Quasimodo is truly broken. Having proven what makes a monster and what makes a man, he dies of heartbreak over Esmeralda’s corpse. However, he dies both having learned that though the world may be cruel, those willing to show kindness no matter what make it less cruel.
Now we switch the scenery from Notre Dame Cathedral to the Paris Opera House where the record-breaking Phantom of the Opera takes place. Unlike Quasimodo, not much is known about the Phantom’s origins aside from memories of a musical genius in a cage with a deformed face. It can also be inferred that he’s lived most of his life isolated and ostracized due to the deformed face he was born with. What is known for certain is that he’s been watching over musical prodigy Christine Daae for a while. He first introduces himself as the Angel of Music that her now deceased father promised he’d send her upon his death. This, of course, is a lie to take advantage of her weakness and grief to gain her trust. However, he follows through on his promise to take her under his wing as her voice teacher. He also shows her the music he’s written and welcomes her into his dark, yet beautiful, world.
What Christine does not know but later comes to find out is that she helped inspire his music. The Phantom’s longing for her love and for his own beauty prove to be the basis of his work. However, Erik’s love is secretly obsession and devotion disguised by romance. This becomes apparent when he commits multiple murders and continuously sabotages the staff of the opera house to put Christine at an advantage. This does not work in his favor as Christine is already in love with another man, and is now growing a fear of Erik.
This mutual resentment between the two comes to a climax when a plan of the Phantom’s backfires resulting in him kidnapping Christine. From the very beginning it’s been apparent that Christine has been able to see the darkness haunting Erik, but she can also see his intelligence and inner beauty. The Phantom’s own trauma and self doubt has led him to believe that her resentment and fear stems from his appearance, when in actuality Christine fears him due to his evil actions. This misunderstanding leads the Phantom to cause more harm, resulting in a vicious cycle between the two. He openly admits that he only knows how to deal with his mistreatment by acting out, and through giving the world the monster he’s always been treated as.
The Phantom is remembered as a misunderstood, murderous monster. His motives, though, are well known and come from an innocent and vulnerable place. He is motivated by a longing for the love and kindness he’s never known. Christine is unable to provide this love as she has a lover, leading Erik to threaten to kill him, unless Christine agrees to marry him and stay in his dark world forever. Since she sees the Phantom’s vulnerability and wants to save the man she loves, Christine agrees. This act of kindness changes the Phantom, showing him the error of his ways. He lets them both go and comes to terms with the consequences of his actions. While things don’t end well for him personally, he makes sure to send a message to the audience that nobody is truly alone and that inner beauty is what truly matters.
Unfortunately after these poor monsters are given equally tragic starts to their stories, they end just as painfully. In spite of this, their personalities end up being incredibly different. One willing to right the wrongs of those who hurt him and to make sure he doesn’t make the same mistakes, and the other out for vengeance and willing to crush anyone that stands in the way of his selfish desires. However, after finally being shown true kindness they both do the right thing simply because it is right. They also represent the same message: true beauty lies in one’s actions, which should be kind no matter what.