[Leroux Novel] Naiive Christine

[The Phantom]

If you noticed throughout the book Christine was sort of naiive to what was going on between her and the Phantom. She always denied his existance though they met often, and she sort of didn't want to believe what was going on. Does anyone else have an opinion on her strange actions?

[Christine Daaé]

She was raised by an extremely religious and imaginative father, who really did not want to let her grow up. She was so dependent on him that after he died, she needed a "father figure" to function. She wanted to believe that what her father told her about an Angel of Music was true, so that her father would live on within his own legend. Does that make sense at all? I hope so -- but it's late, and I'm tired, so I may start rambling . . .

~ Zelda de le Fantôme

[cinty]

she is kind of naaive, isn't she? She never does make sense.. she's like, "The Angel of Music doesn't exist" and yt she sees him often.. and she is so close to Mamma Valerius.. don't you think she would tell her about Erik? I don't really get Christine in the book.. I like her, but she's so weird...

[Countess Cain]

I kind of thought she had some mental problems going on, and didn't really want to understand what was happening.

O__o;

[The Phantom]

I canÂ’t remember the specific chapter but Raoul was spying on Christine and she looked pale and sickly, and was talking to Erik through the mirror to that extent. The next day Raoul met Christine and she looked healthy, and denied the existence of the Opera Ghost. I would say that LerouxÂ’s Christine was more unaware of the true distortion that was going on with hers and the PhantomÂ’s relationship, than WebberÂ’s rendition of Christine.

[Always_Erik_Fan]

Steve, I absolutely have to agree: I think that Leroux's Christine was a bit less naive than ALW's.

I've actually heard several theories that perhaps she invented Erik in her mind, which I really don't believe. Perhaps the only thing that does not change about her, no matter what the version, is that naivety. (I know I didn't spell that right.) Anyways, that's just MY theory on the matter!

[The Khanum]

Well, you have to take into account the fact that in the books, Christine had a lot more time to get to know Erik than she did in the play and the movie. Therefore, in the books I would hope Christine would be intelligent enough to make a few inferences about him during her stay.

I don't really like the fact that Christine is kind of put into a trance during ALW's version...it takes away from their love...and love that no stupid fop should be able to break...

::Storms off to Character Discussion thread to fume about Raoul::

Anyways...yes, Christine was a lot more naiive in ALW.

~Erik is my Hero

[phantomphreak]

I think in the book Christine is so naive because she was so young when her father died. She wants to believe that her father is teaching her from heaven. I think she knows that it is really Erik, but she is sheilding herself from the truth. She is sheilding herself because she doesn't want to be hurt and also I think people would think she was crazy if she told them that some man living in the opera house is teaching her.

[Christine Daaé]

She's also extremely spiritual, and you know how some religious people are -- they think that everything is a sign from God. I'm not saying this about all religious people, just some. For them, everything is God's providence or curse.

She was raised to believe in angels and such, so naturally she thinks that a voice coming into her room seemingly from nowhere is an angel. Then, when she finds out that it's not an angel but a man, she changes completely. Angels suddenly don't exist, and now, in Leroux's book, she's prone to lying, which she was not before.

~ Zelda

[Lady_of_Shalott]

I think, however, she was searching for a father figure. Perhaps that's what she thought of her Angel of Music.

Until she found out he was a man, then she changed.

[AAW0487]

I also thought Christine was naive. I don't know if she was just worried that something might happen to the Phantom, or she really wanted to deny her relationship with him. Her father probably made her stay naive by treating her as a child so long and not allowing for her to grow up, and when he died she didn't understand how she was suppose to act. So maybe she figured the Angel of Music would help her grow, or do you think she stayed close to Raoul because he was apart of her childhood that allowed her to stay naive.

[Lady_of_Shalott]

I think, personally, she cared for Raoul deeply. Even loved him, in a innocent way when she was little.

But, Erik, he was darker, and perhaps scary to her. He frightened her to no end. Most likely, however, she had never met anyone like him. Oops, sorry that was obvious.

Part of her, I believe, wanted to pretend everything would be happy. Like a fairy tale. But when things didn't, she was lost.

I agree with the comment you made about her father. She didn't know how to act without him.

[Chance_or_Destiny]

I have to agree with Christine Daae, Christine was raised by her over zealous father, when he died she was petted and babied and never forcedto deal with reality. However because she was depressed over the loss of a family and desired to be loved - the angel loved her provided an escape from the real world. Also consider the time period, women were raised as willing meek creatures to to sheltered.

[masquerading rose]

Yes. She is DEFINATLEY Naiive. She spends her time singing for the angel of music whom she says doesn't exists, she lets a creepy stalker take her way.... yeah, she's naiive.

[MystMoonstruck]

I just finished reading the Leroux novel and was surprised to find a Christine who looked as if she could think on her own and size up the situation better. She really seemed more in charge and sometimes was quite protective of Raoul, who seemed to be the more naiive one, sheltered and protected. Maybe a reread of it will change my mind, but I was surprised with this Christine.

Would the ALW Christine have the guts to try to kill herself by bashing her head against the wall?! Of course, ALWC had a less extreme Phantom to deal with--certainly not corpselike and demonically crazy, as Leroux's OG is.

Casting for Leroux's Christine would have called for an actress a bit more mature and stronger than Emmy, at least in my opinion. In the novel, Christine goes from silly girl who believes in the Angel of Music to a rather strong young woman at the end.

[masquerading rose]

Except for the suicide attempt. I think at the beginning she was only concerned about her life with the phantom and she was happy in her little secret romance until towards the end when she is faced with a life and death she thinks of EVERYONE and the long term effects it would have on EVERYONE!

[Michlynnhen17]

I think she the least naiive of all Christines, also she told raoul to mind his own business, which i think the other Christines should done aleast once in their stories

[PhAnToMeSs07]

I have thought about this several times, but had no where to speak about it. She is very naive...in all the versions. At least, she starts out that way. You have to remember that in Leroux's novel she is only sixteen and to be honest, she has no parents. Mamma Valerius is just an adoptive mother. Her real ones are gone. That, with the fact that her father filled her head full of rubbish before he died might have played an impact too. Not that telling your child stories to get their imagination going is bad because it is not, but if he knew he was going to die, he should have at least told her the truth instead of a lie. Just think, if he hadn’t of told her about the Angel of Music, then she would have never taken Erik as her Angel of Music to begin with. Plus, I think people in that time at that age were a little more naive than most sixteen year olds are these days.

[Christine Daaé]

In the Leroux novel, Christine is twenty-one years old. Webber changed it to sixteen for the movie at Joel Schumacher's request.

Just wanted to clear that up.

~ Zelda

[PhAnToMeSs07]

Thanks Zelda, I didn't know that...ha, I am pleased to say that I learned something today. Well, then she is extremely naive and I go back on a few things i said. It seems to me she would have figured out that she wasn't in kansas anymore. Yes, I make references to the Wizard of Oz and Wicked all the time. :)

[Christine Daaé]

I read something very interesting on another forum: that Christine's innocent and pure nature was not from a lack of hardship all her life, but was rather a defense against all the hardship she did face.

Let me explain: Leroux talked about the fairs Papa Daaé and Christine would often perform at. From what I have read, these fairs had extremely seedy reputations; there was so much alcohol going around that brawls would break out at the drop of a hat. This is not a safe place for a child; and Papa Daaé, though certainly he loved his daughter, was so naive himself that he probably could not imagine what danger he was putting his daughter in.

Fairy tales and myths were likely a way for Papa Daaé to help Christine deal with the hardship they faced as peasants. In Sweden, people were not very kind to wandering peasants, to put it nicely. Because they were technically Catholic in a Protestant country, they probably suffered religious persecution, so much so that emigrating to France was the best thing they could have done for themselves after meeting Professor and Madame Valerius.

Then, Papa Daaé dies. He was the only person in her life who could comfort her with some kind of escape from reality -- that is, the tales of the Angel of Music -- and he told them so often that Christine believed them. When he died, Christine lost her portal to the fantasy world that was her sanctuary from the harsh realities of living first as a peasant in Sweden, then as a foreigner in France. She also had to learn to make it on her own -- get a job and support herself; resist the advances of patrons of the opera, which was very hard for a struggling artist to do, seeing as the patrons would often support their performer mistresses and refusing them was refusing a comfortable existence; and learn to cope with grief.

She is a very strong woman, stronger than most versions of the story would have us believe; and part of that strength is being able to keep from becoming cynical and depressed even when she had every reason to become so. Unfortunately, she is not so strong that she could resist Erik as "the Angel of Music" -- she does still believe the stories her father told her, after all, and this is a way to somehow reconnect with her father.

~ Zelda

[masquerading rose]

Hmmm... That is a very good point, Zelda! That was such a good point, I'm giving you twenty-three cool points!!! lol. Wow, I never thought of it that way! I guess it makes sense! So are you saying that Chrostone was "Naive" because her father was, and a "fantasy world" was her only escape from the real, harsh world? Did I understand correctly, or no? Correct me if I'm wrong please.

[IamErik771]

Wow . . . I had never really thought about that aspect of what Christine's life must have been like, but I agree that it makes a lot of sense. Sometimes, escapism is the best way to deal with difficult circumstances -- indeed, some artists say that difficult lives are what led them to become artists.

Something else I hadn't really thought about before came up on another board, as well. When looking at the many reasons why Christine ultimately ended up choosing Raoul, we tend to forget what she was giving up by doing so. Yes, she was choosing a safer, happier, more secure life . . . but also, she was giving up a lot of her past.

Erik had been her one link to her deceased father, of course, so she was closing off that connection to her childhood. But looking beyond that, she was also giving up the life of a performer in order to be with her true love. After all, a Vicomte marrying a singer was quite a scandal in 19th-century Paris, as Leroux noted. If Christine married Raoul, she would likely never be able to perform as an opera singer again -- she was giving up a singer's life, which was all she had known since childhood.

Of course, Raoul probably loved to hear her sing, and so she wouldn't need to give up singing entirely, but no longer would she really be able to perform in front of an audience. For someone who had been so devoted to the art, as she was, I think that must have made her decision even more difficult . . . Perhaps that, in addition to her feelings of pity and sympathy for Erik, was a reason why she insisted on performing in Faust one last time, rather than immediately fleeing Paris with Raoul.

[northangel27]

Nicely put Zelda. I totally agree. I have always seen Christine's embrace of fantasy as an escape from the struggles of her real day-to-day existance, and I too have always been an admirer of her inner strength, which is, unfortunately, often overlooked in most versions of the story.