Title: The undergrounds of the Phantom of the opera : sublimation and the Gothic in Leroux's novel and its progeny /
Authors: Hogle, Jerrold E.
Publisher: Palgrave,
Year: 2002
Subjects: Leroux, Gaston,; Phantom of the Opera (Motion picture : 1925); Phantom of the Opera (Motion picture : 1943); Phantom of the Opera (Musical)
Abstract: "This comprehensive analytical study of The Phantom of the Opera proposes answers to the question, "why do we keep needing this story told and retold in the Western world?" by revealing the history of deep cultural tensions that underlie the novel and each of its major adaptations. Using extensive historical and textual evidence and drawing on perspectives from several theories of cultural studies, this book argues that the tale compels us because it provides us ways both to confront and to disguise how we have fashioned our senses of identity in the Western middle class.