Dec 17, 2009

The Phantom of the Opera | Plot Summary

Preface
In the Preface to The Phantom of the Opera, the book’s narrator tells of the methods he used to research the legend of the phantom. Writing roughly thirty years after the events conveyed in the novel, he tells of his research in the library at the Paris Opera house; his interviews with people who were present at the time; his reliance on the memoirs of one of the opera’s directors at that time; and his own study of the opera house.

Chapters 1–5
The first three chapters take place on the night that the old opera directors are retiring...