Influence of Novel by Gaston Leroux “The Phantom of the Opera” on Art in the 20th-21st Centuries

Abstract

The questions of reception of the literary text in the intertext of culture are considered. The analysis of the novel by Gaston Leroux “The Phantom of the Opera” is made from two positions. On the one hand, the novel draws on a rich tradition of existence in the literature of the archetypal dichotomy of “beauty and the beast,” which is found in the works of many authors from different countries. The author argues that “The Phantom of the Opera” by G. Leroux has a large-scale precedent base, the presence of which is confirmed by the more or less explicit markers of the presence of previously written texts in “The Phantom of the Opera.” For example, in the novel by G. Leroux there is undoubted presence of the following texts: “The Masque of the Red Death” by E. A. Poe, “Notre Dame Cathedral” by Victor Hugo, etc. On the other hand, the history of the influence of the novel by French writer on literature, cinema and theatre art of the 20th-21st centuries is examined. Lists of works based on the novel by G. Leroux “The Phantom of the Opera” is given. The characteristics of the artistic transformations of the novel in literature, theater, cinema of the 20th-21st centuries are analyzed. Actuality of work is determined by increased interest of modern literary studies to implementation of archetypal patterns in world literature, to the intertextual interaction in world literature, as well as to the issues of differentiation and interaction of classic and popular literature.