Who do you think Erik should end up with?

[Catherine]

Hey guys! I know it's been a while. I miss talking to you guys about POTO and so in light of the new year, I'd figure I spark a discussion.
So my question to you guys is: who should Erik end up with? Who do you think would be a good match for Erik or in fact, do you guys think it would be better if he didn't end up with anyone after Christine?
For me, I feel that he does deserve someone who will love and stay with him, but at the same time, if Erik found love with someone else, I think that ruins the whole purity of his love for Christine which is one of the best driving characteristics of him. What do you guys think?
If you guys do think he belongs with someone feel free to describe who. They can either be another character in the original story or a fictional character of your creation.

[Anne]

I have always been an Erik/other woman person and that was what I wrote my book about. I was upset with Christine when she left him crying in the lair, then came back to hand him a ring. And the look of hope on his face was so poignant. I wanted to push her into the lake. I have always felt she was too immature for a man his age. He needs a more mature woman who can forgive his past and accept his face while unmasked.

[Gemma]

At first I was a straight-up E/C shipper, but I've come to a point where it doesn't matter to me so long as he's finally loved. Anne said it for me, he needs a mature woman who can accept him. Christine as written in the original was all wrong for him, so I feel the only way they could be happy together is if they both get past their issues and overcome them. She needed to grow up before she could be the woman he needed.

On the other side of the coin, his love for Christine was strongly marked by obsession, so I think the only way he could get past that was with another woman. I don't mean replacing Christine, because I don't think any woman ever could for him, but moving on from the unhealthy fixation he had on her. I think a woman with a backbone, plenty of passion, and understanding for his suffering is just what he needs.

I've been working on the story from both of these angles, but how I've done remains to be seen. ;)

[Sharon]

I went Erik/other woman as well in In The Eye of The Beholder: A Novel of The Phantom of the Opera.

In Leroux, Christine has an obvious Electra complex. However, from the social perspective of the time, she is only one rung above a prostitute. (Remember, the original book is a social commentary.) Raoul loses his position in society when he marries her because of that.

Erik has no empathy; frankly, he's a violent sociopath. One of the things I deal with in my book is his trying to understand interactions between human beings. To say that this makes him difficult to put up with is to greatly understate the situation.

[Catherine]

Gemma Irene wrote: "At first I was a straight-up E/C shipper, but I've come to a point where it doesn't matter to me so long as he's finally loved. Anne said it for me, he needs a mature woman who can accept him. Chri..."

I very much have to agree with you Gemma. I actually used to be an E/OC shipper but now it doesn't matter to me as long as Erik ends up with someone who matters to him and loves him even if it did turn out to be Christine. I very much agree with everything you said. Christine wasn't mature enough to handle Erik in my opinion. If she were more mature I probably would have supported E/C pairing a bit more.

And yes his love for Christine was strongly marked by obsession but I do believe it did come to love at a certain point. There are days when I wonder if Christine didn't have her voice, would Erik have been interested in her in the first place?

[Gemma]

Catherine wrote: There are days when I wonder if Christine didn't have her voice, would Erik have been interested in her in the first place?

I've wondered that myself several times, and I honestly can't say. Sometimes I think there's no way. Christine can't have been the only pretty girl he'd ever come across, so I doubt there could have been anything so special about her in that sense.

But on the other hand, there was more that could have drawn him to her other than her voice or her looks. She was lonely, and something of an outsider, so I think he might have felt a kind of bond with her through that. He would have thought she could understand his own pain and loneliness.

[Anne]

Gemma Irene wrote: "Catherine wrote: There are days when I wonder if Christine didn't have her voice, would Erik have been interested in her in the first place?

I've wondered that myself several times, and I
honestly..."

They were both orphans and thay may have awakened Erik's sympathy at first, but then he found she could sing and that created another bond, music, which is a very strong bond.