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Education / The Mask
Ideas for research and discussion
Discuss the importance of masks throughout The Phantom of the Opera.
How does the Phantom use his mask throughout the musical?
Does he behave differently with it on or off?
Do other characters see him differently with or without his mask?
Why?
From the Biblical story of Jacob and Esau to Homer's Illiad and The Odyssey; from comic-book heroes like Batman and Green Lantern to the movie The Mask; disguises and masks are a continuing theme in history and the arts.
Divide your class into groups, with each group researching the significance of one type of mask throughout history (African tribal masks, Japanese Kabuki masks, Greek theatrical masks, the "Masques" of the Elizabethan Theatre, Commedia Del'arte etc.)
Make sure to include pictures, drawings or photos along with your research. Put your research together on a bulletin board to create a timeline history of the mask.
How does the Phantom's mask fit into your research?
Maria Björnson fashioned the Phantom's mask after half-masks worn by disfigured soldiers in World War I, often with a detailed eye painted on to "replace" the lost one.
How does knowing this fact affect how you feel about the Phantom?
Discuss the use of masks and disguises in the following Shakespeare plays:
- Romeo and Juliet
- As You Like it
- The Merchant of Venice
- King Lear
- Othello
- Twelth Night
Draw or sculpt your own mask.
- How would your mask be used
- For entertainment? Protection?
- What will your mask be showing the world?
- What will it be hiding?
With your knowledge of the history of masks, and the masks you have created, write and act out a short skit where mask your is used.
- To hide identity?
- To hide deformity?
- To change personality?
Compare these uses of masks.
- How are they similar?
- How are they different?
The scene where Christine unmasks the Phantom was made famous in the 1925 silent movie of the story, starring Lon Chaney. Of this scene, Andrew Lloyd Webber said "Clearly, one of the biggest problems was the unmasking of the Phantom. In the cinema tremendous impact can be made by virtue of a close-up shot, but we had to devise a way that would make the unmasking effective from any point in a big musical theatre."
If you can, view the silent film as well as the musical. Compare the two scenes of the Phantom's unmasking.
Did Lloyd Webber succeed in making the theatrical unmasking effective? Why or why not?
After seeing The Phantom of the Opera, write a diary as if you were The Phantom. Describe the time before Christine unmasks you, then of the days after she has seen your true face. How does your outlook change?
The symbol of The Theatre is often an interposed set of comic and tragic masks. Discuss.
“It was the voice! My rage equaled my amazement. I rushed at the mask and tried to snatch it away, so as to see the face of the voice. The man said, ‘You are in no danger, so long as you do not touch the mask.’”
Christine Daaé, from The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux