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May. 9th, 2017 02:27 pm Erik’s timeline-- and no one has to agree with me, but I’m going to share my research anyway. As always, take what inspires, leave the rest. And au/headcanon away with whatever ages you like. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do with your fics.
The following uses only What Gaston Leroux has given us and my own research into history. (I’ve never read Susan Kay) There are very few dates that are firm in Leroux, and this was done on purpose. It’s really challenging to puzzle out all of his innuendos into historical events. @fdelopera on Tumblr has an AMAZING timeline and argument for the story taking place in 1884 (a leap year, btw). I strongly recommend their work and really their entire blog, especially for any Lerouxian.
Certain dates confirmed by Leroux: Erik builds the foundations of the opera. There is a contest held to see who would design the new opera house in Paris in 1860. Due to the Franco-Prussian war and the revolution and the commune and the siege of 1871, the opera wasn’t completed until 1875. Erik’s foundations were utilized during the siege of 1871 as torture facilities and burial grounds and god knows what else. (During the “week of blood” that ended the siege, 20 *thousand* revolutionaries and another 877 soldiers were killed. Another 38 thousand people were arrested.) Leroux also says that the Shah of Persia liked Erik in part because he fought the Emir of Afghanistan. Most notes given in new translations of Phantom of the Opera say that this is in reference to the taking of Herat (by the British) in the 1850s, ending in ‘57. However, there is one more possibility: the Shah and the Emir began fighting again in 1863, ending with a sudden and (in this Phan’s opinion) a highly suspicious death of the Emir. Assuming that Erik is actually sent away from Persia for knowing too much *politically* (and not just too much about architecture) he and The Daroga would arrive in Paris maybe in 1863 or 1864, a fantastic time to start building the foundations. Leroux does also say that Erik “set up as a builder, the sort of builder who builds ordinary houses with ordinary bricks for ordinary people.” He does this as he subcontracts for Garnier. But work on the opera house is unsteady af because of funding during revolutionary times. Other places that Erik may have subcontracted with include the Suez Canal across the Mediterranean, and the Cadir Kiosk in Constantinople (Turkey). I mention this because Leroux says that Erik worked for the Sultan of Constantinople, building strange contraptions where there were body doubles (robots!) dressed like the Sultan (Abdul Hamid). Leroux says that a bunch of bizarre and magnificent things were revealed during the Young Turks Revolution of 1909 were indeed built by Erik. Abdul Hamid is without a doubt the Sultan that Leroux is referencing: he was paranoid af, constantly having things re-built around him with secret places to hide and replacing everyone around him for fear he would be assassinated. However, Abdul Hamid’s rule and subsequent decline into madness happens very late: after the book takes place (if you believe fdelopera, as I do, that the year on question is 1884). But, the Coup d'etat that puts him in power happens in 1876, RIGHT when Erik may have been doing subcontracting work on the East bank of the Mediterranean. So, it’s fuzzy, but CONVENIENT. And until I have a better timeline, that’s how it goes for me. Before the 1863 mysterious death of the Emir of Afghanistan, we have no certain dates. But I’ve been hypothesizing like a physics professor trying out different ages for Erik to be when he single-handedly kills the leader of a country AND for him to have had enough time for him to have learned Punjab lasso (Presumably India) Tonkin Pirates water tricks (Vietnam) and become a magician of Russia (fair at Nizhni Novgorod) known to all in the east. TLDNR: Erik doesn’t know his own age exactly, but is “51, give or take 7 years” when he meets Christine (who Leroux says is 19 or 20, same as Raoul)
The following uses only What Gaston Leroux has given us and my own research into history. (I’ve never read Susan Kay) There are very few dates that are firm in Leroux, and this was done on purpose. It’s really challenging to puzzle out all of his innuendos into historical events. @fdelopera on Tumblr has an AMAZING timeline and argument for the story taking place in 1884 (a leap year, btw). I strongly recommend their work and really their entire blog, especially for any Lerouxian.
Certain dates confirmed by Leroux: Erik builds the foundations of the opera. There is a contest held to see who would design the new opera house in Paris in 1860. Due to the Franco-Prussian war and the revolution and the commune and the siege of 1871, the opera wasn’t completed until 1875. Erik’s foundations were utilized during the siege of 1871 as torture facilities and burial grounds and god knows what else. (During the “week of blood” that ended the siege, 20 *thousand* revolutionaries and another 877 soldiers were killed. Another 38 thousand people were arrested.) Leroux also says that the Shah of Persia liked Erik in part because he fought the Emir of Afghanistan. Most notes given in new translations of Phantom of the Opera say that this is in reference to the taking of Herat (by the British) in the 1850s, ending in ‘57. However, there is one more possibility: the Shah and the Emir began fighting again in 1863, ending with a sudden and (in this Phan’s opinion) a highly suspicious death of the Emir. Assuming that Erik is actually sent away from Persia for knowing too much *politically* (and not just too much about architecture) he and The Daroga would arrive in Paris maybe in 1863 or 1864, a fantastic time to start building the foundations. Leroux does also say that Erik “set up as a builder, the sort of builder who builds ordinary houses with ordinary bricks for ordinary people.” He does this as he subcontracts for Garnier. But work on the opera house is unsteady af because of funding during revolutionary times. Other places that Erik may have subcontracted with include the Suez Canal across the Mediterranean, and the Cadir Kiosk in Constantinople (Turkey). I mention this because Leroux says that Erik worked for the Sultan of Constantinople, building strange contraptions where there were body doubles (robots!) dressed like the Sultan (Abdul Hamid). Leroux says that a bunch of bizarre and magnificent things were revealed during the Young Turks Revolution of 1909 were indeed built by Erik. Abdul Hamid is without a doubt the Sultan that Leroux is referencing: he was paranoid af, constantly having things re-built around him with secret places to hide and replacing everyone around him for fear he would be assassinated. However, Abdul Hamid’s rule and subsequent decline into madness happens very late: after the book takes place (if you believe fdelopera, as I do, that the year on question is 1884). But, the Coup d'etat that puts him in power happens in 1876, RIGHT when Erik may have been doing subcontracting work on the East bank of the Mediterranean. So, it’s fuzzy, but CONVENIENT. And until I have a better timeline, that’s how it goes for me. Before the 1863 mysterious death of the Emir of Afghanistan, we have no certain dates. But I’ve been hypothesizing like a physics professor trying out different ages for Erik to be when he single-handedly kills the leader of a country AND for him to have had enough time for him to have learned Punjab lasso (Presumably India) Tonkin Pirates water tricks (Vietnam) and become a magician of Russia (fair at Nizhni Novgorod) known to all in the east. TLDNR: Erik doesn’t know his own age exactly, but is “51, give or take 7 years” when he meets Christine (who Leroux says is 19 or 20, same as Raoul)
