Viscount Raoul de Chagny

Infobox character
colour =
name = Vicomte Raoul de Chagny
first = "The Phantom of the Opera"
age = 21 (original novel)
born = ca. 1860 (original novel)
occupation = "Viscount"
title = Viscount de Chagny
family = Count Philbert de Chagny (father, deceased)
Countess de Chagny-née de Moerogis de la Martynière (mother, died during childbirth)
Count Philippe Georges Marie de Chagny (brother, original novel)
Two sisters are mentioned once in the original novel.
portrayer = See "Other versions"
creator = Gaston Leroux

Viscount Raoul de Chagny is a fictional character from Gaston Leroux's novel "The Phantom of the Opera".

Biography

Raoul de Chagny is a viscount and Christine Daaé's childhood friend. They first met when he was a young child when he went on vacation in Northern France. He meets up with her again after watching her performance at the former managers' retirement ceremony at the Palais Garnier. He reminds her that he is "the little boy who went into the sea to rescue your scarf," which provokes her laughter. At first, Christine refuses to recognize Raoul, in fear that the "Angel of Music" would return to heaven. However, they become engaged later. Unknowingly to them, Erik had been spying on them. On the day they were going to elope, Erik kidnaps her during a performance of "Faust" at the opera house. Raoul then, along with the mysterious man known as "The Persian", goes down into the cellars of the Opera in an attempt to rescue Christine. He and the Persian endure near-drowning and torture in a mirrored, super-heated chamber before Erik eventually relents due to Christine's willingness to sacrifice her happiness for Raoul's life. Raoul nearly commits suicide under torture, and has to be put to bed by Erik because the treatment has left him "limp as a rag."

In Gaston Leroux's novel, "The Phantom of the Opera", Raoul is described as having a 'small, fair mustache, beautiful blue eyes, and a complexion like a girl's and an air of "just having left the women's apron-strings." His elder brother and former guardian, Comte Philippe de Chagny, is a man of the world who indulges in dalliances with the Opera's ballerinas and is exasperated by his brother's attachment to "the little baggage" Christine. Philippe is later drowned by Erik when he goes looking for Raoul in the cellars of the Opera.

Raoul is described as 'having been petted by his two sisters and his aunt' and spoiled as a child, as he plans to go to the North Pole if he does not get his own way, but he is very kind-hearted.

Raoul has been to sea, and plans to go on a suicidal polar expedition if Christine refuses to pledge herself to him. He is puzzled and sometimes angered by her allegiance to Erik, and thinks that she may be toying with his heart. He is the youngest member of his family, with an older brother (Philippe De Chagny) and two sisters already married. However, in the film adaptation of the Lloyd Webber musical he mentions his (still living) parents, who had passed away long before the events of the novel.

Other versions

Film

*1925 - "The Phantom of the Opera" - portrayed by Norman Kerry
*1943 - "Phantom of the Opera" - portrayed by Edgar Barrier
*1962 - "The Phantom of the Opera" - portrayed by Edward de Souza
*1983 - "The Phantom of the Opera" - portrayed by Michael York
*1990 - "The Phantom of the Opera" - portrayed by Adam Storke (as Comte Philippe de Chagny, in Raoul's role)
*1991 - "The Phantom of the Opera" - portrayed by Christopher Rath
*1998 - "The Phantom of the Opera" - portrayed by Andrea di Stephano
*2004 - "The Phantom of the Opera" - portrayed by Patrick Wilson

Theater

*Ken Hill's "Phantom of the Opera" - portrayed by various actors; the first actor to portray him beginning with the 1984 revival was James Saxon.
*Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" - portrayed by various actors, originally Steve Barton
*Maury Yeston" and "Arthur Kopit's musical "Phantom" replaced Raoul with his older brother Phillipe, a "Count".