Tomorrow? Like The Thing That Killed Macbeth?

Today's observation is The Disabled in Monte Cristo.

La Carconte has some chronic illness that gives her frequent fevers and prevents her from waking up or doing things. Her mariage is not happy but overall it works. She is shown as a materialist and not a good person but her husband does not disrespect her and even listens to her at times. Her actions help develop a key point of the plot.

Ali is mute but he is essential for the Count's plans and he communicates with the Count with just some effort on the Count's part. He is proven to be agile and intelligent, he is very expressive and we know how he feels and what opinions he has on things. For being a slave, he has more space and importance than the hired servants. His disability is useful to the Count, which is not something positive per se but it is unusual.

M. Noirtier is severely disabled and we spend a whole chapter on him, on how he communicates and how his grand daughter found a way to speak with him. He can only move his eyes, so there is a family agreement to ask him what he wants and he can give basic answers winking or pointing with them. With his granddaughter, she eventually pulls out a dictionary to help him find the word he wants after he made her go through the whole alphabet looking for the letter he needed. Thanks to her, he can communicate with people who don't know him.

This man was first described as a lost cause. His own son looked at him with pity (or worse) and used him as an example of something more terrible than death, barely more than a plant. When he is given his own chapter (2 chapters actually) he is also given his own voice and someone who listens. And then, he also does something that affects the world around him and probably the plot of the book.

There is a great respect about these characters. They have dignity and flaws, they are as active as their disability allows them.

cringing anytime i engage with phantom of the opera analysis because there is an obsession with casually throwing around the term 'gaslighting' when it comes to raoul's relationship with christine. gaslighting "is a form of psychological abuse or manipulation in which the abuser attempts to sow self-doubt and confusion in their victim's mind." at no point does raoul gaslight christine. he'd have to know the phantom is real first, and for the most of the story, he doesn't.

raoul does not believe an angel sent by christine's dead father is teaching her how to sing and he tells her as much. this is not gaslighting. at no point in either the book or the musical does he seek to sow self-doubt or confusion in christine's mind. in fact, her confusion is the thing that is deeply disturbing to him. he wants her sane, and healthy, and whole, and he fears grief has driven her insane to the point she has imagined herself a new father in the form of an angel of music sent to her from gustave daaé in heaven.

the fact raoul does not understand almost until it is too late the danger he and christine are facing is one of the most tragic aspects of the story. this tension is not there if you believe raoul knows the phantom exists all along and is trying to trick christine into thinking he doesn't.

nobody has to like raoul. in truth, i enjoy his niche appeal very much. it's like a cute little club. don't like him because you find him boring, a poor foil for the phantom, or a poor match for christine. that's perfectly fine and even fun! but don't make up abuse that isn't present in either the book or the theatrical production to justify your dislike. it's not necessary!

Glinda during "No One Mourns the Wicked"

I think the opera ghost would like tumblr. lots of notes

my favorite genre of of villain is man who lost his wife and became evil about it immediately. like that’s a sensible response to me idk

YO WHAT RHE FUCK REBECCA

CLUTCHING HIS PEARLS

🎥 @medium-observation

I’m obsessed with him

the funniest part about Love Never Dies is the implications it has for the canon of the ALW Phantom of the Opera. because what do you mean Raoul turned into an alcoholic gambler, lost all of his money, found out Gustave wasn't his son, watched Meg shoot Christine, and STILL had the funds and energy to go back to the Paris Opera House to purchase that silly monkey like 12 years later.

why would you torture yourself like that

Please tell me i'm not as forgettable as your silence is making me feel.

ANGST ANGST ANGST

CW: Blood and some scary words

What If: Garroth didn’t pass out when Zenix shot him

i made a few versions