Erik and the Opera managers

The relationship between Erik, the Opera Ghost, and the managers of the Paris Opera House is a sustained campaign of intimidation, extortion, and practical joking that defines the administrative conflict at the heart of the novel. It begins with the retiring managers, M. Debienne and M. Poligny, who bequeath to their successors a memorandum-book containing a clause, written in red ink, demanding an allowance of twenty thousand francs a month, or two hundred and forty thousand francs a year, for the Opera ghost. A further clause reserves Box Five on the grand tier for the ghost's exclusive use at every performance. Debienne and Poligny, who have never seen the ghost, admit they are retiring because business is impossible with so unreasonable a phantom, and they advise the new managers to have new locks made with the greatest secrecy, warning that whenever they disregarded the ghost's wishes, some fantastic or disastrous event brought them to a sense of their dependence.

The Ghost's Written Demands and the Managers' Disbelief

Firmin Richard and Armand Moncharmin, the new joint managers, initially treat the ghost as a joke perpetuated by their predecessors. Their skepticism is tested when they receive letters in the same clumsy red handwriting that completed the memorandum-book. The first letter, addressed to "Dear Mr. Manager," complains that the ghost's box has been sold and issues a direct threat: "IF YOU WISH TO LIVE IN PEACE, YOU MUST NOT BEGIN BY TAKING AWAY MY PRIVATE BOX." It is signed "Your Most Humble and Obedient Servant, OPERA GHOST." The managers laugh and send Box Five to Debienne and Poligny, only to receive a card of thanks from the ghost, who notes that Daae was exquisite and that he will soon write for the 240,000 francs, or 233,424 fr. 70 c., to be correct. When Debienne and Poligny return the box, explaining they have no right to occupy it, Richard and Moncharmin defiantly sell Box Five, leading to an inspector's report of a disturbance in which occupants heard a voice saying the box was taken, though no one was there.

The managers' confrontation with the ghost escalates when they interrogate Mme. Giry, the box-keeper, who reveals the ghost's habits: he gives three little taps on the door, asks for a footstool, and leaves tips of two, five, or even ten francs. She insists the ghost is a man with a lovely voice, and that he once broke the leg of M. Isidore Saack. Richard, furious, dismisses her as a lunatic, but the ghost's next move forces a change in attitude. A letter from O. G. presents an ultimatum with four conditions: the return of the private box, the part of Margarita to be sung by Christine Daae, the reinstatement of Mme. Giry, and acceptance of the monthly allowance. The letter warns, "If you refuse, you will give FAUST to-night in a house with a curse upon it." Richard, enraged, refuses, and the curse is fulfilled when Carlotta, singing Margarita, croaks like a toad with a "Co-ack!" and the chandelier crashes into the stalls, killing the concierge who had replaced Mme. Giry.

The Magic Envelope and the Theft of Twenty Thousand Francs

The ghost's financial extortion reaches its peak with the affair of the magic envelope. The managers, having been paid the first twenty thousand francs, attempt to trap the ghost by placing the notes in an envelope and handing it to Mme. Giry, who places it in Box Five. Despite constant surveillance, the notes are replaced with twenty Bank of St. Farce notes, and the managers are left humiliated. The next month, they devise a more elaborate scheme: Richard will repeat his exact movements while Moncharmin watches his coat-tail pocket, into which Mme. Giry is to slip the envelope. The plan fails spectacularly. Richard bows to nobody, walks backward, and Moncharmin frantically begs people not to touch the director. Locked in their office, they discover the pocket is empty, though the safety-pin remains stuck in place. Moncharmin, suspecting Richard, demands a safety-pin to fasten the notes to his partner, but the theft occurs anyway, leaving the managers convinced of the ghost's witchcraft. The mystery is only resolved later when the narrator discovers a trap-door in the managers' office, through which a hand could reach up and fumble at the pocket of a swallow-tail coat, explaining how the forty thousand francs were taken and returned.

The Aftermath and the Ghost's Renunciation

The relationship between Erik and the managers concludes not with a final confrontation but with a quiet resolution. After the disappearance of Christine Daae and the death of Count Philippe, the managers, having been informed of the police commissary, find on Richard's table a large envelope inscribed "WITH O. G.'S COMPLIMENTS," containing the full sum of money the ghost had extracted. Richard is at once of the opinion that they must be content with that and drop the business, and Moncharmin agrees. The ghost, having relinquished his marriage with Christine Daae, no longer wants the money, having relinquished everything above the surface of the earth. The managers, each convinced the other was responsible for the joke, never fully understand the truth. Moncharmin continues to believe Richard was the butt of his humor, while Richard is convinced Moncharmin invented the whole affair to revenge himself. The ghost's power over the Opera management, built on fear, extortion, and theatrical sabotage, ends not with a victory but with a voluntary withdrawal, as Erik chooses to die of love rather than continue his reign of terror.