The story starts with the farewell gala and continues through the Persian reporting that Erik is dead. Some dates are given, some are not. Others can be determined based on clues like ‘a few days later’, ‘the next day’, etc. Through a thorough reading of the story, consultation with a calendar, and even some counting on my fingers, I’ve been able to come up with the following timeline. Towards the end, the timeline gets very hazy. I will cover why I think this is so in another post. For now, I’ve done the best I can to lay out the end of the story as well.
Note: in order to get the full account on the dates and the distance between dates, one must go to an unabridged translation. For any quotes below, I have used the translation by Mireille Ribiere
Also, I’m using the year 1879; please read The events in question go back…to 1879…or do they? for an explanation of how I arrived at this year for the story.
Friday, January 10: Story opens on the evening of the Farewell Gala for MM Debienne and Poligny
Erik writes to the directors: “Will write to you soon about the 240,000 francs, or to be precise, the 233,424 francs and 70 centimes that you owe me now that Messrs Debienne and Poligny have sent me 6,575 francs and 30 centimes for the first 10 days of this year – their appointments ended on the evening of the tenth.” page 49-50
Monday, January 13: Christine and Raoul head for Perros
Tuesday, January 14: Anniversary of Christine’s father
Wednesday, January 15, early morning: Raoul found on the stops of the chapel in the Perros graveyard
“Oh, Christine,” said Raoul with eyes misting at the memory of her performance, “my heart quickened every note you sang that evening. I saw all the tears streaming down your pale cheeks and I wept with you. How could you at once sing and weep?”
“I felt faint,” said Christine. ” I closed my eyes. And when I opened them, you were by my side. But the Voice was there too, Raul! I feared for you, and again I feigned not to recognize you; I even began to laugh when you reminded me that you had retrieved my scarf from the sea! Alas, there was no deceiving the Voice! He recognized you and was jealous! He went one dreadfully for the next two days, saying: ” You love him. If you did not, you would not avoid him moving! If he were just an old friend, you would shake hands with him as you would with any other friend. If you did not love him, you would not be afraid of finding yourself alone with him here in my presence. If you did not love him, you would not have sent him away!”
“Stop this!” I told the Voice and last. ” I am going to Perros to visit my father’s grave tomorrow, and I shall ask M.Raoul de Chagny to go with me.” Page 162 to 163
Since Christine fainted on the night of the farewell gala, January 10, “he went on dreadfully for the next two days” would refer to January 11 and January 12. Therefore, on the 13th of January is when she goes to Perros.
Having read her note, the Viscount de Chagny rushed to consult a railway guide, dressed hurriedly, scribbled a few lines to his brother and jumped into a cab. Unfortunately, he reached the Gare Montparnasse too late to board the morning train, which she had hoped to catch. He spent a dismal day in town and his spirits only recovered when he settled into his compartment that evening on the train bound for Brittany.… Day was breaking when he alighted at Lannion and hurried on to the stagecoach bound for Perros-Guirec. Page 65
Therefore, when Raoul meets up with Christine, it is the morning of the 14th. Hence her astonishment, the next morning, when the young man was brought back to her half frozen and more dead than alive, and she learned that he had been found lying on the steps of the altar of the little church. Page 82
“The next morning” being the morning of the 15th.
Saturday, January 25: The managers receive their first note from Erik. He mentions that he was surprised that his box wasn’t made available, but after following up with the previous managers, knows that the new managers are aware of his demands. He states in his letter: “If you want peace, start by not denying me my box.” The managers talk it over and ask the secretary to send tickets to the previous managers.
…that evening – the evening of January 25th – the two directors went to bed early. As you can imagine, after so many exhausting hours of angry exchanges, intrigue, recommendations, threats and professions of love or hatred, they retired without so much as a cursory glance at Box Five to see whether Debienne and Poligny were enjoying the performance. Page 49
Sunday, January 26: The managers come in the next morning and they have more letters. One from Erik thanks them for making the box available. One from the previous managers states that they have no right to use that box. The managers then rent the box for that night.
Next morning, the directors each received a note of thanks from the Phantom… That morning, they also received a letter from Debienne and Poligny… That evening Box Five was made available to the public. Page 50
Monday, January 27: When the managers come in the next morning, they find a report that there was laughing in Box Five the evening before, and the occupants had to be thrown out. After investigating a report, the managers go to the theater to have a look at Box Five themselves. After thoroughly checking it out, they decide to watch Faust on Saturday.
The next morning, on arriving at their office, Richard and Moncharmin found a report from the house manager relating to an incident that happened in Box Five the previous evening. Page 50
When they were finally alone, they discussed an idea that had occurred to both of them simultaneously: they would take a look at Box Five for themselves. Page 62
“Those people are all making fools of us!” Richard eventually exclaimed: “There is a performance of Faust on Saturday: we show both watch it from Box Five!” Page 90
Friday, January 31: Cesar is stolen
That Saturday morning, on reaching their office, the two directors each found a letter from the Phantom… At that moment Mercier, the administrator, appeared. ” Messieurs, Lachenal needs to talk to one of you,” he said. “The matter is clearly urgent and he seems quite upset.”
“Who’s Lachenal?” asked Richard.
“He’s your chief groom.”
“What do you mean, my chief groom?”…
“He has charge of the stables.”…
“But the administrator told me that you had 12 horses!”
“I did have 12, but there are only 11 left since Caesar was stolen.” Pages 91 to 93.
Since we find out later, during Christine’s story to Raoul, that Eric had Cesar carry her, and she had already heard the rumor of him being stolen, it is reasonable to assume he was stolen the night before – the second of February. It also makes sense it would have been the night before, as this would be the first time the Chief Groom would have had an opportunity to meet with the managers.
Saturday, February 1: Carlotta “croaks”; chandelier drops; Christine disappears
Tuesday, February 11: Christine is seen a carriage with Erik
Wednesday, February 12: Raoul goes to see Madame Valerius, then Raoul and his brother, Phillipe go to dinner. Raoul leaves dinner early and stands by the side of the road waiting for Christine. She comes by once more in the carriage with Erik, but Raoul can’t catch them
Thursday, February 13: Raoul gets a note from Christine telling him to meet her at the Ball.
For the 11th through the 13th, we have to work backwards from the 15th. Knowing that the ball is on the 15th (again see The events in question go back…to 1879…or do they? for why), we can look at the sequence of events as detailed in the book:
Page 122: In a letter to Raoul, Christine says, “Meet me at the Opera on the night after tomorrow for the masked ball.” If the night after tomorrow is Saturday, today must be Thursday – the 13th.
Back one more step, on page 122, just before the contents of the note, “His man-servant found him the next morning…”: The morning in question is the one after he has seen Madame Valerius, then gone to dinner with his brother. Which must have been Wednesday – the 12th.
Final step back, page 119-120: Raoul’s despair was so profound that he would probably have declined the invitation if the Count had not told him, by way of enticement, that the lady of his thoughts had been seen, at the Bois, the previous evening, in the company of a man. That man, of course, was Erik. And, the previous evening would have been Tuesday – the 11th.
Saturday, February 15: Christine returns during the Ball
Sunday, February 16: Raoul goes back to see Madame Valerius and finds Christine. She agrees to meet with him the next day.
The day after Christine had vanished before his eyes by some kind of dazzling magic that still made him doubt the evidence of his senses, Viscount Raoul de Chagny called on Madame Valerius in search of information. He came upon an enchanting tableau: the old lady up in bed knitting with Christine by her side doing needlepoint.… “Swear to make the you will never come to my dressing room again, unless I send for you.”
“Then you must promise in turn to send for me sometimes, Christine.”
“I promise.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.” Pages 138 and 144
Monday, February 17: Raoul meets with Christine and they start their secret engagement.
The next day he saw her at the Opera. She was still wearing the gold ring. She was gentle and kind. She talked with him about his plans for the future and his career. He told her that the departure of the Polar expedition had been brought forward and that he would be leaving France three weeks hence, or a month at the most. She suggested almost gaily that he should look forward to the forthcoming voyage with joy, as a step towards a glorious future. And when he replied that glory without love held no attraction for him, she fondly rebuked him as one would a child whose sorrows would not last.… “But…” she continued, holding out her two hands to Raoul, or rather suddenly offering them to him as one might a gift. “But if we cannot be married, we can become engaged! No one but us will know. There have been plenty of secret marriages! Why not a secret betrothal? Let us become engaged, Raoul, for a month!…”
Monday, February 24: Raoul declares he is not going on the expedition to the North Pole. Christine storms off and doesn’t sing that night.
One day when Raoul felt painfully hurt – they had been playing for a week – he brought to the game to a halt.
“I shall not go to the North Pole!” he said wildly.
Christine, in her innocence, had not foreseen such a possibility; the danger of the game suddenly became apparent and she reproached herself bitterly. She did not reply and instead went straight home.… She did not sing that evening. Page 147
One week being seven days puts this conversation on February 24.
Tuesday, February 25: Raoul goes to see Madame Valerius and she tells him that Christine will be gone for two days.
Next morning, he hurried to Madame Valerius, who told him that Christine had gone away. She had left at 5 o’clock the day before, saying that she would return two days hence.… and was the unhappiest of men for fourty-eight hours.
Then Christine reappeared. She made a triumphant return. She repeated this staggering success of her gala performance.
Since performances were in the evenings, and Christine had left in the evening, we must presume that the 48 hours starts when she leaves his side. Which puts this performance on the 25th and not on the 26th.
Wednesday, February 26: Christine returns to the stage a repeat of her gala triumph. See previous note.
Friday, March 14: Christine tells Raoul her story on the roof. They prepare to run away the next night.
This date is an estimate – four weeks from the day they got secretly engaged. There are several clues that lead me to believe this date is correct, coming at the end of Raoul’s, and their engagement’s, month. The first, on page 152: Thus the few precious days flew by.
Then, a little later or page 154: The following day and thereafter, they took their strange, chaste love to the upper storeys of the building, well away from the traps. As time passed, her agitation increased. At last, one afternoon, she arrived very late.…Then they make their way to the roof where Christine will tell him the whole story.
Before she tell him the whole story however, on page 157, she says: All the same, time is running out: I have only one day left. If I do not go to him, he will come for me with his voice.
Finally, we know that Erik was thinking of the one month time frame as well, because as Christine tells us later, just after Raoul speaks, on page 188: “How fortunate for me that he allowed you that! It was very brave of you,” said Raoul bitterly, “to let us play at being engaged!”
“Why, dear Raoul, he knows all about it! He said: ‘I trust you, Christine. M. de Chagny is in love with you as will soon be leaving. Before he goes, let him be as unhappy as I am.'”
Also, I picked this date because it’s a Friday. Christine says she can’t run away with Raoul the night she speaks to him on the roof, because she has to let Erik hear her sing one more time. As has been shown in the story thus far, performances happen on Saturdays, so a Friday fits well.
Saturday, March 15: Christine is abducted from the stage and Raoul and the Persian make their way below the stage to rescue her.
Sunday, March 16: Christine turns the scorpion, thus ending the threat to a good many of the human race – those attending the Opera above.
Page 296: He had given her until eleven o’clock the next evening to make up her mind.
Then, on page 327: “What’s the time now, Christine? What’s the time?”
“Nearly eleven. Five minutes to eleven to be precise.”
“But, which eleven?”
“The hour that will decide between life or death!…”
From then on, it’s very difficult to determine the pace at which anything happened. We know the general sequence, but there really isn’t any telling how long things took.
- Christine turned the scorpion and the torture chamber flooded.
- Christine begged Erik to save Raoul and the Persian and he let them free.
- Raoul regained consciousness before the Persian, and the Persian was in and out of consciousness for some time after.
- The Persian falls asleep and when he wakes up, he is at home. He presumes Erik brought him home.
- Erik (as he tells the Persian later) locked Raoul up. It’s unclear whether he did this before or after taking the Persian home.
- Erik then returned, after locking Raoul up, to Christine and they cried together.
- After they cried together, Erik retrieved Raoul, then sent Raoul and Christine on their way.
- When the Persian gets home, he tries to find out what happened to Phillipe, Raoul, and Christine.
- He visits the police and they don’t believe him, so he sits down to write his story.
- Just as he is finishing, Erik visits him.
- After Erik leaves the Persian, he gathers his papers and things and sends them to the Persian.
- Three weeks after Erik’s visit, the Persian publishes in the paper that Erik is dead.