📖 Novel vs. Musical

In Gaston Leroux’s novel, Christine never returns to Erik after her escape. Her final gesture is a kiss on his forehead, which overwhelms him and leads him to release her and Raoul. The stage musical reimagines this symbolic act with the return of a ring.

🎭 Stage Musical Choice

In the Final Lair, Christine gives the Phantom’s ring back after kissing him. This moment was staged to provide emotional resolution:

💔 It acknowledges his love and suffering, recognizes his humanity, and signals her departure — she cannot stay with him.

What makes it striking is that Christine has already fled with Raoul. She then returns alone to the lair she once feared, a seemingly contradictory action. Dramaturgically, though, it creates a stage picture of intimacy and closure, leaving the Phantom and Christine together one last time before he disappears.

🎬 Film Version (2004)

Christine does not return the ring. Instead, in the prologue/epilogue, it is Raoul who places the Phantom’s ring on Christine’s grave after her death. This change shifts the perspective: rather than Christine giving closure to the Phantom directly, the film frames it as Raoul recognizing the Phantom’s enduring, solitary love.

🌹 Symbolic Resonance

By returning the ring, Christine gives the Phantom dignity: not simply rejecting him, but recognizing him as a man, not only a monster. The story ends less with fear than with elegy — audiences grieve the Phantom’s solitude rather than recoil from his violence.