About 24 hours ago, I wrote about being a loner and not really being part of society in general.  Since then, I have listened to the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack.  I always preferred the Phantom to Raoul.  I always identified with him better than with any other literary character.  Think of it this way - we are both very intelligent; fairly talented in multiple areas; desirous of an impossible, perfect love; shunned by a majority of society because of particularities that don't fit into the general consensus of normality; and reviled by some because of our persistence.  If you read this and wonder about some of the "similarities" just try to remember that you haven't lived my life, so there may be some things you don't know about.

Anyway, the Phantom could have at any time whisked Christine away to his little love nest swan bed, but instead trained her voice, respected her privacy, and worked behind the scenes to benefit her.  Raoul, on the other hand, wooed Christine when they were younger, then pops in from nowhere and carries her away on his little romantic adventure.  Raoul was a punk, whereas the Phantom (referred to hereafter as Erik) was respectful and took his time.  All of the things that Erik did in the work could have been avoided had Raoul not attempted his little sexual coup.  But, no, the irritating aggressive boy caused things to go awry.

Let's shift gears now to Pride and Prejudice, another favorite of mine.  Darcy at one point proclaims his love for Elizabeth, yet she does not believe him.  Darcy, working behind the scenes, ended up hooking Lizzie's sister up with her soulmate, Bingley, and saving the Bennett family from disgrace at the younger sister's elopement.  Darcy also stays behind the scenes, never coming out and saying "Hey, Lizzie-baby!  Lookie at what did!"  Others tell her, also mentioning that they weren't supposed to tell her.  He didn't want her to know; he was happy being able to show his love for her by protecting her family in unseen ways.  Now that's love.

Now, let's mix the two.  ErikDarcy does things for ChristineElizabeth, behind the scenes, to show his love for her, not necessarily to her, but in order to further her in her life.  Then some punk comes in and steals her away.

Now there's a story with which I can identify.