Punjab lasso
Encyclopedia
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
referred to in Gaston Leroux
Gaston Leroux
Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist and author of detective fiction.In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel The Phantom of the Opera , which has been made into several film and stage productions of the same name, notably the 1925 film starring Lon...
's novel The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera
Le Fantôme de l'Opéra is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialisation in "Le Gaulois" from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910...
. It is described as a noose
Hangman's knot
The hangman's knot or hangman's noose is a well-known knot most often associated with its use in hanging. For a hanging, the knot of the rope is typically placed under or just behind the left ear. When the condemned drops to the end of the rope, the force is supposed to break the neck...
but employed like a garotte to strangle victims. The name was derived from the Punjab region
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and present day Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
where the title character learned to use it.
In the novel
In Gaston Leroux's novel, the Phantom (named Erik) traveled throughout the world after running away from home at a young age. During his travels, he visited India, where he learned to kill people using the Punjab lasso. According to Erik's old friend, the daroga (the Persian- "daroga" was Erik's nickname for him), the Punjab lasso that Erik wields is "curiously made from catgutCatgut
Catgut is a type of cord that is prepared from the natural fibre found in the walls of animal intestines. Usually sheep or goat intestines are used, but it is occasionally made from the intestines of cattle, hogs, horses, mules, or donkeys.-Etymology:...
" (from the Leonard Wolf translation); the only way to escape it is to keep one's hand raised to eye level, thus preventing the loop from closing. This is attributed to Erik's skill at strangling.
When the Persian brought Erik to Persia, he used his skills at using the lasso in his new job as the Shah
Shah
Shāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...
's personal assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
, a job he excelled at due to his lack of scruples. He also used it to entertain the Sultana. Later, when Erik moves to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, he kept a Punjab lasso in the torture chamber
Torture chamber
A torture chamber is a room where torture is inflicted.- Methods of coercion :According to Frederick Howard Wines in his book Punishment and Reformation: A Study Of The Penitentiary System there were three main types of coercion employed in the torture chamber: Coercion by the cord, by water and...
he built. Thus, the victims of the chamber would have the option of ending their lives rather than endure its tortures.
When the sceneshifter, Joseph Buquet, found the entrance to Erik's 'house' in the third cellar of the opera house
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
, he fell into the chamber and used the lasso to kill himself.
Later, when the Persian and the Viscount de Chagny went in search of Christine Daae
Christine Daaé
Christine Daaé is the main female character in Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera , the young singer with whom the main character Erik, the Phantom of the Opera falls in love.- Character history :...
- whom Erik had kidnapped- they found a used Punjab lasso lying on the ground leading into the Phantom's chamber. Later in their journey to rescue Christine they fell into the torture chamber, where the Persian contemplated using the lasso to end his life as the tortures got worse.
In the musical
In Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's musical not much is known about the lasso, except that it is the Phantom's signature weapon. It appears to be infused with some sort of magical properties as it appears to be a version of the Indian rope trick
Indian rope trick
The Indian rope trick is stage magic said to have been performed in and around India during the 19th century. Sometimes described as "the world’s greatest illusion", it reputedly involved a magician, a length of rope, and one or more boy assistants....
. The Phantom uses it to hang Joseph Buquet during the performance of Il Muto, possibly as a warning for the managers who disobeyed his orders. Later in the play, the Phantom uses it to kill the overweight opera singer, Ubaldo Piangi, allowing him to take his place during the performance of Don Juan Triumphant
Don Juan Triumphant
Don Juan Triumphant is the name of a fictional piece of music written by the title character in the novel The Phantom of the Opera. In the musical adaptation, the concept is expanded as an opera within a musical.-The novel:...
in his attempt to lure Christine back to him. It is revealed that Madame Giry
Madame Giry
Madame Giry is a character in the Gaston Leroux novel, The Phantom of the Opera. She is a fairly intermediate character in the novel, although her role is much increased in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical...
knows of the lasso, as she informs Raoul that he must keep his hand at the level of his eyes to protect himself from its magic. As the play reaches its end, the Phantom threatens to kill Raoul using the lasso in the hope that Christine will marry him to save Raoul's life.
In the movies
The lasso has appeared in the movie versions of the story, although it is rarely identified.- In the 1925 versionThe Phantom of the Opera (1925 film)The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same title directed by Rupert Julian. The film featured Lon Chaney in the title role as the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to force...
, Buquet is found hanged in the cellars of the opera house (as in the novel). Once Joseph is found, his brother Simon exclaims, "The Punjab Lasso! The Stranglers Cord!"
- The lasso is absent in the 1943 versionPhantom of the Opera (1943 film)Phantom of the Opera is a 1943 Universal horror film starring Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster and Claude Rains, directed by Arthur Lubin, and filmed in Technicolor. The original music score was composed by Edward Ward....
, but the Phantom still strangles someone with a rope.
- In the 1987 animated version, Monsieur Robert, one of the managers, is killed for trying to sell the Phantom's private Box - Box 5 - and he is found hanging in the box, although it is not stated that is it due to the Punjab lasso.
- In the 1989 versionThe Phantom of the Opera (1989 film)The Phantom of the Opera: The Motion Picture is a 1989 horror film directed by Dwight H. Little and based on Gaston Leroux's novel of the same name....
with Robert EnglundRobert EnglundRobert Barton Englund is an American actor, voice-actor and director, best known for playing the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger, in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors in...
, the chief scene shifter, Joseph Buquet, is found skinned alive and hanging in La Carlotta's closet. As with the previous film versions, it is not mentioned whether or not it is from the Punjab lasso. In one scene the Phantom uses a whip to protect himself from robbers.
- In the 2004 versionThe Phantom of the Opera (2004 film)The Phantom of the Opera is a 2004 film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux....
by Joel SchumacherJoel SchumacherJoel T. Schumacher is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.-Early life:Schumacher was born in New York City, the son of Marian and Francis Schumacher. His mother was a Swedish Jew, and his father was a Baptist from Knoxville, Tennessee, who died when Joel was four years old...
, which is based on the musical, the lasso is used in a manner more closely related to the original novel - as a piece of rope with no magical properties. As in the stage musical, the Phantom uses it to kill Buquet; to kill Piangi in order to take his place in Don Juan TriumphantDon Juan TriumphantDon Juan Triumphant is the name of a fictional piece of music written by the title character in the novel The Phantom of the Opera. In the musical adaptation, the concept is expanded as an opera within a musical.-The novel:...
; and in his threatening Christine with Raoul's death (in this scene, the Phantom threw the lasso around Raoul's neck—in the book the lasso was always thrown).