INTJ 4w3 Characters

Erik is an idealistic dreamer with very specific desires; he wants Christine to be his, and for her to sing his music in an opera. He pursues these goals to the exclusion of all other possibilities, with a fierce single-mindedness that makes him dangerous. His songs are full of intense, symbolism that speaks of his own inner turmoil and view of the world (Don Juan Triumphant is the metaphorical representation of his own sexual desires). He has an idealistic view of Christine and has already shaped their future life together in his mind. Though he prefers to use trickery to frighten others, Erik can also be impulsive and opportunistic. He has expensive taste and a desire to experience “the joys of the flesh.” If he sees an opportunity to act, he takes it—such as preying upon Christine’s emotions in the graveyard to lure her back into his thrall (inferior Se). He is devoted to his work and intent on seeing it brought into completion. He is good at organizing others to accomplish his goals and manipulating them into doing what he wants them to do. Erik is opportunistic, choosing logical (if amoral) actions to bring about what he wants—including vocally training Christine, pretending to be the Angel of Music as inspired by her prayers and memories, blackmailing the owners for funding so he can live in comfort, and threatening Raoul’s life to force Christine to marry him. His inability to express his emotions is a source of frustration to him. Erik instead infuses his music with passionate feeling and works through his intense feelings on his own. He wavers between an intense desire to be loved and self-revulsion, bouncing between a desire to control Christine and force her obedience (regardless of her feelings) and selfless love that is so touched by her willingness to embrace and hold him despite his deformity that he simply lets her go. Erik pursues that which his heart desires and has a selective affection for Christine.

Enneagram: 4w3

Erik’s life is built around his suffering. He focuses on his intense emotions and in comparing himself to others, feeling different and removed from humanity because of his deformity. Haunted by a sense of loneliness and despair, he seeks to pour all of his desires into a single perfect creation: Christine. Deeply sensitive and insecure, he expresses his intense pain through haunting, tortured musical pieces full of inner expression and sexuality. As he disintegrates, he becomes a needy and obsessive 2, trying to force Christine to love him, becoming possessive and clingy in a desperate need for love, but she helps him move toward 1—where he sees the wrongness in his behavior, and releases her because it’s the right thing to do. Erik wants everyone to appreciate his genius, and recognize him as an authority on music. He adapts to become what he thinks Christine needs and wants from him (her “teacher”) and to lure her to him, while being very assertive in how he pursues her, goes after the opera managers, and even tries to kill Raoul when he comes into Erik’s lair.