The Count of Monte Cristo

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. For Edmond to escape from Chateau d’If, he is sewn into a shroud from which he must cut himself free to prevent himself from drowning.

• What layers of symbolism are contained in the sequence involving the shroud and Edmond’s escape from it? (topic sentence)
• Using both quoted and paraphrased evidence, offer at least three examples of diction, figurative language, imagery, or detail that support your interpretation. Be sure to cite any quoted material.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how your interpretation supports the novel’s larger thematic concern with Rebirth and Reinvention.

2. Both M. Morrel and Edmond use the red silk bag to deliver money to aid other characters.

• How does the red silk bag function as a device to juxtapose Edmond’s motives and character with those of M. Morrel? (topic sentence)
• Give evidence from three different places in the novel that demonstrates that M. Morrel’s motives and character are intended to contrast with Edmond’s.
• Explain how the red silk bag draws attention to this contrast.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how this juxtaposition supports the novel’s positioning of Edmond as a Byronic Hero.

3. Many characters in the novel undergo one or more dramatic changes of station.

• How do these changes in status relate to the book’s historical context? (topic sentence)
• Give evidence of at least three characters who undergo a significant rise or fall in their social and/or financial status.
• Offer evidence from reputable outside sources that demonstrates how these changes of fortune convey a key feature of early-19th-century European life.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how these changes in status support the novel’s larger thematic concern with Rebirth and Reinvention.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Throughout the novel, many characters are burdened by debt. Which characters struggle with debts, and how are their lives impacted? How do those who lend money or otherwise rescue others from adverse circumstances create these debts, and how do they profit from others’ sense of indebtedness? Are their motives always the same? Write an essay in which you analyze the motif of debt in The Count of Monte Cristo and demonstrate how this motif supports one or more of the novel’s larger thematic concerns with Vengeance, The Byronic Hero, and/or Rebirth and Reinvention. Support your analysis with evidence drawn from throughout the novel, making sure to cite any quoted material.

2. What is the significance of Edmond Dantès’s last name? Who is Dante, and what did he write? How have Dante’s writings continued to influence Western literature and culture? What does Dumas bring into The Count of Monte Cristo through this allusion to Dante? How does the allusion characterize Edmond? How does it illuminate plot and contribute to the novel’s meaning? Write an essay in which you analyze the novel’s allusion to Dante and demonstrate how this allusion supports the novel’s larger thematic concerns with The Byronic Hero and Rebirth and Reinvention. Support your analysis with evidence drawn from throughout the novel, making sure to cite any quoted material and any outside sources you might draw upon for information about Dante.

3. What is “Orientalism,” and how is it typical of Romantic authors? Which character or characters in The Count of Monte Cristo embody the exoticization and othering typical of Orientalism? What is Dumas trying to achieve using this strategy? Do you suspect that it was a successful strategy in his own time period? How does this strategy impact a modern reader’s response to the novel? Write an essay in which you analyze the Orientalist overtones of The Count of Monte Cristo and offer an evaluation of the differing impacts these overtones might have on Dumas’s contemporaries versus a modern audience. Support your analysis with evidence drawn from throughout the novel, making sure to cite any quoted material and any outside sources you might draw upon for information about Orientalism.