Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas)

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
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Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for The Count of Monte Cristo:

1. The central issue in The Count of Monte Cristo is the question of revenge. In the case of this book, is Dantes' quest for vengeance morally just? Can vengeance ever stand in for justice?

2. Discuss Villefort's decision to imprison Dantes. He believes Dantes has been unfairly accused, but at the same time he fears for his own father's life.

3. Talk about the role that the Abbe Faria plays in Dante's development. Why does Dantes consider him a second father?

4. Why does Dantes treat Caderrouse more lightly than he does Danglars and Mondego?

5 What truths do Julie and Emmanuel reveal to Dantes? What does he learn from them?

6. As he takes his leave from Maximillian, Dantes claims that "there is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more.” What does that statement mean—in the context of the story and in real life—and how does it reverberate throughout the novel?

7. Talk about Dantes' profound alienation when he escapes from prison and his gradual movement back into reconciliation with humanity. How does that development take place: what and the plot benchmarks who are characters who help him regain his humanity.

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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