Transcript Count of Monte Cristo - Ms. Fox's English Classroom Lab

The Count of
Monte Cristo
By Alexander Dumas
About the Author
Thinking about Themes
Discussions, Journal Prompts, and
Literary Analysis
Alexander Dumas
1802-1870
Early Life
Alexander
Dumas was
born July
1802 near
the city of
Paris.
His Family
His grandfather was
a French Nobleman
(a marquis)
He settled in SaintDomingue which is
now part of Haiti
and later married
Marie-Cessette, a
slave
His Family
Marie had a son named
Thomas, but she died when he
was just a child.
Father
Alexander’s
father joined
Napoleon’s army
and eventually
became a general.
He died in 1806
Early adulthood
He moved backed to Paris and settled there
when he was 25.
He led a life of excess and adventure, which
was reflected in his novels.
Excessiveness
He had many
mistresses which led
to an illegitimate son
who was named
Alexander Dumas
Fils.
He never accepted
his father’s lifestyle.
Problems
His excessive and
expensive lifestyle left
him in constant debt.
At one time he
married one of his
mistresses who was an
actress. But he left her
after he spent all her
money!
His career
As a writer, Dumas became more famous for
his plays than his novels
His Works
He is considered the
most prolific French
writer of his time,
writing 255 books and
countless plays and
short stories. He is said
to be one of the biggest
influences in historical
fiction, although he
manipulated history to
fit his plots.
Racism
Although of mixed race, he supposedly
encountered little racism.
His books were very popular among 19th
century African-Americans. In fact, the
novel was looked at as a parable of
emancipation for the wrongly imprisoned.
The end of his life
At the age of 68, he died of a stroke.
Some believe that his excess lifestyle
contributed to his death.
His Legacy
He is not only the
author of The Count
of Monte Cristo, but
also The Three
Musketeers and The
Man in the Iron Mask.
The Count of Monte
Cristo
This is a novel and
film of adventure,
action and romance.
It was originally
published as a serial.
The Count of Monte
Cristo in film
The point of view of the film is the 3rd
person observer.
It focuses on the actions and the behaviors of
the characters rather than the psychology of
their actions.
The Count of Monte
Cristo
The story takes
place immediately
following the fall of
Napoleon’s Empire.
The majority of the
story is set in and
around Paris, but
travels to Elba and
Rome.
Themes
Some of the themes
include betrayal, revenge,
identity, and
devotion/loyalty. We’re
going to take a more
concentrated look at
themes in the 2nd half of
our PowerPoint
Name discovery
DO NOW: With several
classmates, identify the
primary conflict faced by the
protagonist. Who or what is
the enemy of the protagonist,
and what makes the struggle
between the protagonist and
enemy so compelling? Present
your ideas to the class, and
compare your responses with
those of other classmates.
POST IN LITERATURE
SECTION OF NOTEBOOK
• JOURNAL PROMPT #1 - In what ways is the
Count of Monte Cristo a precursor of the modern
day superhero?
• JOURNAL PROMPT #2 - What's the difference
between Edmond's ambition and that of Danglars
and Fernand?
• JOURNAL PROMPT #3 - Is ambition really the
right word to describe Edmond's ten years of
planning? Is there a stronger, more accurate word
out there somewhere?
THEMES
Revenge -Spent 14 yrs in prison plotting revenge on his enemies.

“I regret now,” said he, “having helped you in your late inquiries, or having given
you the information I did.”
“Why so?” inquired Dantès.
“Because it has instilled a new passion in your heart―that of vengeance.” (58)
Betrayal

Dantès was betrayed by his “friends” Caderousse, Fernand, and Danglars

Villefort promised to let Dantès go free.
Identity

Dantès creates various identities to fulfill his missions.
Devotion/Loyalty

Jacopo → helps Dantès after escaping prison

Morrel → tried to get Dantès out of prison

Mercédès → devoted and still loves Dantès
Think/pair/share
1. Using Albert, Valentine, and Edouard,
how does Monte Cristo's theory of "the
sins of the fathers must be visited upon
subsequent generations" undergo a
dramatic reversal?
2. In what ways does Dantes develop a God
complex? How does he supplant himself as
the giver of punishment and reward?
Where and how does he begin to question
his ambition?
Think/pair/share
1. Write a character analysis of Edmond Dantes.
What makes him “tick” as a person? Is he
worthy of the relatively happy ending? How
does he change and grow during the novel and
what is the impetus of these changes?
2. Using Monte Cristo's concept that great
suffering requires prolonged punishment
rather than instantaneous death, discuss the
justice of the punishment that he inflicts on
each of his enemies. How is the punishment
of his enemies related to their deepest
ambitions?
Conflicts and
Challenges.



Man vs. Society – Dantès against his enemies (Caderousse,
Fernand, Danglars, and Villefort)
Man vs. Himself – Dantès mentality and emotions → urge
to get revenge
Person vs. Person- Wrongfully imprisoned in the Chateau
d'If

Villefort and Madame Danglars → Benedetto

Maximilien and Valentine's “death”
No one can have it all;
eventually something
will happen to spoil
such happiness.
You and a partner will work together to
find evidence in the text that supports
this theme. Be sure to cite the passage(s),
and provide strong commentary that
supports your thoughts.
Out of every bad situation,
a bit of good emerges.
• When all is said and done, Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo,
is a story of transformation—the transformation of young, naïve,
exuberant Edmond Dantes into the cold, vengeful, and maybe even mad,
Count of Monte Cristo. The first half of the novel shows us the
beginnings of this transformation, as Edmond is whisked away from a
life of success and happiness to be thrown, seemingly for eternity, into
the bowels of the dreaded Chateau D’If. When circumstances allow for
Edmond to take the place of his dead friend, the Abbe Faria, and be
hurled into the ocean from the roof of the prison, though, Edmond is
granted a new lease on life, and with the Monte Cristo treasure at his
disposal, an opportunity to destroy those who would have destroyed him.
Dantes’s plunge into the ocean then, may be the key turning point in the
novel and can be read symbolically as a re-baptism or re-birth, in which
our main character is able to tear away the shroud of death, wash away
his old self, and become a new man with a new purpose. It is certainly a
moment worthy of any careful reader’s exacting attention.
With that in mind, your task is as follows…
Retell -Edmond Dantes’s fall from the roof of the Chateau D’If,
from the moment in which he is flung from the roof to the moment
he rises out of the ocean, free of the shroud and the cannon ball,
from Dantes’s first-person perspective. In doing so, your goal is:
• To describe as vividly as possible, what this experience must have been like for
Dantes—what must it feel like to fall, blind, into the ocean from high above; to
struggle to free oneself from inside a sack while being pulled to one’s death at
the bottom of the ocean; to have to hack away at a sack and a rope while also
holding one’s breath? This will give you an opportunity to continue to practice
your skills in vivid, concrete writing. While this moment, in actuality, probably
took all of forty-five seconds, from beginning to end, I would like you to take
your reader through it moment by moment, heartbeat by heartbeat.
• To take your reader into the mind of Edmond Dantes, to show the reader that
you are beginning to understand this character and how important this moment
is as part of his journey from being Edmond Dantes to being the Count of
Monte Cristo. What goes through Edmond’s mind as he struggles to stay alive?
Does he have any visions? Does he see or even speak to people from his past?
Does he pray or converse with God—or the Devil? They say that when a person
is experiencing a traumatic moment, time slows down, and your entire life
flashes before your eyes. How might this hold true in Edmond’s case?
Ideally, what you should be striving for here is a balanced representation of what
this moment must have been like for Edmond both physically and mentally.
Revenge gives the avenger a
sense of peace…or does it?.
Listed below are a number of events from The Count of Monte Cristo that are a part
of the second half of Edmond Dantes’s character arc. For each one you are to
(a) reread the portions of the novel that deal with that event and (b) in the white
space provided, explain why this particular event is important in terms of
Edmond’s transformation over the course of the novel—what does he learn from
this particular moment? How is he changed for having experienced it; how does
this moment prepare him for the next moment on his character arc? You should
be particularly concerned with the way, over the second half of the novel, that
Edmond is caught between pursuing his long-planned-for vengeance against his
enemies and his realization that his quest for vengeance may be destroying
himself in the process. Each of your explanations should be a minimum of
eight (8) sentences in length.
Moment #1: The Count confronts Caderousse (pgs. 339-344)
Moment #2: Mercedes begs for Albert’s life (pgs. 375-379)
Moment #3: The Count confronts Fernand (pgs. 393-395)
Moment #4Maximilien Morrel reveals to the Count that he loves Valentine (pgs.
400-402)
One must experience the
feeling of loss and
devastation in order to
appreciate fully the
feeling of ultimate bliss.
You and a partner will work together to
find evidence in the text that supports
this theme. Be sure to cite the passage(s),
and provide strong commentary that
supports your thoughts.
Money is the key to
happiness.
You and a partner will work together to
find evidence in the text that supports
this theme. Be sure to cite the passage(s),
and provide strong commentary that
supports your thoughts.
It is possible to fall in
love more than once.
The Count of Monte Cristo is a Romantic Hero because:
- Wanderlust (desire to travel)
- Introspection (looking within self)
- Misanthropy (distrust/ hatred for humankind)
- Regret of actions which leads to philanthropy (love of
mankind in general) , which stops the character from
ending tragically.
One can be several persons in
one; in other words, a person
can have very different
personalities depending on the
situation in which a person
finds himself or herself.



Dantès → young naïve boy to a sophisticated gentleman
(bildungsroman)
 Different identities (Count of Monte Cristo,
Sinbad the Sailor, Chief clerk of Thomson and
French, and Abbé Busoni)
Mercédès and Fernand → poor to wealthy & back to
poor
Baron Danglars → wealthy to poor
Literary Analysis—Drawing upon your
knowledge of the novel, your essay will take
a position on ONE of the following prompts:
Revenge: Was the Count of Monte Cristo justified in seeking revenge on his
enemies? Give specific examples of the Count’s revenge, then, explain why the
Count’s actions are (or are not) acceptable.
Suffering: How does suffering impact who a person becomes? Choose 3
characters and analyze how their own suffering (physical, emotional, or
mental) impacts their personality throughout the novel.
Fate: How do certain characters follow their fate? How do other characters defy
their fate? Analyze how Dantes AND 1 other characters handle their fate
throughout the novel and what effect it ultimately has on them.
Duality: Is anything absolute or are there always at least two sides? Choose one
character, event, or idea in the novel that can be looked at in more than one
way. Give details from the novel that show the two sides of your
character/event/idea; then explain which side seems more likely and why.
Literary Analysis—Drawing upon your
knowledge of the novel, your essay will take
a position on ONE of the following prompts:
Your essay must be 2 pages in length and contain at least 6
pieces of textual evidence (quotations or examples) to support
your analysis.
Your ideas must be fully-developed and explained in precise and
concise language.
It will be typed MLA format and submitted to Turnitin.com.
It will be graded according to the Cherry Hill Writing Rubric,
which will be stapled on the bottom of your essay. Sandwiched
in-between will be all your work leading up to your polished
copy. I want to see pre-writing, drafting, editing, and revisions.