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Essay Topics and Review Questions
1. Consider the four enemies of Edmond Dantès and discuss how the punishment that the Count of Monte Cristo inflicts upon them is related to their deepest ambitions.
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 them.
3. 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?
4. Discuss the metamorphosis of Edmond Dantès from a handsome, naive, and idealistic young man into the sophisticated and aristocratic Count of Monte Cristo.
5. This novel is often considered to be one of the greatest adventure stories in Western literature, yet in reality, it is a novel of intrigue and mystery. Discuss the discrepancy.