The Count of Monte Cristo

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-12

Reading Check

1. Who lives on the island where Edmond delivered the package before returning to Marseilles?

2. What is the name of the fortress on the island where Edmond is imprisoned?

3. When Edmond despairs of regaining his freedom, how does he decide to end his own life?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How do other people’s jealousy and fear lead to Edmond being imprisoned?

2. How does Villefort’s behavior during Napoleon’s return demonstrate that his relationship with Mlle de Saint-Méran is less important to him than his political ambitions?

3. In what ways does meeting Abbé Faria benefit Edmond?

Paired Resource

“Byron and Napoleon”

• This academic paper by Peter Cochran explains Byron’s near-obsession with Napoleon Bonaparte and contextualizes it within the sociopolitical climate of Byron’s time.
• This resource relates to the themes of The Byronic Hero and Rebirth and Reinvention.
• What was Byron’s attitude toward Napoleon, and how did it change over time? What drew the English Romantics to Napoleon’s story? In what sense is Napoleon a Byronic hero? In what sense is Edmond a Byronic hero? How is he being reborn through his association with Abbé Faria? What does his transformation have to do with the cultural changes taking place at this time in European society? What other elements of Edmond’s story so far strike you as Romantic? What does Dumas seem to be using Napoleon’s story to represent in this novel?