The Count of Monte Cristo

1. The Count of Monte Cristo by: Alexandre Dumas Jessy Schroeder

2. The Count of Monte CristoTone Alexandre Dumas’ tone and attitude towards The Count of Monte Cristo were that he was slightly detached from the story. Although he tells a thrillingly novel of struggle and revenge, Dumas only stated the events and scenes without describing thoroughly how each character felt during what they experienced in the novel.

3. The Count of Monte CristoImagery Imagery was a key factor in The Count of Monte Cristo. Dumas used imagery to attentively describe Marseilles, Paris, Italy, and the carnival that Albert de Morcef, Franz, and the Count attended, as well as thoroughly engaging the reader by perfectly describing Dante’s scenery as he searched for the hidden treasure on the mountainous island of Monte Cristo.

4. The Count of Monte CristoVoice Alexandre Dumas chose to narrate his story of the life of the Count of Monte Cristo by using a third person point of view. Although all of the details of the story were told by this anonymous narrator, Dumas decided to not let the readers into the character’s minds or let them know of the thoughts and feelings of each character. The reader must infer from what they have read how each character felt.

5. The Count of Monte CristoIrony Although there was not much irony used in Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo I still believe that it was ironic that even though the characters that strived so hard to cut off Dantes’ from his good luck for their own happiness, the three traitors still ended up making Dantes truly happy in the end when he got to act revenge on them. Even after all of their hard work to make their own lives perfect, they had actually been setting up their own downfalls.

6. The Phantom of the Opera by: Gaston Leroux

7. The Phantom of the OperaTone Gaston Leroux’s tone in the novel is a large reason The Phantom of the Opera turned out how it did. The novel is set up as if he is a journalist researching to find out if the story of the Opera Ghost is true or not. Therefore, I would say that his tone and attitude towards the story are that he is intrigued. He is deeply involved in finding out about how the characters “felt” and all of their motivations for doing what they did. Leroux pretends to have researched the event thoroughly by reading various “memoirs” of the characters and having “interviewed” a few of them as well. The story, therefore, is organized how it is on account of the tone that Leroux decided to take.

8. The Phantom of the OperaImagery What truly brings Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera together is the in depth imagery used to describe the ominous graveyard scene, the detailed past of when Raoul and Christine first met, and of the beautiful Paris Opera House. Not only were the upper (main) levels of the Opera House thoroughly described, but the lower levels of Erik’s lair were also given full time to be explained. From the description of the baneful, dark lake in front of Erik’s house, to the terrifying torture chamber outside the window of Christine’s “room”, Leroux used his good skills of describing a scene to better his novel.

9. The Phantom of the OperaVoice It is difficult to describe the voice that Leroux decided to take in The Phantom of the Opera. While most of the story is told through a third person point of view, it is also written in first person as well. Leroux acts as the narrator throughout the novel (referring to himself only about once a chapter) but tells the story in a detached manner. He also hands the reader several “memoirs” throughout the novel that are told from the point of view of their own writer as well as allowing the Persian to tell his side of the story through his own eyes for two of the final chapters.

10. The Phantom of the OperaIrony Although it could be said that it was ironic that Christine’s father told her stories of the Angel of Music while Erik posed as the true Angel of Music later in Christine’s life, or that Raoul and Christine discovered their love for each other as children but did not act on this love until they had found each other again many years later, I would just call of it a coincidence. There is no true irony in The Phantom of the Opera, and if there were, it would be difficult to find. But that is what made the story all the better. In the end, it was told straight with no unnecessary complications added.