1. The narrator starts the chapter with a quick recap and then takes the story slightly back in time—as in Chapter 92 (“The Suicide”)—presumably to help his readers keep the threads of the story straight during the intervals between serial installments. Would readers back then have gathered to discuss TCoMC? And would Dumas have received any feedback over the course of the publishing that could’ve conceivably affected subsequent chapters?

2. Does the fact that Dumas has to lay out several specific chapters to fully explore parent-child dynamics reflect their formal (and stiff) nature?

3. Does Eugénie strike you as liberated or naïve?

Final sentence of chapter:

“We have already seen how the two women went to the Villeforts’, then left to continue their rounds.”

previous chapter discussion

Next posts: Saturday, October 21