The Moonstone

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1868

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Study Guide

Before You Read

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1, Section 1, Chapters 1-10

Part 1, Section 1, Chapters 11-23

Part 2, Section 1

Part 2, Section 2: “Contributed by Matthew Bruff, Solicitor of Gray’s Inn Square”

Part 2, Sections 4-6

Part 2, Section 7-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Essay Topics

The novel’s Prologue presents the removal of the Moonstone from India as a problematic act, depicting John Herncastle in negative terms. What is the significance of this context when considering the events that later unfold? What is the wider significance of the Moonstone in the text?

What is the impact of Wilkie Collins’s use of multiple narrators? How does this narrative structure illuminate some of the novel’s key themes and ideas?

Analyze the gender dynamics in the novel. How are ideals of English Victorian femininity and masculinity explored in the text? In what ways, if any, do gender dynamics influence the course of the mystery?