The distinction is: return [Integer] will give you [[Integer]] (if you're inside the list Monad). $($("#some-id")) will give you the same result as $("#some-i

The distinction is: return [Integer] will give you [[Integer]] (if you're inside the list Monad). $($("#some-id")) will give you the same result as $("#some-id"), because $ of a $ doesn't nest (or make sense, really). Therefore jQuery doesn't satisfy the Monad laws :).