The Count of Monte Cristo

This article is about the novel. For a list of film and TV adaptations, see The Count of Monte Cristo (film).

The Count of Monte Cristo (Le comte de Monte Cristo) is a classic adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. It is often considered Dumas' best work, and is frequently included on lists of the best novels of all time. The writing of the work was completed in 1844, and released as an 18-part series over the next two years. Dumas collaborated with other authors in the writing.

The story takes place in France, Italy, and islands in the Mediterranean during the historical events of 1814–1838 (the end of the rule of Napoleon I of France through the reign of Louis-Philippe of France). It is primarily concerned with themes of justice, vengeance, mercy and forgiveness, and is told in the style of an adventure story.

Dumas got the idea for The Count of Monte Cristo from a true story, which he found in a memoir written by a man named Jacques Peuchet. Peuchet related the story of a shoemaker named Francois Picaud, who was living in Paris in 1807. Picaud was engaged to marry a rich woman, but four jealous friends falsely accused him of being a spy for England. He was imprisoned for seven years. During his imprisonment a dying fellow prisoner bequeathed him a treasure hidden in Milan. When Picaud was released in 1814, he took possession of the treasure, returned under another name to Paris and spent ten years plotting his successful revenge against his former friends.

Plot summary

The novel begins with Edmond Dantès returning to Marseille, where he meets his family and friends. There, the reader learns that he is the ship's first mate, about to receive promotion to captaincy and also is on the verge of marrying a beautiful Catalan, Mercédès.

It is revealed that the previous captain Leclére, who was a staunch supporter of the now exiled Emperor Napoleon, charged Dantès on his deathbed to deliver a package to former Grand Marshal Maréchal Bertrand, who has been exiled to the isle of Elba. During his visit, he spoke to Napoleon himself, who asked him to deliver a confidential letter to a man in Paris for him.

However, the naive Dantès does not realize how his fortune affects those he considers friends. Danglars, the ship's chief of cargo who envies Edmond's promotion, and Fernand, who desires Mercédès, seek to expose Edmond as a Bonapartist agent; he is sent to the deputy public prosecutor and magistrate, Villefort. Though Villefort is at once sure of Edmond's innocence and is on the verge of setting him free, he discovers that the addressee is none other than his own father, Noirtier, a prominent Bonapartist. However, the son has denounced his father to improve his relations with the current royalist regime, and a resurgence of speculation about his true loyalties could irrevocably damage his career and prevent his imminent marriage to a well-known aristocratic family. In order to bury this secret, Villefort sends Edmond to languish indefinitely in the infamous Château d'If.

Escape to riches

While in prison, Dantès slowly begins to spiral into insanity. He begins by praying to God for his release, but after years he still suffers, at which point he attempts suicide by starvation. However, at his moment of death, his will to live is restored by the sounds of another prisoner digging. Soon after he encounters the prisoner, the Abbé Faria with whom he forms a deep friendship. Faria becomes his instructor in a number of subjects, ranging from history and mathematics to language and philosophy. As a result of his conversations with Faria, Dantès slowly begins to piece together the plots that put him in his current predicament. He and Faria work long hours on an escape tunnel, but the elderly and infirm Faria does not survive to see its completion. Knowing himself dying, Faria confides to Dantès the location of a great treasure on the islet of Monte Cristo. Dantès subsequently escapes by the simple expedient of taking the place of Faria's body, although he almost is killed when the geôliers, instead of burying the body as he assumed, attach heavy chains and throw it from a nearby cliff into the ocean.

Following his escape, Dantès, after three months among smugglers, retrieves the treasure and re-invents himself as the enigmatic Count of Monte Cristo. His long experience in prison has changed him physically, so that even his closest former associates cannot recognise him; mentally, giving him a much greater depth and breadth of knowledge; and socially, with his access to great wealth. Perhaps the greatest change is psychological, however; from an idealistic youth he has become a grimly intense man, near-obsessed with his plans to repay those who have done him both good and ill in kind.

Rewards

Dantès returns to Marseille in order to reconnect with his loved ones, however he finds only despair. Taking on several personae, from an Italian Abbé to an English banker, Edmond Dantès is able to confirm his suspicions through Caderousse, whom he visits in disguise, pretending to be fulfilling Edmond's last wishes. From his old neighbor he learns that all those who betrayed him have succeeded in life; Fernand has become a Count and a peer of France, Danglars a Baron and the wealthiest banker in Paris, and Villefort the embodiment of Parisian justice as the Procureur du Roi. What is more, Fernand has married Mercédès, and they have a son, Albert.

Meanwhile, Edmond's friends have all suffered at the hands of fate. At the start of the novel, M. Morrel is the affluent and amicable proprietor of a booming ship-owning business. Yet during Edmond's imprisonment, Morrel suffered a tragic series of setbacks and at the time of Edmond's return to Marseille he has nothing but his two children, Julie and Maximilian, and a few loyal retainers. The company is on the verge of bankruptcy, and Morrel is poised to commit suicide. Discovering all of this, Dantes anonymously restores the Morrels' fortune in the nick of time, using the pseudonym "Sinbad the Sailor".

Revenge

Ten years after his trip to Marseilles, Dantès begins his quest of vengeance, having spent the previous decade mentally and physically preparing himself for the upcoming trials. He resurfaces in Rome, where he briefly acquaints himself with Franz d'Epinay and Albert de Morcerf. He subsequently moves to Paris and installs himself in society, where he becomes the sensation of all of Paris. The Count enters into friendship and trust with his sworn enemies, and engineers the demise of each.

He manipulates Danglars into giving him an "unlimited credit" of six million francs, and tampers with the stock exchange to destroy Danglars' fortune, only taking the six million when Danglars is nearly bankrupt, forcing him to flee to Italy. Monte Cristo owns a Greek slave, Haydée, whose family and home at Yanina were destroyed by Fernand during a war. He manipulates Danglars into researching the event, which is published in a newspaper. The article is removed, but later republished. Fernand is brought to trial to face the charges. Haydée testifies against him, and Fernand is disgraced. Furthermore, Mercédès, who seems aware of Monte Cristo's true identity, confesses the entire story of her youth to her son Albert, who very nearly fights a duel with Monte Cristo after blaming him for his father's dishonour. Albert and Mercédès leave Fernand, who commits suicide.

Villefort's family is divided. Valentine, his daughter by his first wife Renée, stands to inherit the entire family fortune, but his second wife, Heloise, seeks to claim the fortune for her son Edward. Monte Cristo is aware of Heloise's intentions, and, in a seemingly innocent fashion, provides her with a toxin capable of curing people with one drop, but killing people with an overdose. Heloise murders a house servant, Barrois (unintentionally), Villefort's in-laws Saint-Mérans, and attempts to murder Valentine. Meanwhile, Monte Cristo haunts Villefort with his past affair with Danglars' wife and the son they had. Villefort thought the child stillborn, and buried him behind a house in Auteuil that Monte Cristo buys. The son was rescued from his grave, to be raised by Monte Cristo's servant Bertuccio. As a grown man, the son enters Paris in disguise as Count Andrea Cavalcanti, only revealing himself to Villefort after he is arrested for the murder of Caderousse. Valentine is saved by Monte Cristo, and through Noirtier, Villefort becomes aware that Heloise is the murderer. She is confronted, panics, and kills both herself and Edward. These shocking events, coupled with Monte Cristo revealing his identity to Villefort, drive him mad.

Redemption

Matters, however, are more complicated than Dantès anticipates. His efforts to destroy his enemies and protect the few who stood by him become horribly intertwined. Maximilian Morrel falls in love with Valentine de Villefort, and the child Edouard de Villefort is poisoned by his mother, causing Dantès to question his role as an agent of a vengeful God. Seeing his wrath slowly begin to extend beyond what he had intended, Dantès then forgoes the remainder of his plan and takes steps once more to balance matters. Though his revenge on his former foes is not quite complete, he releases his final enemy and makes restitution to those caught up in the resulting chaos, thereby applying his own standards of justice to himself as well. In the process, he comes to terms with his own humanity and is able to find some forgiveness both for his enemies and for himself.

Characters in The Count of Monte Cristo

There are a large number of characters in this book, and the importance of many of the characters is not immediately obvious.

Edmond Dantès — Also known as the Count of Monte Cristo, Sinbad the Sailor, Abbé Busoni, and Lord Wilmore. Dantès is initially an experienced, generally well-liked sailor who seems to have everything going for him, including a beautiful fiancée (Mercédès) and an impending promotion to ship's captain.

Abbé Faria — Italian priest and sage; befriends Edmond while both are prisoners in the Chateau d'If, and reveals the secret of Monte Cristo to Edmond. Becomes the surrogate father of Edmond and the figurative father of the Count of Monte Cristo while Edmond is in prison.

Fernand Mondego — Later known as the Count of Morcerf. He is also in love with Mercédès and will do anything to get her.

Danglars — Initially the purser on the same ship as Dantès, he longs to become wealthy and powerful, and sees Dantès as an obstacle to his ambitions.

Gérard de Villefort — A royal prosecutor who has even denounced his own father (Noirtier) in order to protect his own career.

Mercédès — (nee: Herrera) The fiancée of Edmond Dantès at the beginning of the story. She later marries Fernand Mondego while Dantès is imprisoned.

Gaspard Caderousse — A dishonest acquaintance of Dantès.

Albert de Morcerf — Son of Mercédès and the Count de Morcerf. Befriends Monte Cristo in Rome; viewed by Monte Cristo as the son that should have been his with Mercédès.

Maximilian Morrel — Son of Edmond's patron, M. Morrel; After Edmond's escape, Maximilian becomes a very good friend to the Count of Monte Cristo, yet still manages to force the Count to change many of his plans.

Bertuccio — The Count of Monte Cristo's steward and very loyal servant.

Benedetto — Illegitimate son of de Villefort and Hermine de Nargonne (now Baroness Hermine Danglars); raised by Bertuccio (Monte Cristo's servant) and his sister-in-law, Assunta. Murderer and thief. Returns to Paris as Andrea Cavalcanti.

Luigi Vampa — Italian bandit and fugitive; owes much to the Count of Monte Cristo, and is instrumental in many of the count's plans.

Haydeé — Daughter of Ali Pasha and eventually bought by the Count of Monte Cristo from a Sultan. She usually goes to local operas accompanied by the Count.