The Count of Monte Cristo
ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Novel, 1844. Film, 1934, 1954, 1961, 2002. Summary. Television film, 1975.
This story has been made into a film numerous times by French and American filmmakers, but as yet no film has succeeded in capturing the entire plot of the book. Neither will this outline, for the plot is extremely intricate.
The story begins in France, where Napoleon is in exile for the first time. Edmond Dantès is a young man, handsome, in love, and about to become captain of a ship, the Pharao. On the day before his wedding all his plans come to an abrupt halt: He is arrested for a crime he is not aware of and transported to Castle If, the prison island in the harbor of Marseille. There he stays and stays; he almost goes mad trying to figure out what happened to him. Several years into his incarceration he meets another prisoner, the mad Abbé Faria, who, trying to escape, managed only to dig his way into Edmond’s cell. The Abbé is a learned man, and upon their meeting Edmond’s true education begins. The Abbé teaches him languages, chemistry, history, science, politics, economics, and intrigue. Through the Abbé’s insight Edmond learns who is to blame for his downfall: Fernand, who wanted Edmond’s girlfriend, Mercedes, for himself; and Danglars, who didn’t want Edmond to become captain because he wanted the job for himself. These two men put together a letter denouncing Edmond as a Bonapartist (supporter of Napoleon). Villefort, the prosecutor, was also part of the plan; he knew that Edmond was innocent but condemned him to oblivion, because if he let Edmond go, it would implicate Villefort’s father as a Bonapartist and put an end to Villefort’s own career.
Faria dies, but just before his death he tells Edmond why everyone considers him, Faria, to be mad: It is because he claims to know of a treasure on the island of Monte Cristo. Edmond escapes from prison by donning the burial garments meant for the Abbé and pretending to be him. He figures he can dig his way out of the soft earth, but to his horror he is not buried in a cemetery; he is thrown into the ocean. He is picked up by smugglers, and he embarks on a new life. First he visits Monte Cristo and finds the treasure, which does indeed exist. Then he sets out to gain his revenge (or what he sees as divine retribution), fourteen years after having been thrown into prison.
It takes years and careful planning. Certain that God has chosen him as his instrument of retaliation, Edmond (who is now the Count of Monte Cristo) seeks out his old enemies, who have all done well for themselves. Fernand has married Mercedes and is a war hero. Danglars is a rich banker, and Villefort holds a position similar to that of attorney general. Piece by piece the Count’s revenge falls into place. He inflicts defamation, ruin, and death on the three culprits and their families, until he realizes that in the process he has caused innocent lives to be lost. He understands that no man can play God, and he tries to make amends to the blameless survivors. One of these is Mercedes, who recognized him from the start. She tells the Count that she is as guilty as any of the three, because she didn’t wait for Edmond but believed him dead. Edmond, however, is through with revenge; he lets Mercedes and her grown son go, and he awards them a pension and a small house—his own home in Marseille, the very house they were to have been married in.
Study Questions
1. Do you believe that Edmond’s vengeful actions were justified? How might Edmond’s approach be criticized?
2. If you can’t expect society to retaliate against a crime on your behalf, is it all right to take matters into your own hands? Why or why not?
3. Some scholars think there is a difference between revenge and retribution. Are they right? Why or why not?
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Posted on November 15, 2011 by dlschirf
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père. Translated and with an introduction by Robin Buss. Highly recommended.
As translator Robin Buss points out in his introduction, many of those who haven’t read The Count of Monte Cristo assume it is a children’s adventure story, complete with daring prison escape culminating in a simple tale of revenge. There is very little for children in this very adult tale, however. Instead, the rich plot combines intrigue, betrayal, theft, drugs, adultery, presumed infanticide, torture, suicide, poisoning, murder, lesbianism, and unconventional revenge.
Although the plot is roughly linear beginning with Edmond Dantès’ return to Marseille, prenuptial celebration, and false imprisonment and ending with his somewhat qualified triumphant departure from Marseille and France, Dumas uses the technique of interspersing lengthy anecdotes throughout. The story of Cardinal Spada’s treasure, the origins of the Roman bandit Luigi Vampa (the least germane to the novel), Bertuccio’s tale of his vendetta, and the account of the betrayal and death of Ali Pasha are few of the more significant stories-within-the-novel. While Dumas devotes an entire chapter to bandit Luigi Vampa’s background, he cleverly makes only a few references to what will remain the plot’s chief mystery—how the youthful, intelligent, and naive sailor Edmond Dantès transforms himself into the worldly, jaded, mysterious Renaissance man and Eastern philosopher, the count of Monte Cristo, presumably sustained by his own advice of “wait” and “hope.”
This novel is not a simple tale of simple revenge. The count does not kill his enemies; he brilliantly uses their vices and weaknesses against them. Caderousse’s basic greed is turned against him, while Danglars loses the only thing that has any meaning for him. Fernand is deprived of the one thing that he had that he had never earned—his honour. In the process, he loses the source of his initial transgression, making his fate that much more poignant. The plot against Villefort is so complicated that even Monte Cristo loses control of it, resulting in doubt foreign to his nature and remorse that he will not outlive.
This long but generally fast-paced tale is set primarily in Marseille, Rome, and Paris. It begins with Dantès’ arrival in Marseille aboard the commercial vessel Pharaon and ends with his departure from Marseille aboard his private yacht, accompanied by the young, beautiful Greek princess Haydée. What gives The Count of Monte Cristo its life, however, are the times in which it is set—the Revolution, the Napoleonic era, the First and Second Restoration, and the Revolution of 1830. Life-and-death politics motivates many of the characters and keeps the plot moving. Dumas also uses real people in minor roles, such as Countess G— (Byron’s mistress) and the Roman hotelier Signor Pastrini, which adds to the novel’s sense of historical veracity.
The most troubling aspect of The Count of Monte Cristo is Edmond Dantès himself. His claim to represent a higher justice seems to justify actions and inactions that are as morally reprehensible as those that sent him to prison, for example, his account of how he acquired Ali and his loyalty. Had he not discovered young Morrel’s love for Valentine Villefort, she too might have become an innocent victim. As it is, there are at least two other innocents who die, although one clearly would not have been an innocent for long based on his behaviour in the novel. One wonders if Dantès’ two father figures, his own flower-loving father and fellow prisoner Abbé Faria, would have approved of the count.
The translation appears to be good, with a few slips into contemporary English idioms that sound out of place. In his introduction, Buss states that the later Danglars and Fernand have become unrecognizable and that Fernand in particular has been transformed “from the brave and honest Spaniard with a sharp sense of honour . . . to the Parisian aristocrat whose life seems to have been dedicated to a series of betrayals.” There is never anything honest or honourable about Fernand; his very betrayal of Edmond is merely the first we know of in his lifelong pattern.
What seems extreme and somewhat unrealistic about Fernand is his transformation from an uneducated Catalan fisherman into a “Parisian aristocrat,” hobnobbing with statesmen, the wealthy, and the noteworthy of society. This, however, is the result of the milieu that the novel inhabits. During these post-Revolution, post-Napoleonic years, Fernand could rise socially through his military and political accomplishments just as Danglars does through his financial acumen. Danglars is careful to note that the difference between them is that Fernand insists upon his title, while Danglars is openly indifferent to and dismissive of his; his viewpoint is the more aristocratic.
Countess G— is quick to point out that there is no old family name of Monte Cristo and that the count, like many other contemporaries, has purchased his title. It serves mainly to obscure his identity, nationality, and background and to add to the aura of mystery his persona and Eastern knowledge create. What is most telling is that his entrée into Parisian society is based primarily on his great wealth, not his name. Dumas reinforces this point with Andrea Cavalcanti, another mystery man of unknown name and reputed fortune.
I have read The Man in the Iron Mask and The Three Musketeers series, both of which surprised me with their dark aspects (the character and fate of Lady de Winter, for example) and which little resembled the adventure stories distilled from them for children and for film. When I overheard a college student who was reading The Count of Monte Cristo on the bus tell a friend that she couldn’t put it down, I was inspired to read it. I couldn’t put it down, either, with its nearly seamless plot, dark protagonist, human villains, turbulent historical setting, and larger-than-life sense of mystery. At 1,078 pages, it’s imposing, but don’t cheat yourself by settling for an abridged version. You’ll want to pick up every nuance.
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