The Count of Monte Cristo

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This article is about the novel. For a list of film adaptations, see The Count of Monte Cristo (film).
"The Count of Monte Christo" redirects here. For the Noisettes song, see The Count of Monte Christo (song).
The Count of Monte Cristo  
Author Alexandre Dumas, père
Country France
Language French
Genre(s) Historical, Adventure, Romance
Publisher Chapman and Hall
Publication date 1844-1846
Media type print (hardback & paperback)
Pages 2 vol.

The Count of Monte Cristo (French: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas' most popular work. The writing of the work was completed in 1844. Like many of his novels, it is expanded from the plot outlines suggested by his collaborating ghostwriter Auguste Maquet.[1]

The story takes place in France, Italy, islands in the Mediterranean and the Levant during the historical events of 1815–1838 (from just before the Hundred Days through to the reign of Louis-Philippe of France). The historical setting is a fundamental element of the book. It is primarily concerned with themes of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy, forgiveness and death, and is told in the style of an adventure story.

Contents

[edit] Background to writing

Though no proof has been forthcoming over the years, Robin Buss posits (in his introduction to the Penguin Classics edition) that Dumas got the idea for The Count of Monte Cristo from a similar story which he found in a book compiled by Jacques Peuchet, a French police archivist. Though none of the works of Jacques Peuchet were published until after his death, a mysteriously similar story based on the records gathered from his days in the police service was later published under his name.[2] Peuchet related the tale of a shoemaker named Pierre Picaud, who was living in Nimes in 1807. Picaud had been engaged to marry a rich woman, but three 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. Picaud was released in 1814. He took possession of the treasure and returned under another name to Paris. Picaud spent ten years plotting his successful revenge against his former friends.[3]

[edit] Plot summary

 The plot summary in this article is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the content. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. (April 2008)

[edit] The Wrongful Trial

Temporarily promoted to Captain of the merchant ship Pharoan upon the death of Captain Leclere, Edmond Dantès returns to Marseille eager to marry his fiancée Mercédès. Leclère, a supporter of the now exiled Napoléon, had charged Dantès on his deathbed to deliver a package to former Grand Marshal Maréchal Bertrand, who had been exiled with Napoleon Bonaparte to the isle of Elba, and then a letter from Elba to an unknown man in Paris.

A jealous rival (later revealed to be his fiancée's cousin Fernand with the help of the Pharoan's ship's purser Danglars, who was envious of Dantes' good fortune) sends an anonymous letter that accuses Dantès of being a Bonapartist traitor, and Villefort, the deputy crown prosecutor in Marseille, assumes the duty of investigating the matter. Villefort would rather not imprison an innocent man, but on discovering that the recipient of the letter from Elba is his Bonapartist father, he ultimately chooses to save his political career and condemns Dantès without trial to life imprisonment while protecting his father by destroying the incriminating letter.

[edit] Escape to Riches

After thirteen years imprisonment in the Château d'If, Edmond is visited in his cell by the Abbé Faria, a priest and fellow prisoner trying to tunnel his way to freedom. Faria provides Dantès with a comprehensive education in subjects including languages, history, economics, philosophy, and mathematics. Edmond also learns the manners of polite society, growing in knowledge. The priest, ill from a form of catalepsy and knowing that he will soon die, confides in Dantès the history and location of a vast cache of treasure on the Italian islet of Monte Cristo. After Faria's death in 1829, fourteen years after Dantes' arrest and imprisonment, Dantès manages to escape and gets rescued by a smuggling ship, the Jeunne-Amilly. After several months of working with the smugglers, he gets the opportunity to go to Monte Cristo for a goods exchange. Dantès fakes an injury, then, after convincing the smugglers to temporarily leave him on Monte Cristo, makes his way to the hiding place of the treasure and finds it. He goes back to Marseilles, where he learns that his father has died from starvation. He buys himself a yacht and hides the rest of the treasure on board. With his newfound wealth and education, Dantès buys the island of Monte Cristo and the title of Count from the Tuscan Government. Dantès is now the Count of Monte Cristo. He is quickly accepted in the highest levels of society, but despite his success, his bitter experiences have made him deeply cynical and unable to truly enjoy his new position in life.

NOTE: In their discussion of the De Spada Treasure, Faria estimated that its value was 14 to 16 million Francs. Expressing that in terms of buying power today is problematic. During the 19th Century, there was a great monetary disparity between the average wage earner and a wealthy aristocrat that is not as pronounced in today's developed nations. For comparison, however, Morrel's sailors were paid a salary of 200 Francs per month, Villefort's salary and Valentine's inheritance settlement was estimated at 50,000 Francs per year, and Noirtier's fortune was 900,000 Francs (at his will signing, the Notary expressed shock at its sheer size). The De Spada fortune would have given Edmond vastly greater buying power than the richest characters in the story.

[edit] Vengeance

After his return to Marseille, Edmund Dantes puts into action his plans for revenge and reward. Traveling in disguise under the alias of the Abbé Busoni, Edmund first meets Caderousse, now living in poverty, supposedly being punished by God for his jealousy and cowardice in not acting to save Dantès. Playing on Caderousse's greed, Dantés learns about what has happened since his arrest and how his other enemies have all become wealthy and prosperous. Since Caderousse has already been punished to some extent, Edmund gives him a diamond that can be either a chance to redeem himself, or a trap that will lead to his ruin. Caderousse's greed leads him into murdering the jeweler to whom he sold the diamond and being sentenced to life in the prison galleys, until Dantés (using another disguise, this time as the English Lord Wilmore) frees him and gives him another chance at redemption. He does not take it, and becomes a career criminal.

Learning that his old employer Morrel is on the verge of bankruptcy and disgrace (all of his ships have been lost at sea), Dantes, in the guise of a senior clerk of the banking firm of Thompson and French of Rome, buys up all of Morrel's outstanding debts which are about to become due and gives Morrel an extension of three months to fulfill his obligations. At the end of the three months and with no way to repay his debts, Morrel is about to commit suicide to expiate his dishonor when he learns that all of his debts have been mysteriously paid and that his last ship (which had been lost at sea) has come to port with a full cargo (the ship had been secretly rebuilt and laden by Dantes).

The story then moves forward nine years later. Dantes has reinvented himself as the Count of Monte Cristo, a mysterious, fabulously rich aristocrat. He surfaces first in Rome, where he becomes acquainted with the Baron Franz d'Epinay, a young aristocrat, and Viscount Albert de Morcerf, Mercédès's and Mondego's son whom he later rescues before he is kidnapped by Italian bandits. He subsequently moves to Paris, where, with Albert de Morcerf's introduction, becoming the sensation of the city. Due to his knowledge and rhetorical power, even his enemies find him charming, and because of his status they all desire his friendship.

Monte Cristo then meets Danglars, who has become a wealthy banker. Monte Cristo dazzles the crass Danglars with his seemingly endless wealth, eventually persuading him to extend him a 6,000,000 francs credit, and withdraws nine hundred thousand. Under the terms of the arrangement, Monte Cristo can demand access to the remainder at any time. The Count manipulates the bond market, through a false telegraph signal, and quickly destroys a large portion of Danglars' fortune, and the rest of it begins to rapidly disappear through mysterious bankruptcies, suspensions of payment to Danglars and more bad luck on the Stock Exchange.

Caderousse's greed is the death of him when he is murdered by a confederate — actually the illegitimate son of Villefort (see below) whom he has been blackmailing — while trying to rob Monte Cristo's house. Interrupted and cornered by Monte Cristo, under the guise of Busoni during the attempted break-in, Caderousse begs to be given another chance, but the Count grimly notes that the last two times he did so, Caderousse did not change. He forces Caderousse to write a letter to Danglars exposing Viscount Cavalcanti (see below) as an impostor and allows Caderousse to leave the house, but the moment Caderousse climbs back over the estate wall, he is stabbed in the back by his confederate Bendetto. Caderousse manages to dictate and sign a deathbed statement identifying his killer, and Monte Cristo reveals his true identity to Caderousse moments before Caderousse dies.

Monte Cristo owns an Albanian slave, Haydée. Her noble father, Ali Pasha, the ruler of Janina, had implicitly trusted Fernand, only for Fernand to betray him during a war for Greek independence against the Ottoman Empire. After her father's death, she and her mother Vasiliki were sold into slavery by Fernand. The Count manipulates Danglars into researching the event, which is published in a newspaper. As a result, Fernand is brought to trial for his crimes. Haydée testifies against him, and Fernand is disgraced.

Mercédès had married Fernand and borne him a son, Albert. She alone recognizes Monte Cristo, as Edmond Dantes. When Albert blames Monte Cristo for his father's downfall and publicly challenges him to a duel, Mercédès goes secretly to Monte Cristo and begs him to spare her son. During this interview, she learns the entire truth as to why he had been arrested and imprisoned, and later to save both Monte Cristo and Albert reveals the truth to Albert, which causes Albert to make a public apology to Monte Cristo. Albert and Mercédès disown Fernand, who is also confronted with Dantes' true identity and subsequently commits suicide. The mother and son depart to build a new life free of disgrace, Albert enlists and goes to Africa as a soldier in order to rebuild his life and honor under a new family name (Herrera) given to him by his mother, and she begins solitary life in Marseille.

Next to feel Monte Cristo's vengeance is Villefort. Villefort's family is divided. Valentine, his daughter by his first wife, stands to inherit the entire fortune of her grandfather and of her mother's parents (the Saint-Mérans), while his second wife, Héloïse, seeks the fortune for her small son Édouard. Monte Cristo is aware of Héloïse's intentions, and "innocently" introduces her to the technique of poison. Héloïse fatally poisons the Saint-Mérans, so that Valentine gets their inheritance. However, Valentine is disinherited by her grandfather Noirtier, Villefort's father, in an attempt by Noirtier to prevent Valentine's impending marriage with Franz d'Epinay. The marriage plans are wrecked when d'Epinay learns that Noirtier killed his father, General Quesnel (albeit in a lawful duel). After the match is broken off, Noirtier reinstates Valentine in the will and Héloïse attempts to poison the elderly man. However, her attempt fails and Noirtier's servant Barrois drinks the poisoned lemonade and dies (which throws suspicion on Valentine, since she made the lemonade). Héloïse then targets Valentine, so that Édouard will finally get her fortune.

Meanwhile, Monte Cristo haunts Villefort with his past affair with Danglars' wife. Years before, Mme Danglars bore a child by Villefort, at a house in Auteuil. Beliving the child to be stillborn, Villefort had buried the child on the house's grounds. However, the boy was rescued from his grave and raised in Corsica by Bertuccio (an enemy of Villefort who had attempted to kill the judge on the night of his child's birth), who gives him the name "Benedetto". Monte Cristo (whom Bertuccio now serves as steward), who now owns the house where the child was born/buried, is able to use this against Villefort. As a grown man, Benedetto has become a career criminal and was sentenced to life in the prison galleys (where he met Caderousse), but after being freed by "Lord Wilmore" enters Paris with the identity of "Viscount Andrea Cavalcanti" (sponsored by the Count) and cons Danglars into betrothing his daughter Eugenie to Andrea. Caderousse blackmails Andrea, threatening to reveal his past, and Andrea murders Caderousse. Forced to flee after Caderousse's letter (see above) exposes him, Andrea gets as far as Compiegne before he is arrested and brought back to Paris, where he is prosecuted by Villefort. During the prosecution, Andrea/Bendetto reveals to Villefort that he is his son, much to Villefort's dismay (see below.)

After Monte Cristo learns that his old friend Morrel's son Maximilien is in love with Valentine de Villefort, he saves her by making it appear as though Héloïse's plan to poison Valentine has succeeded and that Valentine is dead (although actually in a drugged sleep caused by a mixture of hashish and opium prepared by Monte Cristo). Villefort learns from Noirtier that Héloïse is a murderer and confronts her, giving her the choice of a public execution or committing suicide by her own poison. Then he goes off to Andrea's trial. There, Andrea reveals that he is Villefort's son and was rescued after Villefort buried him alive. Villefort admits his guilt and flees the court. He feels he is as guilty as his wife, and rushes home to stop her suicide. He finds she has poisoned herself and her son as well. Dantès confronts Villefort, who shows Dantès his dead wife and son and reveals that he is Edmond Dantes, which drives Villefort insane. Dantès tries to resuscitate Édouard but fails, and is remorseful that his revenge has gone too far.

[edit] Redemption

Matters, however, are more complicated than Dantès had anticipated. His efforts to destroy his enemies and reward the few who had stood by him become horribly intertwined. Not having foreseen the child's death, Dantès begins to question his role as an agent of a vengeful God. This temporarily deters him from his course of action. During this period of doubt, he questions himself. It is only after he revisits his cell in the Chateau d'If that Dantès is reassured that his cause is just and his conscience is clear, that he can both come to terms with his own humanity and fulfill his prepared plan while finally being able to forgive both his enemies and himself.

It is thus that Dantès shows some mercy to Danglars, his final victim and the instigator of the plot that had him imprisoned to begin with. Several months after the Count's manipulation of the bond market, all Danglars is left with is a sunken business reputation and some five million francs he has been holding in deposit for the hospitals. The Count asks for the five million to fulfill their credit agreement, and Danglars is forced to pay the money (thereby embezzling the hospitals' money), receiving a receipt from Monte Cristo to repay the five million. Abandoning his wife, Danglars flees to Italy with the Count's receipt, planning to eventually live in Vienna in anonymous prosperity. In Rome, he establishes a credit for the five million, but the moment he leaves Rome he is kidnapped by the Count's agent, the celebrated bandit Luigi Vampa. There, in an ironic twist, Danglars is imprisoned the same way that Monte Cristo once was, and experiences for himself the horrors of imprisonment. Told that he will not be fed unless he pays exorbitant prices for his food, the miserly Danglars is starved into eventually signing away all but 50,000 francs of the stolen five million (which Monte Cristo has anonymously returned to the hospitals). Almost dying of hunger and nearly driven mad by his ordeal, Danglars finally repents his crimes to Monte Cristo. His vengeance now tempered by mercy, Monte Cristo forgives Danglars and allows him to leave with his freedom and the 50,000 francs he has left. Afterwards, Danglars discovers when looking into a creek that the captivity has turned his hair white.

Maximilien Morrel is in despair because he believes his true love, Valentine, to be dead. He contemplates suicide after witnessing her funeral. When he actually makes an attempt, Monte Cristo stops him by revealing himself to be not only the person who rescued Morrel's father from bankruptcy, disgrace and suicide years earlier but also Edmond Dantes, and persuades Maximilien to delay his suicide for a month. On the island of Monte Cristo a month later, the count presents Valentine to Maximilien and reveals that he saved her from the poison attempt of her mother, and that Valentine's "death" was a ruse thought up by the Count himself.

Having found peace, Dantes leaves for an unknown destination to find comfort and possibly love with Haydée, who has declared her love for him.

[edit] Characters

There are a large number of characters in the book, and the importance of many of the characters is not immediately obvious. Furthermore, the characters' fates are often so interwoven that their stories overlap significantly. A chart is below showing the relations between the many characters of this novel.

Character relationships in The Count of Monte Cristo
Character relationships in The Count of Monte Cristo


[edit] Edmond Dantès and his aliases

  • Edmond Dantès (born 1796) — Dantès is initially a generally well-liked sailor who is inexperienced - but not in his profession - and seems to have everything going for him, including a beautiful fiancée (Mercédès) and an impending promotion to ship's captain. After transforming into the Count of Monte Cristo, his original name is revealed to his main enemies only as each revenge is completed, often driving his already weakened victims into despair.
  • Number 34 — Early in Dantès' stay in prison, the governor of the Château d'If is replaced. This governor does not feel it is worth his time to learn the names of all the prisoners, and instead chooses to refer to them by the numbers of their cells. Thus, Dantès is called Number 34 during his imprisonment.
  • Chief Clerk of Thomson and French — Shortly after Edmond escapes and learns of Morrel's sorry state of affairs, he disguises himself as an English senior agent of the banking firm of Thomson and French, with whom Morrel deals, and in this form sees Morrel for the first time in fifteen years. Precise and formal, this persona is a phlegmatic, serious banking officer.
  • Count of Monte Cristo — The person that Edmond assumes when he escapes from his incarceration and while he carries out his dreadful vengeance. This persona is marked by a pale countenance and a smile which can be diabolical or angelic. Educated and mysterious, this alias is trusted in Paris and fascinates the people.
  • Lord Wilmore — The English persona in which Dantès performs seemingly random acts of generosity. The Englishman is eccentric and refuses to speak French. This eccentric man, in his kindness, is almost the opposite of the Count of Monte Cristo and Dantes exploits this to persuade Villefort that Lord Wilmore is an enemy of Monte Cristo.
  • Sinbad the Sailor — The persona that Edmond assumes when he saves the Morrel family. Edmond signs a letter to Mlle Julie using this persona, which was accompanied by a large diamond and a red satin purse. (Sinbad the sailor is the common English translation of the original French Simbad le marin.)
  • Abbé Busoni — The persona that Edmond puts forth when he needs deep trust from others because the name itself demands respect via religious authority.
  • M. Zaccone — Dantès, in the guise of both Abbé Busoni and Lord Wilmore, told an investigator sent by Villefort that this was the Count of Monte Cristo's true name.
  • Lord Ruthwen — Dantès is referred to as a vampire, Lord Ruthven (or "Ruthwen"), by a countess who is Albert's friend.

[edit] Dantès's allies

  • Abbé Faria — Italian priest and sage; befriends Edmond while both are prisoners in the Château d'If, acts as a father for Edmond Dantès (as Dantes said once "I can have my revenge, thanks to you, my second father") and reveals the secret of the island of Monte Cristo to Edmond. Becomes the surrogate father of Edmond, while imprisoned, digging a tunnel to freedom he educates Edmond in languages, economics, and all the current sciences (including chemistry which comes to Dantes' aid greatly during his revenge plan) and is the figurative father of the Count of Monte Cristo. He dies from the third attack of catalepsy.
  • Giovanni Bertuccio — The Count of Monte Cristo's steward and very loyal servant; in the Count's own words, Bertuccio "knows no impossibility" and is sure of never being dismissed from the Count's service because, as the Count states, he (the Count) will "never find anyone better." He had declared a vendetta against Monsieur de Villefort for Villefort's refusal to prosecute the murderer of Bertuccio's brother. Tracking Villefort to Auteuil, he stabs Villefort, leaving him to die, but by coincidence becomes involved in Villefort's personal life by rescuing his illegitimate newborn, later named Benedetto (Italian for blessed) by Bertuccio. Years later, he is later jailed on suspicion of the murder of a jeweller, but is released when Caderousse is arrested and proved to have committed the crime, and "Abbe Busoni" gives him a recommendation for employment to Monte Cristo.
  • Luigi Vampa — celebrated Italian bandit and fugitive; owes much to the Count of Monte Cristo, and is instrumental in many of the Count's plans. He enjoys reading classic historical works dealing with great military leaders.
  • Peppino — Formerly a shepherd helping Luigi Vampa, he later becomes a bandit and full member of Vampa's gang. He is condemned to be executed by Roman authorities, but Monte Cristo secures his pardon from the Pope.
  • Haydée — The daughter of Ali Pasha, eventually bought by the Count of Monte Cristo from the Sultan Mahmoud. Even though she was purchased as a slave, Monte Cristo treats her with the utmost respect. She lives in seclusion by her own choice, but is usually very aware of everything that is happening outside. She usually goes to local operas accompanied by the Count. At the trial of the Count de Morcerf, she provides the key evidence required to convict Fernand of treason and felony. She is deeply in love with the Count of Monte Cristo, and although he feels he is too old for her, he eventually reciprocates.
  • Ali — Monte Cristo's Nubian slave, a mute (his tongue had been cut out as part of his punishment for intruding into the harem of the Bey of Tunis; his hands, feet and head had also been scheduled to be cut off, but the Count bargained with the Bey for Ali's life). He is completely loyal and utterly devoted to the Count. Ali is also a master of his horses.
  • Baptistin — Monte Cristo's valet-de-chambre. Although only in Monte Cristo's service for little more than a year, he has become the number three man in the Count's household and seems to have proven himself completely trustworthy and loyal.

[edit] Morcerf family

  • Mercédès Mondego — (née: Herrera) Edmond's fiancée at the beginning until their planned marriage is interrupted by Edmond's imprisonment. Eighteen months later, she marries cousin Fernand Mondego (while still pledging eternal love to Dantès) because she believes Edmond is dead and feels alone in the world. Thus, she lives as Mme. the Countess de Morcerf in Paris and bears a son. At Dantès's release and reappearance as the Count, their love is still evident and passionate but circumstances (including her own marriage and Edmond's involvement with Haydée) dictate that they cannot marry. In the end, she returns to Marseille with Edmond's respect and admiration.
  • Fernand Mondego — Later known as the Count de Morcerf. Edmond's rival and suitor for Mercédès; will do anything to get her, including bearing false witness against Edmond. He is overall a representation of evil, as he lies and betrays throughout his military career for his own personal gain. When confronted by his nefarious acts, disgraced in public and abandoned by his wife and son, he commits suicide.
  • Albert de Morcerf — Son of Mercédès and the Count de Morcerf. Is befriended by Monte Cristo in Rome; viewed by Monte Cristo as the son that should have been his with Mercédès, but does not have as strong a filial bond with him as does Maximilien Morrel. At the end, he realizes his father's crimes and, along with his mother Mercédès, abandons him and his name.

[edit] Danglars family

  • Baron Danglars — Initially the supercargo (the owner's agent) on the same ship on which Dantès served as first mate; he longs to be wealthy and powerful and becomes jealous of Dantès for his favor with Pierre Morrel. He also developed a grudge against Dantès with whom he has had some arguments regarding the accuracy of his accounting. The source of his wealth is not clear but is possibly due to unscrupulous financial dealings while in the French army and has reportedly been multiplied by speculation and marriage. His intelligence is only evident where money is concerned; otherwise he is a member of the nouveau riche with only superficial good taste (he cannot even tell the difference between original paintings and copies) and no true family feelings.
  • Madame Danglars — Full name is Hermine Danglars (formerly Baroness Hermine de Nargonne during a previous marriage), née de Servieux. Was independently wealthy before marrying Danglars. With help and private information from her close friend and lover Ministerial Secretary Lucien Debray, Madame Danglars secretly invests money and is able to amass over a million francs for her own disposal. During her marriage with the Baron de Nargonne, she had an affair with Gérard de Villefort, with whom she had an illegitimate son (See Benedetto).
  • Eugénie Danglars — The daughter of Danglars engaged at first to Albert de Morcerf and later to "Andrea Cavalcanti" but who would rather stay unwed, living "an independent and unfettered life" as an artist. She is presented as a lesbian and runs away with another girl, Louise d'Armilly after the collapse of her intended marriage to Andrea Cavalcanti; these connotations were considered scandalous. During their flight from Paris, she and Louise, traveling as brother and sister (Eugenie had disguised herself in men's clothing), stopping at an inn at Compiègne requested a room with two beds, yet Benedetto found them in bed together.

[edit] Villefort family

  • Gérard de Villefort — A royal prosecutor who has even denounced his own father (Noirtier) in order to protect his own career. He is responsible for imprisoning Edmond Dantès to protect his political aspirations.
  • Valentine de Villefort — The daughter of Gérard de Villefort and his first wife, Renée (née de Saint-Meran). She falls in love with Maximilien Morrel, is engaged to Baron Franz d'Épinay, is almost poisoned by her stepmother, saved once by her grandfather, Noirtier, and is finally saved by Dantès. Valentine is the quintessential (French, nineteenth century) female: beautiful, docile, and loving. The only person she feels that she can confide in is her invalid grandfather.
  • Monsieur Noirtier de Villefort — The father of Gérard de Villefort and grandfather of Valentine. After suffering an apoplectic stroke, Noirtier becomes mute and a paralytic, but can communicate with Valentine, Gérard and his servant Barrois through use of his eyelids and eyes. Although utterly dependent on others, he saves Valentine from the poison of her stepmother and her undesired marriage to Baron Franz d'Epinay. Throughout his life he was a Bonapartist – an ardent French Revolutionary and later revealed to be the President of a club of Bonapartists conspiring to overthrow the restored monarchy and re-establish Napoleon as Emperor. Gérard de Villefort had realized that Edmond intended to fulfill his dying captain's last wish by conveying a letter from the imprisoned Napoleon on Elba to Noirtier in Paris, and therefore imprisoned Edmond (who knew nothing about the family connection) in order to hide the fact that his father was a conspirator, which might have hindered Gérard's advancement.
  • Héloïse de Villefort — The murderous second wife of Villefort who is motivated to protect and nurture her only son and his inheritance.
  • Édouard de Villefort — the only (legitimate) son of Villefort. A very intelligent but extremely spoiled and selfish little boy who is unfortunately swept up in his mother's greed. (His name is sometimes translated as Edward de Villefort.)
  • Benedetto — Illegitimate son of de Villefort and Hermine de Nargonne (now Baroness Hermine Danglars); raised by Bertuccio (later Monte Cristo's steward) and his sister-in-law, Assunta. Murderer and thief. Is helped to escape from a prison galley and travels to Paris to become "Andrea Cavalcanti".

[edit] Morrel family

  • Pierre Morrel — Edmond Dantès's patron and owner of the major Marseille shipping firm of Morrel & Son. While a very honest and shrewd businessman, he is very fond of Edmond and eager to advance his interests. After Edmond is arrested, he tries his hardest to help Edmond and is hopeful of Edmond's release when Napoleon is restored to power, but because of his sympathies for the Bonapartist cause is forced to back down and abandon all hope after the Hundred Days and second Restoration of the monarchy. Between 1825 and 1830, his firm undergoes critical financial reverses due to the loss of all of his ships at sea, and he is at the point of bankruptcy and suicide when Monte Cristo (in the guise of an English clerk from the financial firm of Thompson and French) sets events in motion which not only save Pierre Morrel's reputation and honor but also his life.
  • Maximilien Morrel — He is the son of Edmond's employer, Pierre Morrel, a captain in the Spahi regiment of the Army stationed in Algiers and an Officer of the Legion of Honor. After Edmond's escape and the Count of Monte Cristo's debut in Paris, Maximilien becomes a very good friend to the Count of Monte Cristo, yet still manages to force the Count to change many of his plans, partly by falling in love with Valentine de Villefort.
  • Julie Herbault — Daughter of Edmond's patron, Pierre Morrel, she marries Emmanuel Herbault.
  • Emmanuel Herbault — Julie Herbault's husband; he had previously worked in Pierre Morrel's shipping firm and is the brother-in-law of Maximilien Morrel and son-in-law of Pierre Morrel.

[edit] Other important characters

  • Gaspard Caderousse — A tailor and originally a neighbour and friend of Dantès, he witnesses while drunk the writing by Danglars of the denunciation of Dantès. After Dantès is arrested, he is too cowardly to come forward with the truth. Caderousse is somewhat different from the other members of the conspiracy in that it is what he does not do, rather than what he actually plans, that leads to Dantès' arrest. He moves out of town, becomes an innkeeper, falls on hard times, and supplements his income by fencing stolen goods from Bertuccio. After his escape from prison, Dantès (and the reader) first learn the fates of many of the characters from Caderousse. Unlike the other members of the conspiracy, Monte Cristo offers Caderousse more than one chance to redeem himself, but the latter's greed proves his undoing, and he becomes in turn a murderer, a thief and a blackmailer. He is eventually murdered by Benedetto.
  • Louis Dantès — Edmond's father. After his son's imprisonment and believing Edmond dead, he eventually starves himself to death.
  • Baron Franz d'Epinay — A friend of Albert de Morcerf, he is the first fiancé of Valentine de Villefort. Monsieur Noirtier de Villefort killed Franz's father General d'Epinay in a lawful duel after unsuccessfully trying to convince him to support plans to return Napoleon to power, but it was assumed by the public that the general was assassinated; Franz only learns the truth when Noirtier reveals it to stop Franz from marrying Valentine.
  • Lucien Debray — Secretary to the Minister of the Interior. A friend of Albert de Morcerf, and a lover of Madame Danglars, to whom he funnels insider information regarding investments.
  • Beauchamp — A leading journalist and friend of Albert de Morcerf.
  • Raoul, Baron de Château-Renaud — A member of a very ancient and noble family and another friend of Albert de Morcerf. Maximilien Morrel saved Renaud's life in Algeria.
  • Louise d'Armilly — Eugénie Danglars' closest friend and music instructor. They run off together.
  • Monsieur de Boville — originally an inspector of prisons (he actually meets Dantes in the Chateau d'If), he is later promoted to a senior rank of the Paris police detective force, where he does some investigating of the Count of Monte Cristo at Villefort's orders. By the close of the book, he has become a receiver-general of funds for the hospitals.


[edit] Publication

The Count of Monte Cristo was originally published in the Journal des Débats in eighteen parts. Publication ran from August 28, 1844 through to January 15, 1846. It was first published in Paris by Pétion in 18 volumes (1844-5).[4] Complete versions of the novel in the original French were published throughout the nineteenth century.

The most common English translation was originally published in 1846 by Chapman and Hall. Most unabridged English editions of the novel, including the Modern Library and Oxford World's Classics editions, use this translation, although Penguin Classics published a new translation by Robin Buss in 1996. Buss' translation updated the language, is more accessible to modern readers, and restored content that was modified in the 1846 translation due to Victorian English social restrictions (for example, references to Eugénie's lesbian traits and behavior) to Dumas' actual publication. Other English translations of the unabridged work exist, but are rarely seen in print and most borrow from the 1846 anonymous translation.

[edit] Editions

[edit] Homages and adaptations

See The Count of Monte Cristo (film) for a list of film adaptations
  • The Irish singer/guitarist Gary Moore, refers to The Count of Monte Cristo on the song "Over the Hills and Far Away" released within his 1987's album "Wild Frontier", the song was previously released as a single on December 1986 reaching #20 in UK lists.
  • Alexandre Dumas wrote a set of the three plays that collectively told the story of The Count of Monte Cristo: Monte Cristo (1848), Le Comte de Morcerf (1851), and Villefort (1851).
  • The Telugu film "Veta" starring Chiranjeevi is an unabashed copy of The Count of Monte Cristo.
  • The film The Return of Monte Christo (1946), directed by Henry Levin, is a sequel to the book.
  • In 1881 the French author Jules Lermina (1839-1915) wrote a unofficial sequel titled the Son of Monte Cristo.
  • The Son of Monte Cristo which was directed by Rowland V. Lee was made into a film in 1940. Starring Louis Hayward as a sequel to the 1934 Count of Monte Cristo (Also directed by Rowland V. Lee.)
  • The Countess of Monte Cristo. In 1869 French Author Jean Charles Du Boys (1836-1873) published an unofficial sequel The Countess of Monte Cristo.
  • The Countess of Monte Cristo (as an unrelated comedy that borrows the same name as the 1869 book) was made in to a film twice. A 1934 version and a 1948 version.
  • The Wife of Monte Cristo is a 1946 film and is a reimagining of the Count of Monte Cristo story and is one of few films to display Edmond Dantes and Princess Haydée as a married couple.
  • Jules Verne dedicated his 27th novel Mathias Sandorf to Alexandre Dumas, basing its plot on The Count of Monte Cristo. In the dedication he stated he wished to "make Sandorf the Monte Cristo of his Extraordinary Voyages."
  • Lew Wallace went on record that The Count of Monte Cristo was one of the chief inspirations for Ben-Hur.[5]
  • Alfred Bester's classic science fiction novel The Stars My Destination (1956) is a retelling of much of the plot of The Count of Monte Cristo.
  • Jinyong's wuxia novel Requiem of Ling Sing (1963) is widely regarded as having a similar plot to The Count of Monte Cristo.
  • The episode of The Simpsons entitled "Revenge is a Dish Best Served Three Times" features a segment, "The Count of Monte Fatso", starring Homer in the title role.
  • Stephen Fry's novel The Stars' Tennis Balls, retitled Revenge in the American printing, is, by his own admission "a straight steal, virtually identical in all but period and style to Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo" - indeed, most character names are anagrams or cryptic references to characters from Dumas' work.
  • Arturo Pérez-Reverte wrote Queen of the South as a modern-day rendition of the tale, with a female drug dealer as the protagonist.
  • Padayottam, a Malayalam film inspired by this story, was the first indigenous 70mm movie in India.
  • A critically acclaimed Venezuelan telenovela, La Dueña, is inspired by the novel.
  • Many acclaimed Latin soap operas are inspired by the novel. To mention a few: Amor Gitano (Gypsy Love, from Mexico), Renzo el gitano (Renzo the gypsy, from Puerto Rico) and Dueña y Señora (The Owner and Lady, from Puerto Rico). Further telenovelas such as La verdad oculta (The Hidden Truth, from Mexico) and Acorralada (Trapped, from Miami), have many elements taken from the book.[citation needed] The most recent is Montecristo: Un Amor, Una Venganza (Monte Cristo: Love and Revenge), an Argentine telenovela which premiered April 25, 2006 on Telefe and loosely based on The Count of Monte Cristo.
  • Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, a pastiche of the original story, is an anime series produced in 2004 by GONZO and directed by Mahiro Maeda.
  • Park Chan-wook's 2003 film, Oldboy, and the manga it is based on, Oldboy written by Garon Tsuchiya, pays partial homage to The Count of Monte Cristo story. For instance, the protagonist is jailed in a private cell for a long time period (15 years in the film; 10 in the manga), and the TV is the prisoner's only company, where he is able to acquire knowledge from the outside world. Upon release, the protagonist is given money and new clothes, and seeks vengeance upon his captors. A strong theme of vengeance and revenge, as in the Monte Cristo story, pervades both the manga and the film. Also, in one scene of the film, Oh-Dae Su is referred to as "The Count of Monte Cristo" in jest by an antagonist.
  • The film The Shawshank Redemption features many of the same themes as The Count of Monte Cristo. It centers on Andy Dufresne, a man falsely imprisoned, who eventually makes a daring escape from prison. He then collects a large sum of money which he had amassed for his jailers, and achieves vengeance upon those who wronged him while in jail. The Count of Monte Cristo itself is mentioned in the movie.
  • The film V for Vendetta references the Count of Monte Cristo many times.
  • In the film Sleepers the Count of Monte Cristo is taught in the children's class in juvenile jail. It serves as foreshadowing to their long wait before eventual revenge on the jail's guards.
  • The German progressive metal band Vanden Plas released a concept album Christ 0 in March 2006, which interprets the story of Monte Cristo.
  • In 2007, the Colombian TV Channel Caracol, made an adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, into a Soap Opera, called Montecristo.
  • Singer songwriter Warwick Lobban references the Count of Monte Cristo in his song Calming Monte Cristo.
  • Christopher Bond adapted the true crime story of a barber who killed his customers by slitting their throats by adding a fictional framework of exile and revenge, inspired by The Count of Monte Cristo. This story was later itself adapted as Stephen Sondheim's operetta Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
  • Life (US TV series), a 2007 series on NBC in the United States and also shown in Australia, features the character Charlie Crews who was wrongfully imprisoned for twelve years, only to be released after DNA evidence exonerated him. He received a very large monetary settlement against the city of Los Angeles for his wrongful imprisonment and upon his release resumed his career in the LAPD and sought to find those who set him up and exact revenge against them.
  • The Noisettes have a song entitled The Count of Monte Cristo.
  • Exact Revenge by novelist Tim Green is a contemporary retelling of the story.
  • The novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain includes a section which relates to the story of the Count of Monte Cristo, with Tom suggesting they tunnel in to save Jim, telling Huck, "Haven't you ever heard of the Castle Deef!"
  • Jean-Dominique Bauby's book, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and its film adaptation reference Monsieur Noirtier de Villeforte. Jean Bauby also had locked-in syndrome.
  • Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines, was influenced by "The Count of Monte Cristo". He used the same theme of Monte Cristo in his second novel El Filibusterismo. In the novel, Crisostomo Ibarra (the protagonist of Rizal's first novel, Noli Me Tangere), returns as Simoun, a rich jeweller, to avenge the betrayal he experienced and to recover his fiancee, Maria Clara.
  • Ian Hylands adapted the book in 2005 into an internationally produced play. Produced in the UK and the United States, the story was modified to make the Count's vengeance more psychologically accurate, whilst remaining a faithful interpretation of the novel's themes and story. Many of the characters and relationships were retained, although modified in some cases, to contribute to the pace of the play. Notably, the Count's assistants, footmen and helpers were condensed into Jacopo and Haydée. The relationship between Gérard Villefort and Madame Danglars was eliminated, though referenced with a line by Jacopo who confesses to stealing the baby from Auteuil. In the play, he states that the child was wild and put to death in Corsica.
  • Erotic Novelist Colette Gale adapted The Count of Monte Cristo in her novel Master: An Erotic Novel of the Count of Monte Cristo, published by Penguin/NAL May 2008.
  • Jeffrey Archer's book A Prisoner of Birth is a dedication to The Count of Monte Cristo.
  • The Writers Jon Smith and Leon Parris adapted The Count of Monte Cristo into a 2 hour stage musical entitled 'Monte Cristo - The musical'. A excerpt from the show was performed by a youth cast at the Birmingham Hippodrome, England in August 2006.
  • Tugt og utugt i mellemtiden(1976) by the Danish writer Svend Aage Madsen is a modern day novel which is very similar to The Count of Monte Cristo
  • In Mark Sarvas's 2008 novel "Harry, Revised", the protagonist Harry Rent patterns himself after Edmond Dantes.
  • In 2003 the original story was adapted into musical by Alexandr Tumencev (composer) and Tatyana Ziryanova (Russian lyrics) and entitled 'The Count of Monte Cristo' ('Граф Монте-Кристо'). This musical adaptation is performed by the Theatre of musical "Seventh Morning" starting from December, 21. Also in 2005 this musical was performed in french ('Le Comte de Monte-Cristo').
  • In 2008 the original story was adapted into almost 3 hour musical by Roman Ignatyev (composer) and Yuli Kim (lyrics) and entitled 'Monte-Cristo'. This musical adaptation is performed in the Moscow Operetta Theatre starting from October, 1st.
  • In March 2009, American composer Frank Wildhorn's stage musical version, The Count of Monte Cristo premiered in St. Gallen, Switzerland. An English concept album was released for the production in late 2008.

[edit] Audio Adaptations

  • One of the first audiobook adaptations of the Dumas novel was an 33-1/2 LP record released by Caedmon Records with Louis Jourdan reading four chapters from the novel.
  • Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre on the Air players starred in a one-hour radio adaptation on August 29, 1938.
  • Welles starred with Agnes Moorehead in a second radio version on October 1, 1939, this time on the Campbell Playhouse.
  • Robert Montgomery starred in a radio adaptation on February 8, 1939 on the Lux Radio Theater.
  • Carleton Young starred in a radio series starring Dumas' title character (currently, only two episodes are commercially available, one from 1947 and another from 1952).
  • Paul Daneman starred in an audio adaptation as part of the Tale Spinners For Children LP record series in the 1960s.
  • The Dumas novel was serialzed on radio in the 1930s in fifteen-minute episodes (currently, only Episodes #115 - 118 are commercially available through the Radio Showcase web site).
  • A number of audiobook recordings in both audio cassette and CD format, both abridged and unabridged, are commercially available.

[edit] See also

Wikisource
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[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Schopp, Claude, Genius of Life, p. 325
  2. ^ True Stories of Immortal Crimes, H. Ashton-Wolfe, 1931, E. P. Dutton & Co., p.16-17
  3. ^ Maurois, André, The Titans, p. 220
  4. ^ David Coward (ed), Oxford's World Classics, Dumas, Alexandre, The Count of Monte Cristo, p. xxv
  5. ^ Lew Wallace (1906), Lew Wallace; an Autobiography. Page 936

[edit] References

  • Maurois, André (1957). The Titans, a three-generation biography of the Dumas. trans. by Gerard Hopkins. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers. OCLC 260126. 
  • Schopp, Claude (1988). Alexandre Dumas, Genius of Life. trans. by A. J. Koch. New York, Toronto: Franklin Watts. ISBN 0531150933. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Alexandre Dumas, père
Novels:
Characters:
Films:
The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)  • The Count of Monte Cristo (1956)  • The Count of Monte Cristo (1975)  • The Count of Monte Cristo (1998)  • The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)  • D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers  • The Fifth Musketeer  • The Four Musketeers (film)  • The Iron Mask  • The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)  • The Man in the Iron Mask (1977)  • The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)  • The Man in the Iron Mask (film)  • Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers  • The Musketeer  • La Reine Margot (1994)  • The Return of the Musketeers  • Les Trois Mousquetaires  • The Three Musketeers (1921)  • The Three Musketeers (1969)  • The Three Musketeers (1973)  • The Three Musketeers (1993 animated) The Three Musketeers (1933)  • Touché, Pussy Cat!  • The Two Mouseketeers
TV programs:
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