How The Count Found Solace “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine: I will repay, saith the Lord”. (Holy Bible, Romans 12:19) Alexandre Dumas uses his novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, to not only comment on French politics of the time, but to provoke thought about the role of God, especially his judgement and justice. Dumas demonstrates that while society’s justice is easily corrupted by men, the power and responsibility of true justice lies within a higher being Men must trust and honor the judgment of God, and consequently refraining from taking revenge on their fellow men.
Alexandre Dumas’ life, which was filled with economic and political turmoil, greatly influenced his literary works, especially The Count of Monte Cristo. Dumas was born into a powerful and respected military family in 1802, in Soisson, France. His father was the first black French general, and served faithfully and dutifully under Napoleon Bonaparte. However, Dumas’ father died in 1806, leaving the young Dumas and his mother impoverished. Beginning in 1823, Dumas worked as a secretary for the Duke of Orleans in Paris. It was also at this time that, Dumas became obsessed with theater and started mixing with artistic and literary crowds. Much of his spare time was spent reading or watching plays, of which he focused on the works of William Shakespeare, who greatly influenced the aspiring writer. In 1829, Dumas wrote the play Henri III et sa cour, which was immediately popular, and catapulted Dumas to the forefront of the French Romantic Movement. Dumas became an active supporter of Marquis de Lafayette, who was the losing opposition, in the revolution of 1830. Dumas’ loud and stirring support made him an enemy of the new monarch of France, King Louis-Philippe, formerly known as the Duke of Orleans, Dumas’ old employer. Dumas was forced to leave France for the next decade. Dumas traveled throughout parts of Europe, focusing his time in Switzerland and Spain (Alexandre).
Dumas returned to Paris in 1842, where he lived the the next ten years. This was the most productive decade of his career. Most of Dumas’ work, including The Count of Monte Cristo, was serialized by newspapers, so he was paid by the line. In order to maximize his personal profits, Dumas hired a corp of writers to perform the grunt work of his writing for the majority of that decade. The majority of Dumas’ fictional stories written in the 1840’s were written in collaboration with Auguste Maquet, who wrote many of the storylines, with Dumas writing the dialogue, adding delicate details and creating the prized character complexity and depth associated with Dumas’s writing (Alexandre).
During Dumas’ prosperous decade, he lead a vibrant social life, filled with dozens of mistresses, lavish and indebting spending habits and manipulated generosity. Dumas built the famous Chateau de Monte-Cristo outside of Paris in 1845, which was filled with his mistresses and freeloader friends, all of whom drained his coffers and depleted his earnings. Political turmoil erupted with the the revolution of 1848, in which Dumas actively participated, and supported the liberal opposition to the French monarchy. Louis Napoleon, nephew of the famed Napoleon Bonaparte, came to power through a popular election (Alexandre).
Dumas declared bankruptcy in 1850, and left for Brussels with Victor Hugo in 1851 to evade tax collectors and the turmoil of the coup d’etat led by Louis-Napoleon. Dumas would never achieve the level of popularity and wealth again after he left Paris. In 1860, Dumas joined Garibaldi in his cause for Italian sovereignty over Austria. By 1864 Dumas decided to return to Paris where he lived with his daughter until his death on the 5th of December 1870 (Alexandre).
Throughout his life, Alexandre Dumas maintained very strong political beliefs, being a staunch member of the Bonapartist party and participating in numerous French revolutions. Dumas’s extensive travels, wherein he acquired vast and diverse stores of knowledge, coupled with his economic motivation, created stories with painstaking depth and accuracy that define his literary work’s. (Alexandre)
The importance of the setting to the plot within The Count of Monte Cristo cannot be understated, because of the weaving of nonfiction and fiction within the work. The book begins on February 24th, 1815, with the return of the Pharaon, a fine sea going vessel owned by Monsieur Morrel, to Marseille from the Far East. In command is Edmond Dantes, a hardworking, competent, humble nineteen year old sailor. Due to the death of Captain Leclere during the voyage, Dantes is the acting captain of the Pharaon. Young Dantes has a very promising future. He is in line to become the captain of the Pharaon and is preparing to marry to his fiancee and the girl of his dreams, Mercedes. Dantes is about to indulge in the good fortune that life has granted him.
However, Dantes’ stunning success and good fortune attracts envious conspirators: Danglars, Ferdinand and Caderousse. Danglars is the supercargo on the Pharaon and the mastermind behind the plot to imprison Dantes. Ferdinand, who is a courtier of Mercedes, loathes Dantes for obstructing any happiness he could have with Mercedes. Caderousse is a very passive member of the group and was heavily intoxicated when the plan was conceived. On the night of Dantes’ betrothal feast he is arrested on charges of treason and aiding the exiled Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte. He is brought before the public prosecutor, M. Villefort, who coincidentally came from his own betrothal feast moments before the hearing. Earlier, Danglars had tipped off the authorities about a letter that Dantes was carrying from the Isle of Elba. Danglars witnessed the exchange of a letter from the late Captain Leclere to Dantes shortly before the Captain’s death. This letter necessitated a brief impromptu stop at the Isle of Elba, where upon Dantes’ return, Danglars observed a new letter in his possession. This letter would damn the young Dantes to 14 years of harrowing misery in prison. The letter, which Dantes innocently intended to carry to M. Nortier in Paris as a dying wish from his Captain, is used to frame Dantes as a conspirator, and late, an accomplice in the return of Napoleon Bonaparte. Nortier, who is Villefort’s father, is also a vigilante Bonapartist, and has a very strong relationship with Napoleon Bonaparte. Villefort unjustly imprisoned Dantes in the Chateau d’If and destroyed the letter, in order to protect his career and father.
In prison, Dantes undergoes several religious tribulations and transformation, before being saved from madness by the “mad priest”, Abbe Faria. Dantes seriously contemplates killing himself and ending his temporal imprisonment, but is stopped by his belief that suicide is a sin. Dantes then undergoes several religious ideological shifts during the years of his solitary confinement. These shifts involve forsaking and rediscovering God. Abbe Faria, a prisoner in a neighboring cell, accidentally tunnels into Dantes cell in his attempt to escape. Dantes is relieved to have some human interaction after 5 year of solitary confinement. The Abbe and Dante make plans to escape from the confines of the chateau d’If. While carrying out their plan, the Abbe educates Dantes, making him an educated and sophisticated man. Dantes learns philosophy, physics, numerous languages, the location to limitless wealth but most importantly, he helps Dantes discover the culprits responsible for his imprisonment. After nine years of tunneling, and on the eve of escape, the Abbe falls sick and dies.In a panicked frenzy, Dantes switches places with the deceased Abbe, and is thrown over a cliff and into the sea.
Dantes then travels to the island of Monte Cristo aboard a smuggling boat he has joined. He scours the island for the treasure that Abbe Faria promised him was on the island. Dantes finds the treasure, and The Count of Monte Cristo is born. The Count spends the next ten years planning his ruthless vengeance on those that sentenced him to endure the torture of Chateau d’If. The Count discovers every secret pressure point of his adversaries. He then elegantly and in full stride enters Paris’ high society and exacts his revenge. Upon completion of his work, the Count travels with Maximilian Morrel, the son of monsieur Morrel, to Marseille to conduct some final business. In Marseille the Count meets with Mercedes Mondego, who married Ferdinand years earlier. He leaves her a small fortune and a house in Marseille, but rejects her advances. Immediately after confronting Mercedes, the Count travels to the source of his nightmares and wealth, Chateau d’If, which has now become a museum. He tours the prison, reliving his years in prison as the guide retells the exploits of prisoner 27 and 34, Abbe Faria and himself. The Count of Monte of Cristo must perform his last act of revenge. He travels to Rome to visit the infamous bandit, Luigi Vampa, who has detained Monsieur Danglars in his hideout underneath the Colosseum. The Count robs Danglars of the 5 million francs that Danglars had swindled from almshouses. The Count spares Danglars’ life and sets him free. Dantes’ revenge is complete.
Only through facing his fears, the Chateau d’If and his adversaries, is the Count able to experience happiness. Throughout his vengeful planning and plot, the Count has denied himself of love and happiness, but upon completing his schemes he indulges himself. He finds happiness and hope in helping Maximilian Morrel and Valentine de Villefort. The Count then reunites the grief stricken, and suicide contemplating Maximilien with his fiancee Valentine, whom Maximilian thought was dead.. Haydee, the Count’s greek princess slave, is set free by the Count, but refuses to leave him. Haydee professes her love for him, and says, “Oh, yes! Oh, yes I love you! I love you as one loves a father, a brother, a husband! I love you as one loves life, and loves God, for you are to me the most beautiful, the best and greatest of created beings!” (1241)
In witnessing the devotion and love that Maximilian has for Valentine, along with Haydee’s newfound love, “which awoke the deepest fibres of his being” (1240), the Count is changed. His resolve for an emotionless and lonely life is shattered. The Count leaves a small fortune to the reunited couple, Maximilian and Valentine, as a wedding gift. The Count, accompanied by his new loving companion, Haydee, literally sail into the sunset.
Most critics salute the time-tested work that helps define revenge novels, and emphasize the grandeur and intricacies contained within The Count of Monte Cristo. Throughout The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas is pushing the line that separates novels from “impressively long” and “excessively long”, which is the largest debate among critics. The novel was originally serialized, so in order to maintain suspense, Dumas was prone to over dramatize the story. “His plot is vast, intricate, and at times, ridiculous”, one critic stated. The critic concluded, “ the plotting relies on outrageous feats and equally outrageous coincidences.” (Inverarity). Beyond the plot, Dumas has the ability to bring stereotypical characters to life through the, “extraordinary circumstances and delightful coincidences Dumas draws around them.” (Spanberg) Dumas frequently in his work, just as in life, readily elaborates and indulges in “ his insatiable appetite for digression.” (Spanberg). The fact that Dumas was paid per line creates the character and plot depth and complexity, and admittedly, sometimes loquacity, that defines The Count of Monte Cristo.
Dumas uses The Count of Monte Cristo to add his own societal criticisms as he acts as the author and narrator. His personal commentary ranges from volatile French titles of nobility to governmental corruption. Dumas is not shy about exposing society’s flaws and shortcomings. Villefort, who represents societal justice, has his tendency for corruption examined closely by the reader and narrator, which acts as an example of how Dumas raises concern in the readers’ minds about their society through a fictional story. While these topics create the occasional tangent from the plot, it emphasizes the mixture of history and fiction throughout the book. In writing this adventurous revenge and historical fiction novel, Dumas strove to create a historical backdrop true to its time by creating a story accurately depicting real people and places. While Dumas’ commentary can be sometimes distracting, it does add legitimacy to the surrounding setting and facts creating a far more realistic story.
Dumas is the narrator, third person omniscient, and takes a serious and direct approach in the narration. Dumas takes a firm control of the storyline, and occasionally breaks the fourth wall to abruptly steer the reader to different subplots. Dumas rarely exercise the full jurisdiction as an omniscient third person narrator though. He prefers to have characters mutter aloud their thoughts, rather than delve into their minds. Dumas enjoys building anticipation, and avoids surprises and very regularly indulges the reader in any foreshadowing. One of the most profound foreshadows is revealed is when Villefort is comprehending the moral repercussions of Dantes’ life long sentence. Dumas narrates, “The wound that Villefort had suffered was one that would not heal; or one that would close, only to reopen, more bloody and painful than before” (87) . Dumas directly tells the reader that this wound will not heal, and even if this wound appears healed, time will only make the inevitable worse. The Count’s purpose is to reopen the wound and make sure Villefort feels the crippling pain. Dumas purposely and firmly directs the reader, and through his serious tone and narrating style, leaves little to the imagination.
The very title of the book, The Count of Monte Cristo, emphasizes the importance of names, in relationship to their owners, throughout the book. Edmond Dantes changes his name, not just to carry out his revenge unrecognized, but to add to the author’s commentary on society. The title of “Count” could easily be bought with a large sum of money and did not require prerequisites of courage or bravery like in days of old. The Count comments on the triviality of the purchase by saying, “I should never have passed myself off as a nobleman were it not that I was repeatedly told this was absolutely necessary for anyone who travels a lot.” (Dumas 474) Dantes is not the only one to transform himself in society’s eye, nearly everyone else does as well. Both Ferdinand and Danglars are able to secure a title of nobility after Dantes has been imprisoned. Ferdinand goes even further in trying to secure his reputation in Paris’ high society by lying about his title, saying it is an old family name. The change symbolizes a rebirth for each character, embracing a new name and life, while trying to bury the past.
Dumas frequently employs duality between characters, to create recognizable connections between characters and add personal commentary on character’s political beliefs. Edmond Dantes, the main protagonist, is foiled to the main antagonist, Villefort, through numerous character similarities and differences. Both men lead very similar lives before they meet. Dantes and Villefort both are young, ambitious and on the verge of good fortune. Both men were engaged and at their betrothal feast immediately before meeting each other at Dantes’ hearing. The most profound comparison is between their political beliefs. Dantes, a Bonapartist, is foiled to Villefort, a Royalist. Other characters, antagonist and protagonist alike, fall within these parameters. M. Morrel and Nortier are both Bonapartists and protagonists, while Danglars, Ferdinand and Caderousse all share the description of “Royalist” and “antagonist”. Dumas uses character’s political beliefs, and subsequent foils, to make the conflict between Dantes, the protagonist, and Villefort, the antagonist, symbolic of the political turmoil that plagued France.
Dumas, who was greatly influenced by Shakespeare, references Hamlet by way of allusions and similes throughout The Count of Monte Cristo, and focuses on the comparable circumstances and internal conflicts of the two protagonists. Both Dantes and young Hamlet contemplate suicide at the beginning of their afflictions, but withhold because they fear the eternal consequences of the act. In the depths of their misery and despair they are given vengeful purposes, simply by having the truth of their injustices revealed to them, by their fathers. Hamlet’s father appears to him as a ghost and charges young Hamlet with killing Claudius, his uncle, who is his father's murderer and the current king of Denmark. Abbe Faria, who Edmond Dantes explicitly calls his father during their imprisonment, helps Dantes identify the enemies of his freedom and happiness. The Abbe does not support the hatred that Dantes carries with him, but helps the young man discover the future recipients of his merciless revenge. Abbe Faria stated, “ I regret having helped you in your investigation and said what I did to you [. . .] I have insinuated a feeling into your heart that was not previously there: the desire for revenge.” Furthermore, both protagonists, Hamlet and Dantes, face a moral dilemma concerning society’s justice, and its shortcomings. Both men are internally plagued by the folly of society’s justice, and so they take justice into their own hands and act where conventional courts have not or cannot. Both men, at some point, question their methods to bring about justice, and therefore, also question the morality of their actions.
Throughout The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas uses liminal points to transform Edmond Dantes into a more divine and pure being. Dantes escape into the ocean serves as a symbolic liminal point. As Dantes is thrown off a cliff it is described as “being thrown into a huge void” (201) . The diction usage of the term “void” implies death. However Dantes’ experience resembles more of a spiritual baptism rather than spiritual death. After entering the void, Dantes is submerged into the sea and experiences the cleansing powers of baptism, to emerge as new man. Dumas even changes Dantes’ physical appearance after his escape from Chateau d’If to solidify a spiritual transition. Dumas describes Dantes’ physical changes in relation with his spiritual changes as follows:
“Dantes was now thirty-three years old, as we have said, and his fourteen years in prison had brought about what might be described as a great spiritual change to his features. He had entered into the Chateau d’If with the round , full, radiant face of a contented young man whose first steps in life have been easy and who looks to the future as a natural extension of the past. All that had changed utterly.
His oval face had lengthened and his once merry lips had adopted a fixed firm line that spoke of stern resolve. His eyebrows arched under a single, pensive line and his eyes themselves were imprinted with deep sadness, behind which from time to time could be seen dark flashes of misanthropy and hatred. His complexion, kept so long from daylight and the sun, had taken on a dull tones that give such aristocratic beauty to men of the north when black hair frames their faces. Moreover the knowledge that he had acquired gave a look of intelligent self-confidence of his whole face.” (214) .
Dantes is physically described in mirror image to his spiritual being, Dantes’ pain, sadness, anger and intellect are all described through his physical features. Dumas himself says that “a great spiritual change” had occurred within Dantes, reinforcing his symbolic baptism and rebirth as liminal points.
Dumas uses Dantes’ transformation into the Count of Monte Cristo as an allusion to Jesus Christ. The Count’s very name, Monte Cristo, means “mountain of Christ”. While traveling past the island on his way to a carnival in Rome, Franz d’Epinay remarks his observations on the island, “In addition to that, escorted by only these men, he [Franz d'Epinay] was about to land on an island which certainly had a very religious name, but which appeared to offer Franz no greater hospitality than Calvary did to Christ, in view of the smugglers and the bandits” (320). The island of Monte Cristo acts as Dantes’ calvary. Upon discovering the treasure on the island, Dumas emerges from a cave, which alludes to Christ’s resurrection. Christ, after undergoing calvary, emerges from his tomb, a cave, resurrected. Dantes’ enters the cave, but upon exiting from the cave, he has been resurrected as the Count of Monte Cristo. Furthermore, the Count’s crest visually alludes to Jesus Christ. It is described as “a mountain on a field of azure with a cross gules at the chief, which could have been an allusion to his name” (943) The narrator bluntly suggests that the Count’s name and crest are alluding to Christ, fortifying the allusion in the novel.
The Count is also compared to Christ through social interactions throughout the novel. From the beginning, Dantes is known to be a respected character. Abbe Faria tell Dantes’ that he is “the best of men”, which is coming from a wealthy aristocratic priest (173). During the resolution of the novel, Emmanuel, Julie Morrell's husband, cries out upon hearing the Count is leaving them, “ This is not a man, but a god who is leaving us, and this god will return to heaven after appearing on earth to do good” (1185). Emmanuel is referring to Jesus Christ and his mortal role, while comparing the Count to Christ. Haydee, the Count’s secret admirer, adds to the allusion as well. Upon hearing she was being set free she exclaims, “ So, my Lord, you are leaving me?” (1240). The capitalization of “Lord” is referring to Christ, as that is his frequent name in the old testament. She says those words to the Count, while they are intended for Jesus Christ. Even the last sentence of the book, spoken by Valentine, refers to the second coming. Valentine consoled Maximilian by saying, “My Dearest, has the Count not just told us that all human wisdom was contained in these two words- “wait” and “hope”?” (1243). Valentine’s advice is consistent with the method of waiting for Christ’s second coming. Social praise and dialogue strengthen the evident character allusion between The Count of Monte Cristo and Jesus Christ.
The Count is a man of contradictions when it comes to God’s will and exercising justice, undermining any validity that the Count’s vengeance has been ordained of God. The Count of Monte Cristo attempts to justify his actions, “ I, who have also been betrayed, assassinated and cast into a tomb, I have emerged from that tomb by the grace of God and I owe it to God to take my revenge. He sent me for that purpose. Here I am." (89.43) Supposedly, the Count, a mortal man, is trying to repay a debt to God, an all powerful and omniscient being, by exacting His revenge. At no point was Dantes or the Count given explicit divine authority to carry out his vengeful plots, therefore, he is not an instrument in the hands of God as he claims. In accordance to the theory that Abbe Faria proposed, which reads: “Unless an evil thought is born in a twisted mind, human nature is repelled by crime.” (161). Dantes’ mind had been twisted from the solitary confinement and anger that filled his entire being throughout his imprisonment. Dantes’ said concerning his imprisonment:
“Captivity has bowed me, broken me and demolished me. I have been here for so long! [. . .] you do not know what seventeen months are in prison: seventeen years, seventeen centuries; above all for a man like myself, who was about to marry a woman he loved, for a man who could see an honorable career ahead of him and was deprived of it all in a moment;who, from the most glorious day, was plunged into the deepest night.” (123-124)
Dantes’ imprisonment had a profound and detrimental effect on his mental health after only 17 months, and Dantes suffered alone for a total of 5 years. Dantes’ evil plots of vengeance were born into a twisted mind, as proved above, which makes the Count’s actions criminal. The Count’s actions were not ordained of God, he was not acting as a divine instrument in the hands of God, and contrary to the Count’s justifications, he was acting in his own self interests and executing personal vendettas. The Count will come to question his own actions in relation with God’s will. Dantes continually is under the illusion that he has been charged with exacting vengeance by God. However, it is when the Count has gone too far, and killed an innocent child is when his resolve wavers. Upon seeing Villefort’s young son dead, “Monte Cristo paled at this terrible spectacle. He realized that he had exceeded the limits of his vengeance, he realized that he could no longer say: ‘God is for me and with me.’” (1181). The Count’s revenge has spread too far and beyond his control. The Count’s “power” does not result in perfect or divine justice. He does not find solace in his vengeance, but rather moral turmoil. The Count, just like Hamlet, will question the validity of his actions and if they were truly in accordance with God’s will. The Count only finds consolation and happiness when he is able to forgive those that have trespassed against him. The Count tells Danglars why he spared his life, explaining, “I am the one whose father you condemned to starvation, and the one who condemned you to starvation, but who none the less, forgives you, because he himself needs forgiveness. I am Edmond Dantes.” (1229). The Count realizes that his vengeance was futile and did not result in the peace of mind he sought. Dantes, in disregarding scripture, avenged himself and did not give place unto God’s wrath. The result was incomplete justice and senseless murder. The true source of solace is not through vengeance, but forgiveness.

Works Cited
"Alexandre Dumas père." NNDB:Tracking the entire world. Soylent Communications, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo. Trans. Robin Buss. London: Penguin Books, 1996. Print.
Inverarity, . "Book Review: The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas." Blog. Inverarity is not a Scottish village. LiveJournal. N.p., 18 Sept. 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2014.
Spanberg, Erik. "Classic review: The Count of Monte Cristo." The Christian Science Monitor. N.p., 6 Feb. 2011. Web. 14 Dec. 2014.
The Holy Bible. King James Version. Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1948.