, Research Paper
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo, written by Alexandre Dumas, tells the story of a man, Edmond Dantes, a sailor who goes through being betrayed by his enemies and thrown in to a dark prison cell to planning revenge on his enemies. His behavior and personality changes after spending 14 years in jail for a crime that he didn t commit. Edmond Dantes was thrown in jail ,after being framed by his enemies, accused of committing treason and being a bonapartist. The story takes place during the Napoleonic Era while the usurper, Napoleon has escaped to his place of exile, the Isle of Elba, located in the Mediterranean Sea.
The story of Edmond Dantes starts out as him being a sailor, aboard the Pharaon; he s soon to become captain of the ship. Monsieur Morrel is the name of the owner of the Pharaon and a great friend of Dantes. He treats Edmond with great respect. There s also a little special lady in Dantes life, the beautiful and wonderful Mercedes. A dream job and a dream wife, who could possibly want more?
His dream soon becomes shattered by three of his enemies, Danglars, Fernand, and Caderousse. As these three people plot against Edmond, he is about to become married to the beautiful Mercedes. On his wedding day, his betrothal feast was interrupted when the police came barging through the door and arrested Edmond Dantes. Dantes was accused of giving a letter to the usurper while the Pharaon stopped on the Isle of Elba and returning a letter from the usurper to the Bonapartist party in Paris. After his arrest, Edmond was interrogated and questioned by the public prosecutor, Monsieur de Villefort. During the interrogation Villefort promised Edmond freedom, but that was before Monsieur de Villefort read the letter from the usurper addressed to Monsieur Noirtier, Villefort s father. Edmond Dantes was sent to prison.
Edmond Dantes imprisonment made a huge impact on his life. He spent 14 years in the dark and quiet Chateau d If. During those 14 years he met a priest, Abbe Faria, which they met each other through a secret tunnel in which they both have created while in prison. An amazing transformation takes place in Edmond Dantes as he learns about his enemies and a large hidden treasure that contains a large sum of money. Abbe Faria is a very smart man, while in prison he taught Dantes many useful knowledge including the whereabouts of a large treasure located on the Isle of Monte Cristo. Abbe Faria died while still in prison. Edmond Dantes took advantage of this, because throwing dead people into the water is a Chateau d If tradition, Edmond placed himself inside the sac in which Abbe was going to be placed and thrown into the water. Edmond Dantes was now a free man.
After Escaping from the Chateau d If, Edmond Dantes went to the Isle of Monte Cristo and found the large treasure that Abbe told him about. Because of spending 14 years in prison, Edmond Dantes appearance and personality has changed greatly. In order to avenge himself he must make a disguise. Since his appearance is changed, nobody can recognize him. But with the name Edmond Dantes, his enemies would realize that he has escaped; so he changed his name to The Count of Monte Cristo. With his disguise it was time to enter society and find out what has happened to his enemies and friends after 14 years.
Monsieur Morrel, Dantes old friend, has lost everything, including his ships, and is about to go bankrupt and into debt. But Dantes disguised as Sinbad the Sailor, with a huge income, comes to Morrels rescue. Sinbad the Sailor secretly gives Morrel the amount of money in which he needs to get out of debt. Because Morrel showed Dantes kindness and respect earlier, Dantes returns this kindness with his gratitude and money.
Because The Count of Monte Cristo is very rich, he becomes very popular and an important member of society. He soon learns where and what has become of his enemies. Danglars became a rich and famous banker that is married and has a young daughter. Fernand has became rich too, he changed his name to The Count de Morcerf. He also married Mercedes and had a son name Albert de Morcerf. Monte Cristo has encounter Albert before; he saved his life from bandits. Caderousse hasn t been as lucky as his friends. He became an poor innkeeper with a sick wife. Another man, which can also be considered an enemy, is Monsieur de Villefort. Monsieur de Villefort is still the public prosecutor. As for his family, he lives happily with his wife and his daughter Valentine. His father, Monsieur Noirtier is very ill and paralyzed.
As the story goes on, The Count of Monte Cristo makes many friends of his enemies but his enemies don t realize what s happening because the Count is in disguise. The Count has many connections too, which help him get revenge on his enemies. For most of the cases, the Count punished most of his enemies that resolved to death. Through many events, a friend of Monte Cristo murdered Caderousse. And Fernand was prosecuted for murdering a man that was the father of the woman Monte Cristo loved. Because Fernand already lost his honor, instead of being more humiliated by being executed, he committed suicide. And Monsieur de Villefort lost his whole family after they committed suicide because of the events that Monte Cristo caused. Bandits, friends of Monte Cristo captured Monsieur Danglars, and they robbed Danglars of his whole fortune. But Danglars didn t die; he was set free with the remaining fifty thousand francs that they had left him.
There is a moral to this story; if you treat poorly, you ll eventually get treated poorly. But if you treat people properly, you ll get treat properly too. An example is Monsieur Morrel, he treated Dantes with respect and he received respect back from Dantes. But Caderousse, Fernand, Danglars and Villefort treated Dantes poorly, and they were punished. Treat people the way you want to be treated.