Essay/Term paper: The count of monte cristo

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Cliff Notes

The Count of Monte Cristo is a very powerful book.

So powerful in fact, that was controversial when it was first

released. The Catholic church in France condemned it

because of its powerful message it presented the reader.

This theme was one of revenge and vengeance. Monte

Cristo had two goals- to reward those who were kind to

him and his aging father, and to punish those responsible for

his imprisonment and suffering. For the latter, he plans slow

and painful punishment. To have spent fourteen years barely

subsisting in a dungeon demands cruel and prolonged

castigation. Setting: The Count of Monte Cristo is set within

the nineteenth century of France in large and populous cities.

This was a time of great disruption. There was confusion all

over the land in regards to who led France, King Louis or

Napoleon. The citizens of France became divided by the

two ruling parties. Royalists and the Bonapartist cut at each

others throats in order to declare that their ruler was

supreme. This situation has a profound effect on the events

of the story. Dantes' enemies used the rivalry between the

two parties in order to convince the Royalists that Edmond

is a Bonapartist, therefore it is the basis for his arrest and

inevitable captivity in the Chateau D'If.. Basic Plot: The

Count of Monte Cristo is a story about a sailor, Edmond

Dantes, who was betrayed during the prime of his life and

career by the jealousy of his friends. His shipmate, Danglars,

coveted his designation as the captain of the mighty Pharon.

Ferdinand Mondego wished to wed Mercedes, who was

affianced to Edmond. Danglars and Ferdinand wrote a letter

accusing Edmond of carrying a letter from Elba to the

Bonapartist committee in Paris. Caderousse, a neighbor,

learned of the plot but kept silent. On his wedding day

Edmond was arrested and taken before a deputy named

Villefort, a political apostate, who, to protect himself, had

Edmond secretly imprisoned in the deepest dungeons of the

Chateau D'If. There Dantes' incarceration was secured by

the plotting of his enemies outside the prison, particularly

towards Villefort, who wished to cover up his own father's

connections with the Bonapartists. Dantes suffered for

fourteen grueling years. While in prison, he was determined

to escape and began digging a tunnel in hopes that it would

lead to freedom. During this exercise, he met an elderly

inmate named Abbe Faria whose attempt to dig his way to

his salvation had led him only to Edmond's cell. The two

meet daily and an incredible relationship flourished. The old

man taught Edmond history, mathematics, and languages. In

Edmond's fourteenth year, Faria became mortally ill. The

wise elder told Edmond where to find a massive buried

fortune. When Faria finally did die, his body was placed in a

burial sac. Edmond seized the opportunity of escaping and

replaced Faria's corpse with himself. Jailers threw the sack

into the sea which allowed Dantes to escape. He is rescued

by a passing ship which gives him a position on the boat.

After paying homage for the noble act, Dantes recovered the

buried treasure and became extremely wealthy. He returned

as the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo and dazzled all of

Paris with his extreme wealth and social graces and also he

ingeniously managed to be introduced to the cream of

French society, among who he goes unrecognized. But,

Monte Cristo, in contrariety, recognized all of his enemies,

which now are all powerful and influential men. Therefore,

he was slowly plotting the ruin of the four men who had

caused him to be sent to the Chateau D'If. Ferdinand had

married Mercedes and was now the Count de Morcef.

Monte Cristo released information to the press that proved

that Morcef is a traitor, and Morcef is ruined socially. Then

Monte Cristo destroyed Morcef's relationship with his

family, whom he adored. When they leave him, he was so

distraught that he committed suicide. To revenge himself on

Caderousse, Monte Cristo easily trapped Caderousse

because of his voracious greed. Monte Cristo awakened this

greed with the gift of a diamond. Later, urged by his wife,

Caderousse committed robbery and murder. Now escaped

from prison, Caderousse unsuccessfully attempted to rob

Monte Cristo. The Count watched as one of Caderousse's

companions mortally wounding him. As the man lay dying,

Monte Cristo exposed his true name- Edmond Dantes. To

revenge himself on Danglars, who loves money more than

life it self, Monte Cristo ruins him financially. To revenge

himself on Villefront, Monte Cristo slowly reveals to

Villefront that he knows about a love affair that Villefront

had long ago with Madam Danglars. He also revealed to

him, by hints, that he knows about the illegitimate child

whom he fathered, a child whom Villefront had believed to

be buried alive. The child lived, however, and was now

engaged to Mademoiselle Danglars, who is really his

half-sister. Ironically, Villefront's wives proves to be more

villainous than her husband, for she poisons her parents and

her daughter so that her real son can have the full

inheritance. Villefront, however, discovers the plot and

Threatens to kill her if she doesn't do it first, and so she kills

herself and her son. The Count had rescued Valentine from

a drug induced coma and reunited her with her love,

Maximilian, on the island of Monte Cristo leaving the two

young loves his entire fortune. The Count sailed off into the

sunset never to be seen again. Major Characters: Edmond

Dantes (alias the Count of Monte Cristo, Sinbad the Sailor,

Abbe Busoni, and Lord Wilmore) Edmond Dantes is the

dashing and idyllic champion of the novel. He is a sailor

who, at the prime of his life and career, is betrayed by close

friends because of their jealousy. He is imprisoned for

fourteen grueling years during his imprisonment he meets

another prisoner named Abbe Faria, who teaches Dantes

many languages, sciences, history and other subjects, they

become like father and son, and when the Abbe was about

to die, he revealed to Dantes the hiding place of a

long-secret buried treasure consisting of untold wealth,

diamond, gold coins, and other precious jewelry. After his

miraculous escape from the prison, Dantes recovers buried

treasure on the island of Monte Cristo. The rest of his life is

spent, at first, performing acts of goodness and charity for

the good people whom he has known, then he devotes his

life to brining about gods retribution against the evil people

who were responsible for his imprisonment. Monsieur De

Villefort Villefort is the type of person, as describe early in

the novel, which sacrifice anything to his ambition, even his

own father. Villefort, the prosecuting attorney, is most

responsible for the suffering of Dantes because it was he

who ordered that Edmond be sent to prison which ignited

his spark for revenge. Villefort is willing to have an innocent

man imprisoned for life. Thus, he becomes the central enemy

against whom the Count of Monte Cristo affects revenge.

Fernand Mondego (alias the Count de Morcerf) During the

time in which Edmond was a sailor, Fernand was a simple

fisherman and sometime smuggler who was in love with the

same woman whom Edmond Dantes was ingaged to.

Because of his jealousy, Fernand mailed the letter

condemning Dantes, hoping that if Dantes was arrested, he

would then be able to marry Mercedes. Fernand gained

much wealth by smuggling and by betraying the great Ali

Pasha. When all of his treachery was exposed, he discovers

that his wife and son have deserted him, thus he commits

suicide.