There is no mere man capable of exacting revenge without consequence, though it is hard for some to overcome the past without closure. In Alexandre Dumas’ novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes, and later the titular count, is torn between a pursuing vengeance against enemies who had him wrongfully imprisoned for fourteen years and reinventing himself with the riches he obtained shortly after his release. Though Dantes begins a genuine, hardworking young man, his imprisonment in the Chateau d’If allows the seed of revenge to fester in his heart. Dumas illustrates the conflict between Dantes’ begrudging his false accusers and letting go of the past through the employment of a reversed baptism in Dantes’ escape from prison, the juxtaposed personalities of Dantes’ aliases, and his later regret for the innocent victims claimed upon his revenge-scheme’s fruition. …show more content…
Dantes sinking into the water is the true “death” of him, that he so professes later in the novel, and the birth of the vengeful Count: it is the sea, the “graveyard” of the prison where he buries his past self, his past goals, and his past values in favor of more twisted ideas and plans. Whileas the original Dantes and his character would be wholly against the assistance of bandits and murderers, such as Luigi Vampa’s band, the fresh Count embraces the resources he foresees. As the novel progresses, Dantes repeatedly announces that Edmond Dantes died in the Chateau d’If, even when he announces his true identity to his enemies, emphasizing that amid his imprisonment and plans for his subsequent revenge, Dantes had forgone his original self, values, and
Danglars was the ringleader in the arrest of Dantes, as he wrote the letter that got Dantes arrested and took his position of the captain of the Pharaon. As he later became a very rich and successful banker, the Count of Monte Cristo approached him as a potential client and proceeded to embarrass Danglars with his extreme wealth. Then, Dantes manipulated the radio to send a fake telegraph that predicted a revolution in Spain, causing Danglars to sell all of his bonds, only to later buy them back at a higher value after learning that the radio message was a false alarm, losing one million francs in the process. Later, the Count got Danglars kidnapped by his friend, the famous bandit, Luigi Vampa, and the Count planned to not pay the ransom and just let Danglars die, but the Count had a change of heart. The Count of Monte Cristo decided to let Danglars off the hook and allow him to live the rest of his life in peace, as he felt that he had done enough to his victims. The Count stated, “Do you repent? Then I forgive you” (Dumas 522) as he decided to spare the life of Danglars after robbing him of his family, money, and dignity. However, this shows a great shift in the motivations of the Count, as he went from manipulating all of those who convicted him to forgiving his last victim and
“Humble yourself or life will do it for you.” Having too much pride can cause karma to hit you very hard in life. The Count of Monte Cristo and Ozymandias are very common because they have very similar themes of being humble instead of having too much ego. In The Count of Monte Cristo Edmond Dantes, the main character, is in love with a beautiful young lady, Mercedes. His life is going very good to begin with anyway. He was promoted to captain of the Pharaon and was now making much more money than he used to be making. Although Edmond was a very happy and sympathetic person, some people were very envious of him. So Ferdinand, Danglars, and Caderousse, which were envious for very diverse reasons, decided to write a letter to the public prosecutor stating edmond’s visit to The Isle of Elba actually did indeed happen. The public prosecutor, Villefort, sees that the letter was intended to be
The story of “Killings” by Andre Dubus looked into the themes of crime, revenge and morality. The crime committed in the story depicted the father’s love for his son and the desire to avenge his son’s death. However, his own crime led to his own destruction as he was faced with questions of morality. The character found himself in a difficult position after taking his revenge. He failed to anticipate the guilt associated with the crime he committed. Feelings of anger and righteousness are illustrated by the character throughout the story.
No matter how well executed, a crime of this magnitude will leave scars on the conscience, thus marring it’s perfection. Conflicting psychological emotions and actions plague the journey causing inner conflict ranging between pity and revulsion by the time the narrator concludes. Notwithstanding the shortage of information on Montresor’s life in the ensuing fifty years since Fortunato’s death; it can be surmised from the events leading to the murder that Montresor does, in fact, have a conscience and that it builds upon itself as the action
In Cervantes’ Don Quixote, the protagonist, a middle-aged gentleman named Alonso Quixano, loves chivalry and spends all his free time collecting and reading books on it. Obsessed with the heroic ideals portrayed in the books, he decides to roam the countryside as a knight-errant named Don Quixote, protecting the helpless, defending women, and destroying evil. Reality and imagination begin to blend together for him, as he sees a peasant woman as a great lady, an inn as a castle, or some windmills as giants. His perception of the world is aligned with neither reality nor the perceptions of those around him. As a result, he obviously acts and treats people differently. But do Don Quixote’s illusions affect his interactions with others for better or worse? One thing is certain: in any given situation he tends to exaggerate either the virtues or vices of people, to the extent that he perceives them as much better or much worse than they really are. Because of this, it seems his illusions cause his interactions with other people to be either better than usual, or much, much worse. He builds people up more
Though he may seem acquitted and amiable, Gerard de Villefort can be dangerous and even murderous. Gerard has done numerous things in his life to corroborate his sinfulness, including the assayed murder of his son, Andrea, by burying him alive when he was a newborn. Gerard is also one of the three main conspirators in the Count's arrest and imprisonment; it is he who is the most measurable of the three. The Count, Edmond Dantes, was an innocent man about to be married, before Gerard’s conception between right and wrong was twisted by the name of his father in a letter. Also, Gerard forces his wife to commit suicide; even though he had had many faults of his own.
While he lies on the ground gasping for breath, Caderousse tells the Abbe Busoni that he does not believe in God. Only moments later, Edmond Dantes reveals himself to him, and he spends his dying breath asking the Lord to forgive him. Edmond Dantes, looking at his corpse, whispers “one”. This was the first evident moment in Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo where Edmond Dantes achieves any justification on his enemies for the wrongs they have done to him. After twenty years of meticulous planning, Dantes carries out his plan of ultimate revenge on his enemies in order to achieve the justice he believes he deserves. In his novel, Dumas shows that to obtain true justice—whether personal or societal—one must understand the limits of
The protagonists, The Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, consider it their life’s ambition to sadistically control and dominate those around them through sexual intrigue. These two villains are indeed locked in psychological combat to see who can actually ‘out-do’ the other in stalking, capturing and destroying the souls of others. Taking absolute pleasure in ripping any virtue from the hearts of their prey, Merteuil and Valmont wave their accomplishments in front of each other like spoils of war. The less the chance of surrender, the more relentless is the pursuit.
Akin to many of Alexandre Dumas’ other masterpieces, “The Count of Monte Cristo” is a dramatic tale of mystery and intrigue that paints a dazzling, dueling, exuberant vision of the Napoleonic era in France. In this thrilling adventure, Edmond Dantès is toiling with the endeavor of attaining ultimate revenge, after being punished by his enemies and thrown into a secret dungeon in the Chateau d’If. He reluctantly learns that his long intolerable years in captivity, miraculous escape and carefully wrought revenge are all merely vital parts in his journey of awakening to the notion that there is no such thing as happiness or unhappiness, there is merely the comparison between the two. Ultimately, the irony that Dumas is presenting through this novel suggests that the inability to attain happiness through the hypocrisy that is revenge is because one is really avenging their own self. This becomes evident through his dramatic transformations from a nave, young sailor, to a cold, cynical mastermind of vengeance, and finally to a remorseful, humble man who is simply content.
I want to introduce you to, “The Count of Monte Christo,” by Alexandre Dumas. It is a story that starts as a love story that turns to betrayal and revenge. The Count of Monte Christo is set in France about 1804 in a large city. There was confusion to who led France, King Louis or Napoleon. France was divided by the two ruling parties. The main character is Edmond Dantes. He did many things in this story. He was a sailor, a lover, a friend, a captain, and a prisoner. Edmond was a tall, skinny black haired man in his twenties. When he was on the boat Pharon, the captain died and he was promoted to captain. When they return, he was convicted of treason and put into prison.
“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name;” (Shakespeare, 536). In the book, ‘Romeo and Juliet”, by William Shakespeare there is a deeper meaning that Shakespeare is trying to portray other than parents cannot control their children’s hearts. He is trying to portray that a name is only a name and it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things and that even with a different name that person will still be the same person they have always been. Shakespeare is using the characters: Juliet, Romeo, Lord Capulet, Friar Lawrence, and the Nurse to get this message across to the reader or the viewer.
	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.
In the novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, the main character, Edmond Dantes, faces an injustice that transforms his compassion into cruelty. Taking place during the downfall of Napoleon, the novel illustrates the power of status, wealth, and political opinions in French society through Edmond Dantes’ misfortunes and victories. After withstanding fourteen years in the Chateau’ d’If prison and acquiring an immense fortune, Dantes begins his plot for revenge. The Count is completely justified in this revenge because he is able to expose the true nature of his enemies and manipulate them to their ultimate downfall.
In the novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Edmond Dantes is wrongly accused of traitorous actions and gets thrown in jail. While planning his escape, Dantes is transformed into a bitter person consumed with revenge. Edmond befriends an older prisoner Abbe Faria who relays information of a hidden treasure and molds Edmond into Monte Cristo. With the death of his beloved friend Abbe Faria, Dantes is able to escape the Chateau d’If and have enough wealth to enact revenge on his conspirators. Although Monte Cristo is a large part of the deaths, kidnapping and loss of wealth he is not wholly responsible for the misfortunes of envious backstabbers. The Count of Monte Cristo acts as a catalyst to expedite the inevitable. Edmond is innocent of all crimes because of Albert’s cockiness, Ferdinand’s cowardice and Madame de Villefort's motherly love.
Here, Dantes finds out that Fernand married Mercédès and had a son, Albert. This angers Dantes because his fiancée married one of the men who maliciously denounced him and causes his suffering. Starting Dantes plan for revenge, he uses Fernand’s son, Albert, to be reintroduced to the Parisian society as his alias, The Count of Monte Cristo, “Will you undertake, my dear Monsieur de Morcerf,... to introduce me to the world which will be so foreign to me when I arrive in France?” (159). Dantes befriends Albert to use him as a pawn for revenge against Fernand and Mercédès.