#Characters in the count of monte cristo series

It also inspired Alfred Bester's classic SF novel The Stars My Destination (also in space!) and Stephen Fry's The Stars' Tennis Balls (aka Revenge: A Novel) which has a lot of fun with Significant Anagrams.

#Characters in the count of monte cristo series

Numerous films and television series have been based on it, including the Anime Gankutsuou ( in space!) and an episode of The Famous Adventures of Mr. Often regarded as the greatest revenge story of all time, this novel remains a popular classic. He discovers that the men who sent him to his fate have all become very rich and powerful, and sets about using their own evil pasts and tainted passions to enact an elaborate and cruel revenge on all of them. He returns to France as the mysterious, brooding, immensely wealthy and highly cultivated Count of Monte Cristo. Edmond manages to escape, and finds the treasure. Faria educates him in a variety of subjects, helps piece together the truth about his imprisonment, and before dying, tells of a treasure of unthinkable magnitude buried on the island of Monte Cristo. Just as his life seems like it couldn't get any better, he is framed as a Napoleonic spy by four men, each with his own sinister aims, and sent to life imprisonment in the Chateau d'If.ĭuring his years in prison, Edmond meets Abbe Faria, a fellow prisoner who becomes his close friend. This works wells, for the most part, but sometimes dialogue becomes a monologue, and that can become tedious to read.A falsely-imprisoned man escapes to wreak his revenge on those who wronged him.Ī serialized adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas Sr., published in the Journal des débats from August 1844 to January 1846, based loosely on an allegedly true story which Dumas discovered in a collection of police reports.Įdmond Dantes is a naive, entirely benign young sailor who has just been made captain of his ship, and is newly engaged to the beautiful Mercedes. This keeps the scene active and in front of the reader instead of a narrative summary. Instead of using a literary device like flashbacks, Dumas insists on using dialogue to explain the backstory. His history as a playwright is also evident in his use of dialogue. To that end, Dumas frequently collaborated with others to create realistic characters throughout the social strata of 19th century France. In The Count of Monte Cristo, there are innkeepers, government officials, political leaders, sailors, smugglers, priests, and nobles. Even within France, he does a great job of evoking a sense of place-Paris is different from Marseilles in the south. He vividly paints the differences between Italy and France. His travel writing is clearly evident in The Count of Monte Cristo's frequent country hopping. Some of his most iconic characters-Dantes and D'Artagnan, are outsiders.Īs for his deliberate practice, Dumas was an accomplished playwright and travel writer before he turned to fiction. His status as an outsider might have influenced his writing. His father was a famous Haitian-born French general. Yes, Alexandre Dumas- creator of The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Man in the Iron Mask-was of Afro-Caribbean descent. Some people may be surprised to see Alexandre Dumas on my list of books highlighting writers of color. How'd He Do That? Author Highlight: Alexandre Dumas He is also a hypocrite, nearly killing his illegitimate son to save face.

He is duty-bound to uphold justice, but he is entirely self-serving, sending Dantes to prison to avoid any connection with a political coup.

One of the primary villains of the novel is the public prosecutor named Villefort (see what Dumas did there, the vill-ain is called Ville-fort). This irony adds humor to the dark narrative and a feeling of second-hand excitement as Edmond changes his various personas to suit his plans. He interacts with friends and foes in these disguises, with only his former fiancé ever recognizing him. During the events of the novels, Edmond Dantes disguises himself as several people: a priest, an Englishman, and a sailor/smuggler.