By: Alexandre Dumas

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO

AUTHOR INFORMATION• Born on 24 July 1802 just outside of Paris, France

• Alexandre’s grandfather married a slave he fell in love with in San Domingo (now Haiti) named Marie Louise Césette Dumas (She was black, he was white)

• Alexandre's mother set her best efforts to providing an education for her son although he proved to be less than enthusiastic about it

• In 1822 Dumas set off for Paris and was soon immersed in literary life

• Had a son, Alexandre, with his mistress; married; and had at least three other illegitimate children

• On 21 July 1832 he left Paris and embarked on his first of many travels which took him to such countries as Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, England, Germany, and North Africa

MORE ON DUMAS• During his time in Paris, he wrote many plays and was accepted into literary circles

thanks to their success

• During his travels, he began to write short stories and novels, his two most popular being The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo

• Dumas‘ writing earned him a great deal of money, but Dumas was frequently insolvent as a result of spending lavishly on women and sumptuous living

• He bought land and built the Château de Monte Cristo (nicknamed Château d'If) in Port Marly, Yvelines, France, now a museum• Despite Alexandre Dumas' success and aristocratic background, his being of mixed race affected him all his life. • Alexandre Dumas died on 5 December 1870 at his son's villa in Puys, near Dieppe, France

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO(FRENCH: LE COMTE DE MONTE-CRISTO)• An adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The

Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844.

• The story takes place in France, Italy, and islands in the Mediterranean, during the historical events of 1815–1838. The historical setting is a fundamental element of the book.

• An adventure story primarily concerned with themes of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy and forgiveness, it tells of a man who is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes from jail, acquires a fortune and sets about getting revenge on the men who destroyed his life. However, his plans also have devastating consequences for the innocent as well as the guilty. Chateau D'If

• George Saintsbury stated that "Monte Cristo is said to have been at its first appearance, and for some time subsequently, the most popular book in Europe. Perhaps no novel within a given number of years had so many readers and penetrated into so many different countries.“

• This popularity has extended into modern times as well. The book was "translated into virtually all modern languages and has never been out of print in most of them. There have been at least twenty-nine motion pictures based on it ... as well as several television series, and many movies [have] worked the name 'Monte Cristo' into their titles."

• As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815.

• He is best remembered for his role in the wars led against France by a series of coalitions, the so-called Napoleonic Wars.

• In the first decade of the 19th century, the French Empire under Napoleon engaged in a series of conflicts involving every major European power.

• After a streak of victories, France secured a dominant position in continental Europe.

• In 1813, the Sixth Coalition defeated his forces at Leipzig; the following year the Coalition invaded France, forced Napoleon to abdicate and exiled him to the island of Elba.

• Less than a year later, he escaped Elba and returned to power, but was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815.

• Napoleon spent the last six years of his life in confinement by the British on the island of Saint Helena.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

• Bonapartism was the adaptation of principles of the French Revolution to suit Napoleon's imperial form of rule.

• After the arrest of Bonaparte, anyone considered in league with him or participating in “Bonapartism” was considered a traitor to France.

• Many were imprisoned or put to death because of these charges.

BONAPARTISM

PLOT OVERVIEW• In 1815 Edmond Dantès, the young and successful merchant sailor recently granted his

own command by his dying captain Leclère, returns to Marseille to marry his fiancée Mercédès.

• Leclère, a supporter of the exiled Napoléon I, has charged Dantès to deliver two objects: a package to Maréchal Bertrand (exiled with Napoleon Bonaparte on Elba), and a letter from Elba to an unknown man in Paris.

• On the eve of his wedding to Mercédès, Fernand (Mercédès' cousin and a rival for her affections) and Danglars (who is jealous of Dantes' rapid rise to captain) send an anonymous note accusing Dantès of being a Bonapartist traitor.

• Villefort, the deputy crown prosecutor in Marseille, normally a just man, destroys the letter from Elba because it is addressed to his father who is a Bonapartist and he fears that it will harm his career.

• In order to silence Dantès, he condemns him without trial to life imprisonment.

PLOT CONTINUED• The novel tells of Dantes’s escape from prison and eventual revenge on those

who wronged him and his family• It also tells of him helping those who were kind to him and his father with his

newly acquired money and title of Count of Monte Cristo

Edmond Dantes• A sailor with good prospects, fiancé to

Mercédès

• Becomes the Count of Monte Cristo, English Chief Clerk of the Thomson and French banking firm

• Lord Wilmore: English persona in which Dantès performs random acts of generosity

• Sinbad the Sailor: The persona that Dantès assumes when he saves the Morrel family and assumes while mixing with smugglers and brigands

• Abbé Busoni: The persona of religious authority

• Monsieur Zaccone: Dantès, in the guise of both Abbé Busoni and Lord Wilmore, tells an investigator this is the Count of Monte Cristo's true name

Dantès‘s allies• Abbé Faria: Italian priest and sage.

• Giovanni Bertuccio: The Count of Monte Cristo's steward and very loyal servant; foster father of Benedetto

• Luigi Vampa: celebrated Italian bandit and fugitive

• Peppino: Formerly a shepherd, he is later a bandit and full member of Vampa's gang

• Haydée : The daughter of Ali Pasha of Yanina, bought out of slavery by the Count

• Ali: Monte Cristo's mute Nubian slave

• Baptistin: Monte Cristo's valet-de-chambre

• Jacopo: A poor smuggler who helps Dantès win his freedom. When Jacopo proves his selfless loyalty, Dantès rewards him with his own ship and crew

CHARACTERS

Morcef Family

• Mercédès Mondego: (née: Herrera) Dantès‘s fiancée at the beginning of the story

• Fernand Mondego: Count de Morcerf, Dantès‘s rival and cousin of Mercédès. Eventually marries her.

• Albert de Morcerf: Son of Mercédès and the Count de Morcerf, friend of Monte Cristo.

Danglars Family

• Baron Danglars: Dantes‘s jealous junior officer at the beginning of the story, then later a wealthy banker.

• Madame Hermine Danglars: She had an affair with Gérard de Villefort: they had an illegitimate son Benedetto

• Eugénie Danglars: Daughter of Baron Danglars

CHARACTERS

Villefort family• Gérard de Villefort: Royal prosecutor who imprisons

Dantès,

• Renée de Villefort: Gérard de Villefort's first wife, mother of Valentine

• Le Marquis de Saint-Méran and La Marquise de Saint-Méran: Renée's parents.

• Valentine de Villefort: The daughter of Gérard de Villefort and his first wife, Renée.

• Monsieur Noirtier de Villefort: The father of Gérard de Villefort and grandfather of Valentine, Édouard (and, without knowing it, Benedetto).

• Héloïse de Villefort: The murderous second wife of Gérard de Villefort.

• Édouard de Villefort. The only legitimate son of Villefort.

• Benedetto: The illegitimate son of de Villefort and Baroness Hermine Danglars (Hermine de Nargonne), raised by Bertuccio and his sister-in-law, Assunta, Rogliano. Becomes "Andrea Cavalcanti" in Paris.

Morrel family• Pierre Morrel: Dantès's employer,

owner of Morrel & Son

• Maximilien Morrel: Son of Pierre Morrel, an army captain who becomes a friend of Dantès

• Julie Herbault: Daughter of Pierre Morrel, wife of Emmanuel Herbault

• Emmanuel Herbault: an employee of Morrel & Son

CHARACTERS

• Gaspard Caderousse: Originally a tailor, a neighbour and friend of Dantès but who betrays him

• Louis Dantès: Edmond Dantès' father

• Baron Franz d'Épinay: A friend of Albert de Morcerf, first fiancé of Valentine de Villefort

• Lucien Debray: Secretary to the Minister of the Interior, a friend of Albert de Morcerf, and a lover of Madame Danglars

• Beauchamp: Journalist and friend of Albert de Morcerf

• Raoul, Baron de Château-Renaud: Member of a noble family and friend of Albert de Morcerf

• Louise d'Armilly: Eugénie Danglars' music instructor & her closest friend

• Monsieur de Boville: originally an inspector of prisons, later a detective in the Paris force

• Barrois: Old, trusted servant of Monsieur de Noirtier

• Monsieur d'Avrigny: Family doctor treating the Villefort family

• Major (also Marquis) Bartolomeo Cavalcanti: Old man who plays the role of Prince Andrea Cavalcanti's father

• Ali Pasha: An Albanian nationalist leader, Pasha of Yanina, whom Mondego betrays, leading to Ali Pasha’s murder at the hands of the Turks and the seizure of his kingdom. Pasha’s wife and his daughter Haydée are sold into slavery

OTHER CHARACTERS

THEMES• Revenge

• Fate vs. Free Will

• Perserverance

• Justice and Judgement

• Transformation

• Hatred

• Ambition

• Manipulation