The Count of Monte Cristo

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The CountofMonte Cristo

• by
• Alexandre Dumas

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In theaters
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Plot (1 of 2)

• Edmond Dantes is leading a charmed life
• Dantes's friends become jealous of him
• Fernand Mondego covets Dantes's fiancee
• Danglars envies successful career
• Caderousse envies Dantes's apparent luck
• Dantes is framed for treason on his wedding day
• Villefort imprisons Dantes for life to save his
  father, Noirtier
• Dantes learns history, science, philosophy and
  language from Abbe Faria
• Faria bequeaths a large fortune to Dantes
• Dantes escapes and retrieves the fortune

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Plot (2 of 2)

• Dantes (Abbe Busoni) learns the details of the
  plot to frame him from Caderousse
• Dantes (the Count of Monte Cristo) emerges in
  Rome (10 years later)
• Monte Cristo saves Albert de Morcerf from bandits
• No one recognizes Dantes except Mercedes
• Dantes plots the demise of his old cohorts
• Dantes exposes Mondego's (Count de Morcerf)
  darkest secret
• Villefort is exposed and driven insane
• Danglars is left penniless
• Dantes arranges for Maximilian Morrel and
  Valentine Villefort to be together
• Dantes falls in love with Haydee

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Themes

• The limits of human justice -
• Dantes takes justice into his own hands
• Dantes does not believe their is adequate justice
  for the crimes committed against him
• Dantes realizes just human justice is limited by
  human compassion, tolerance and knowledge

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Themes

• Relative versus absolute happiness -
• Characters are either sympathetic or
  unsympathetic
• What separates the good from the bad in the novel
  is that ability of the good to appreciate the
  good they have done
• The bad focus solely on what they lack
• Dantes is betrayed by his friends because of
  their envy

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Themes

• Love versus alienation
• Dantes exiles himself from humanity
• Dantes is obsessed with being the angel of
  Providence
• Dantes disconnected from society when Abbe Faria
  dies
• When Dantes learns of his fathers death and
  Mercedess marriage, his isolation becomes
  complete
• Dantes reconciles when he falls in love with
  Haydee

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Major Characters

• Edmund Dantes
• A kind, innocent, honest, and loving man who
  becomes bitter and vengeful
• Disconnects from society
• Becomes the agent of Providence
• Reconnects with society when he falls in love

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Additional Links

• Grade-saver Summary