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The Count of Monte Cristo
Short Summary
The novel begins with the handsome young sailor Edmond Dantes. He has just
returned from a journey aboard the Pharaon. The Pharaon's shipowner, M.
Morrel, rushes out to meet the ship. He finds that the captain has died en
route, and Dantes has assumed the post with admirable skill. He thus plans
to make Dantes officially the next captain of the ship.
Dantes future is thus promising. His father's financial situation as well
as his own will be greatly ameliorated. In addition, Dantes has plans to
marry the beautiful Mercedes who has awaited his return from sea with great
anxiety and love.
Dantes will not get the chance to realize his bright future, however. His
success has earned him three conspiring enemies. They write a letter
falsely incriminating him in a Bonapartist plot (the royalists are
currently in power). These three enemies are Danglars, Fernand Mondego, and
Caderousse. Danglars will become captain of the Pharaon once Dantes is
removed, Fernand aspires to win Mercedes' love, and Caderousse is a jealous
neighbor of Dantes.
Perhaps the conspiracy would not have been so successful had not the
denunciation fallen into the hands of the public prosecutor, Monsieur de
Villefort. This man has nothing personal against Dantes, however, he has
Dantes incarcerated as a most dangerous criminal. His policy against
Bonapartists must be extremely vigilant in order to counter the reputation
of his father. His father is a known Bonapartist, and Villefort is paranoid
that this fact shall hurt his career among the ruling royalists. Thus, he
throws Dantes, an innocent man, into the Chateau D'If.
Political regimes change, yet Dantes is forgotten. M. Morrel attempts to
have him freed, yet to no avail. In prison, Dantes loses hope and decides
to starve himself to death. Thankfully, the prisoner in the next cell was
building a tunnel to escape. Miscalculations bring the Abbe Faria, to
Dantes cell instead of freedom. The two become friends, and the learned
Abbe teaches Dantes all his vast knowledge of literature, the sciences and
languages. The Abbe also reveals to Dantes the location of an immense
treasure on the Isle of Monte Cristo. He hopes Dantes will retrieve this
treasure should he escape. When the Abbe dies, Dantes replaces his body
with the Abbe's. The Abbe's body bag is thrown into the sea. Dantes is free
at last, after fourteen years of imprisonment. Dantes is saved from the sea
by Italian smugglers.
Dantes' only reason for living now is to have vengeance upon those who
threw his life away. He becomes a smuggler for a time, and finally has the
opportunity to retrieve the treasure spoken of by Abbe Faria. He shall use
this treasure to calculate the downfall of the four men who imprisoned him.
Dantes', now the Count of Monte Cristo, shall calculate his revenge over
the next10 years. He has already waited fourteen years, thus he has learned
the virtue of patience. These men deserve to suffer. Their downfall shal |