The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is a classic. A story about a man, Edmond Dantes, who was falsely accused of treason by his “friends,” Danglars and Fernand Mondego. The intrigue of this story lies within Dantes’s ability to become a man of great intelligence, caliber, and wealth and uses his newfound knowledge and capabilities to avenge so many lost years of his life, along with the love he could have prospered with.
Edmond Dantes, at 19 years of age, was an incredibly talented sailor. He lives in Marseilles, where his father and the woman he loves, Mercedes, reside. At the beginning of the book, Dantes is set for success. The book starts by telling how Dantes came back to Marseille from another voyage on the Le Pharaon. More importantly, Dantes announces his duty to deliver a letter that was passed to him during the voyage in Elba. Before leaving to deliver the letter, Dantes is promoted to Captain of the ship by former Captain Morrel, who was also one of Dantes’s respected friends. Along with accepting such a promotion, Dantes was set to marry Mercedes, the love of his life. Mercedes loved Dantes deeply, vowing to end her life if something happened to him. Dantes was ecstatic, as he could financially support his father and his bride-to-be. However, the happy frontier does not cover the tenebrous, underlying interior that is set to be Dantes’s downfall.
Danglars was thought to be Dantes’s shipmate and good acquaintance. However, tension arose between Dantes and Danglars after Dantes was promoted to Captain of the Pharaon. Danglars became extremely jealous, arrogantly believing that he was a better fit for the job and that it was unfair for Dantes to be so lucky in his life. That being said, Danglars devises a plan, using his knowledge of the letter Dantes had to deliver. He comes together with Fernand, who is deeply in love with Mercedes and hates Dantes with a passion for having Mercedes’s love and devotion. Sitting down with Fernand and another acquaintance, Caderousse, the three talk about their hatred for Dantes and devise a plan to shatter Dantes’s life. Initiated by Danglars, he falsely accuses Dantes of carrying a letter from Napoleon to the Bonapartist committee in Paris. The accusation is written by Danglars in a letter of his own to the crown prosecutor.
Shortly after the plan was initiated, Dantes and Mercedes were (officially) set to be married and, of course, invited Danglars, Fernand, and Caderousse, with other close family and friends. During the celebration, Dantes was taken by soldiers, accused of being a messenger for the “Usurper.” Without trial, Dantes was imprisoned in the Chateau d’If. During his time in prison, Dantes began to lose himself, year after year, until he met the man who saved his life — Abbe Faria.
Abbe Faria was known as the “Mad Priest” amongst the prison guards because he claimed to have a great treasure, which he promised to share if he was released. Along with that, Abbe Faria would talk to himself about various topics in history, science, language, etc. His intelligence was mistaken for craziness. Faria and Dantes met coincidentally — both men were digging holes through their walls and happened to have cells adjacent to each other. From their first meeting, they agreed that Faria would teach Dantes everything he knows and help Dantes realize he was falsely accused by Danglars and Fernand. For years afterward, Dantes was Faria’s devoted student.
When Faria became sick, he told Dantes about his treasure, which Dantes was reluctant to believe at first. Regardless, Dantes followed the instructions given by Faria before his passing on how to find the treasure after he escaped prison. When Faria died, Dantes removed Faria from the enclosure he was in and placed himself in the enclosure. In this way, Dantes escaped, followed Faria’s instructions to the treasure, and began his (successful) journey of avenging all the years he had lost.
