The Count of Monte Cristo

“I don’t think man was meant to obtain happiness so easily. Happiness is like those palaces in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it.”

Edmond presents a view of happiness that will echo in his final letter to Maximilien, describing it as something only understood by those who have also experienced misfortune and despair. Edmond’s comment, made moments before his arrest at his wedding, also foreshadows the misfortunes and struggles he will soon face.

“He told himself that it was the hatred of men, not the vengeance of God, which had plunged him into the abyss in which he now found himself. He doomed these unknown men to all the tortures his fiery imagination could contrive, but even the cruelest ones seemed too mild and too short for them, for after the torment would come death which would bring them if not rest, at least the insensibility that resembles it.”

Facing despair during his imprisonment in the Chateau d’If, Edmond conceives of the vengeance that will consume him until almost until the book’s end. This passage articulates key elements of his philosophy of revenge: the blame for his misfortune lies with specific individuals who should be punished, and that the ideal punishment should bring the recipient to an understanding of the suffering they have caused instead of simply ending their life.

“If crowns were only for the most beautiful and intelligent heads, Mercédès would be a queen now. As her fortune grew, she grew with it. She learned drawing, she learned music, she learned everything. Between you and me, though, I think she learned all that only to distract herself; I think she put all those things in her head in order to forget what was in her heart.”

Caderousse describes Mercédès to Monte Cristo, disguised as Abbé Busoni. He presents her in terms that emphasize how and why she is (or would have been) a fitting mate for Edmond. She is beautiful and intelligent and capable of adapting and educating herself to fit her changing circumstances as she rises in social status. She will pass on both her education and her character to her son, Albert. The passage also makes clear that Mercédès, like Edmond, is deeply scarred by the loss of her first love, though she has chosen to distract herself, rather than focus on her loss.

“If a man has tortured and killed your father, your mother, your sweetheart, in short, one of those beings who leave an eternal emptiness and a perpetually bleeding wound when they are torn from your heart, do you think society has given you sufficient reparation because the blade of the guillotine has passed between the murderer’s trapezius and his occipital bone […]?” 

Before the public execution in Rome, Monte Cristo explains his philosophy of punishment to Albert and Franz after describing to them how he has made a study of different methods of torture and execution in his travels around the world. In addition to restating Monte Cristo’s belief that death is insufficient as a punishment, the passage also evokes Monte Cristo’s wide travels, his education (using the correct anatomical terms), and his sense of detachment from normal human fears.

“As for the count, he hardly touched the food set before him; he seemed as though he might have sat down at table with his guests only in order to be polite, and that he was awaiting their departure in order to be served some strange dish of his own.”

The description of Monte Cristo’s behavior at the table with Albert and Franz before the execution presents the first example of how Monte Cristo barely eats, having largely conquered the human need for food and sleep. The passage also foreshadows Albert’s later comment about how Monte Cristo seems to follow the “Oriental” practice of never eating or drinking in the house of an enemy so as not to incur any debt to him. Finally, Monte Cristo’s suggestion that he will “feed” privately—perhaps on his plans for vengeance—presents him in a demonic or vampiric light and foreshadows the “feast” of vengeance he is preparing.

“Oh, mankind, race of crocodiles! How well I recognize you down there, and how worthy you are of yourselves!”

Monte Cristo makes this comment at the end of his speech at the execution, explaining that the prisoner about to be executed is angry and jealous because his fellow prisoner has been spared at the last moment. Monte Cristo sees this as typical of the rage and envy he sees just below the surface of human society, an idea fed by his own experiences. This statement shows Monte Cristo’s contempt for these aspects of human nature and his own sense of himself as above the human race “down there.” It is also significant that Monte Cristo himself has engineered this drama by arranging for the second prisoner’s reprieve.

“After he saved your life, did he make you sign a contract, written on flame-colored parchment, in which you surrendered your soul to him?”

One of Albert’s friends jokingly suggests that Monte Cristo is the devil and Albert has sold his soul to him, evoking Byronic heroes such as Manfred and their literary predecessors and contemporaries such as Faust and Melmoth the Wanderer. In addition to placing Monte Cristo in a particular historical and cultural lineage, the comment also foreshadows Monte Cristo’s description of himself as someone tempted by Satan to assume the role of an avenging Providence. Furthermore, given the role that Monte Cristo will play in Albert’s life, Albert may in fact have made a kind of deal with the devil in befriending Monte Cristo and introducing him to Parisian society.

“‘If you knew me better,’ said the count, ‘You wouldn’t trouble yourself about a matter which has so little importance for a traveler who, like myself, has lived on macaroni in Naples, polenta in Milan, olla podrida in Valencia, karrick in India, pilau in Constantinople and swallow’s nests in China.’”

Speaking to Albert’s friends over lunch, Monte Cristo explains his indifference to food and hunger in terms that also identify him as cosmopolitan, and without a country or normal loyalties. The list of foods also suggests Monte Cristo’s identification with places considered to be part of the “Orient,” a recurring motif and indicative of Monte Cristo’s intentional “Othering” of himself to enact his revenge and distance himself from his previous identity as Edmond.

“Don’t you know that anything is for sale to a man who’s willing to pay the price?”

Monte Cristo responds to Bertuccio after the latter fails to buy Mme. Danglars’s matched gray horses, making clear his belief that most people are driven by greed. Monte Cristo views this as a weakness and exploits it in his schemes for revenge.

“My kingdom is as large as the world, for I am neither Italian, French, Hindu, American or Spanish. I am a cosmopolite. I adopt all customs and I speak all languages […] Therefore, since I am from no country, since I ask no government for protection, and since I regard no man as my brother, I am not deterred by any of the scruples or obstacles that paralyze the efforts of the weak.”

When Villefort calls on Monte Cristo to thank him for saving his wife’s runaway carriage, Monte Cristo explicitly outlines his philosophy and self-image in a series of long speeches. In this excerpt, he describes his cosmopolitan identity and, by extension, his sense of freedom from ordinary social ties and norms, which he sees as attributes of the weak.

“‘As it happens to every man at least once in his life, I was once raised by Satan to the top of the highest mountain on earth. From there he showed me the whole world and said to me, as he said to Christ, “Son of man, what wouldst thou have in order to worship me?” […] I replied ‘I have always heard of Providence, yet I have never seen it or anything resembling it, which makes me think it does not exist. I want to be Providence, for the greatest, most beautiful and the most sublime thing I know of in this world is to reward and punish.’”

In this passage from his conversation with Villefort, Monte Cristo directly compares himself to Christ, though he softens the comparison by saying that “every man” will experience being tempted by Satan. As Monte Cristo seems to see himself as a Providence, or its instrument, it is not clear here whether he resisted Satan’s temptation, even though Monte Cristo elsewhere is described as an angel or agent of God. This continues the pattern of Satanic and Christlike imagery around Monte Cristo and recalls the earlier reference to a Satanic pact. The image of Monte Cristo looking down at the earth from a high mountain also reoccurs. Significantly, the island of Monte Cristo means “mountain of Christ.”

“I’ve often seen those black, shining arms rising from the top of the hill […] and it has never been without emotion for me, for I’ve always thought of those strange signs cleaving the air for three hundred leagues to carry the thoughts of one man sitting at his desk to another man sitting at his desk at the other end of that line. It has always made me think of genii, sylphs, or gnomes; in short, of occult powers, and that amuses me. Then one day I learned that the operator of each telegraph is only some poor devil employed for twelve hundred francs a year […].”

Monte Cristo tells the Villeforts of his plans to visit a telegraph station. Though he suggests he is motivated by curiosity about a new technology of his day, he is planning to bribe a telegraph operator to send a false message that will be intercepted by Debray and used by him and Mme. Danglars as part of their investment strategy. The image of what appears to be a vast occult force actually being a network of fallible human beings motivated by basic needs and weaknesses aptly reflects Monte Cristo’s view of society and of the means by which he manipulates it.

“What does the Count of Morcerf’s honor or dishonor mean to me? It neither increases nor decreases my income.” 

Danglars gives this response to Albert when the latter confronts him with his role in the public humiliation of Albert’s father Fernand. The comment illustrates Danglars’s materialistic and selfish worldview. Unlike most of the other characters, Danglars is not moved by the concepts of honor or reputation, unless his finances are affected. The fact he makes this comment to Albert’s son reinforces how insensitive and thick-skinned Danglars is. Monte Cristo finally brings Danglars to the breaking point by forcing Danglars to choose between food and money.

“You’ve been eager to give me a reputation for eccentricity, to depict me as a sort of Manfred or Lord Ruthwen.”

Monte Cristo, speaking to a journalist who is a friend of Albert, reinforces his Byronic image by pretending to dismiss it. Manfred is the Faust-like hero of a poetic drama by Byron, set high in the Alps, in which Manfred undergoes a spiritual struggle that he ends when he dies by suicide over the possibility of redemption. “Lord Ruthwen” refers to Lord Ruthven, the title character in The Vampyre, a novel written by Byron’s physician, John Polidori, who is widely assumed to have based his undead character on Byron himself.

“I know the world is a salon which we ought to leave politely and honestly; that is, after saluting and paying our gambling debts.”

Monte Cristo makes this statement to Maximilien before Monte Cristo’s planned duel with Albert. At this point, Monte Cristo expects to let Albert kill him in order to spare Mercédès the loss of her son. Monte Cristo has just expressed sadness at leaving Haydée and asked Maximilien not to share this with anyone. Monte Cristo articulates the one social value system he does seem to respect—that of the highborn European gentleman who identifies society with the aristocratic salons he patronizes as a guest. The paramount rules in this world are to protect one’s own reputation, respect that of others, and always honor one’s debts, literal or figurative. The duel Monte Cristo expects to fight plays a key role in this value system.

“There are men who have suffered and who have not only gone on living, but even built a new fortune on the ruins of their former happiness.”

Albert has just told his mother, Mercédès, of his decision to leave Paris and renounce his father’s name and fortune. Unwittingly, he is describing an experience Monte Cristo, his mentor and father figure, has already undergone. In accepting this fate, Albert shows himself to be similar to Monte Cristo.

“‘No matter what happens to you, Valentine,’ said Monte Cristo, ‘Don’t be frightened. If you lose your sight, your hearing, and your sense of touch, don’t be afraid; if you awaken without knowing where you are, don’t be afraid, even if you should find yourself in a tomb or a coffin; rather, keep your head and say to yourself, “At this moment a man dedicated to my happiness and that of Maximilien is watching over me.”’”

Monte Cristo prepares Valentine to undergo her own near-death experience and rebirth, as he plans to drug her deeply enough to convince a doctor she is dead before smuggling her out of Paris, leaving her family to mourn her death. Monte Cristo’s speech refers to his belief that true happiness is reached via a symbolic rebirth after great suffering. It also shows his willingness to play God in the lives of people around him and his belief in his right to do so.

“‘Look, Edmond Dantès!’ said Villefort, pointing to the bodies of his wife and son. ‘Is your vengeance complete now?’

Monte Cristo paled at the horrible sight. He realized that he had gone beyond the limits of rightful vengeance and that he could no longer say, ‘God is for me and with me.’”

After Mme. Villefort kills her young son, Edouard, along with herself, Monte Cristo questions his actions as an agent of “Providence” for the first time. This represents a crisis and a turning point for his character.

“They were on the top of the hill of Villejuif, from which Paris, spread out like a dark sea below, agitates its millions of lights like phosphorescent waves; waves more tumultuous, more seething, more furious than those of the angry ocean, which will never know the calm like those of the vast sea, waves forever clashing, forever foaming, forever engulfing…”

After the death of Edouard, Monte Cristo leaves Paris. He stops his carriage on a hill in the suburbs and bids goodbye to the city. The moment recalls other descriptions of Monte Cristo looking over the world from a high mountain, most notably when he describes himself as Christ tempted by Satan. The name of the suburb, Villejuif (“town of the Jews”), along with subsequent references to Paris as a “modern Babylon” and a city on a plain, carries echoes of the Old Testament. The image of Paris as a sea made up of individual waves perpetually colliding also evokes the idea of society’s appearance as a united force or entity, but, in fact, being made up individuals, each of whom is caught up in their own struggle.

“[B]ehind me, invisible, unknown, and wrathful, there was God, of whom I was only the agent and who did not choose to prevent my blows from reaching their mark.”

Monte Cristo speaks with Mercédès after his return to Marseilles, explaining how his view of his own role has changed in response to the doubts that overwhelmed him after the death of Edouard. He no longer sees himself as a godlike figure exercising control over the destinies of other people.

“‘That’s not how we should worship God,’ said Monte Cristo. ‘God wants us to understand him and discuss His purposes: that’s why He gave us free will.’”

Monte Cristo gives this reply to Mercédès when she says that she has lost the will to question or alter her fate. Monte Cristo may no longer believe in his godlike abilities to carry out a divine plan, but he also does not believe that he or anyone else should passively accept their misfortunes. He and others should question and strive to shape their destinies, even if they cannot control the outcome.

“You’re all I have left in the world; through you I attach myself to life again; through you I can suffer, through you I can be happy.”

In accepting Haydée’s love, Monte Cristo describes her as the means through which he will reenter the fray of ordinary life, rejecting his previous persona as godlike standing aloof from ordinary human concerns.

“Tell the angel who will watch over your life to pray now and then for a man who, like Satan, believed himself to be equal to God, but who realized in all humility that supreme power and wisdom are in the hands of God alone.”

In his farewell letter to Maximilien, Monte Cristo compares himself to Satan in his pride, acknowledging that he believed he could do no wrong in his quest for vengeance. He now takes a more humble and limited view of his role in the lives of others. Earlier, when telling Valentine not to be afraid even if she woke up inside a coffin, he presented himself as a benefactor who holds power over life and death. Here, he rejects that idea, identifying himself as a man, opposed to an angel, and one with no more power to alter destiny than Maximilien and Valentine have.