The Count of Monte Cristo
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The Count of Monte Cristo
Tykorter harris
Mrs.McKay
4/24/26
2 Harris
Edmond Dantès, a young sailor, skillfully docks the three-masted French ship, the Pharaon, in
Marseilles after its captain died on the way home. As a reward, Dantès is promised a captainship,
but before he can claim his new post and be married to his fiancée, Mercédès', a conspiracy of
four jealous men set him up to be arrested and sent to prison in the infamous Chateau d'If. A
prison from which no one has ever escaped. For many years, Dantès barely exists in his tiny, cell.
He almost loses his mind and his will to live until one day he hears another prisoner nearby. He
too begins digging, and soon he meets an old Abbé who knows the where a lost treasure is, one
that used to belong to a rich Italian family. Dantès and the Abbé continue digging for several
years, and from the Abbé, Dantès learns history, literature, science, and languages, but when at
last they are almost free, the Abbé dies. Dantès hides his body, then sews himself in the Abbé's
burial sack. The guards arrive, carry the sack outside, and throws the body far out to sea. Dantès
manages to escape and is picked up by a ship full of smugglers, whom he joins until he can
locate the island where the treasure is hidden. When he finally discovers it, he is staggered by
how much it is. And when he returns to society again, he is the very rich Count of Monte Cristo.
Monte Cristo want to do two things. Reward those who were kind to him and his aging father,
and to punish those responsible for his imprisonment. He plans slow and painful punishment. To
have spent fourteen years in a dungeon demands cruel and prolonged punishment. As Monte
Cristo, Dantès manages to be introduced to the cream of Parisian society, among whom he goes
unrecognized. But Monte Cristo, in contrast, recognizes all of his enemies all now rich men.
Fernand has married Mercédès and is now known as Count de Morcerf. Monte Cristo releases
information to the press that proves that Morcerf is a traitor, and Morcerf is ruined socially. Then
Monte Cristo destroys Morcerf's relationship with his family, whom he adores. When they leave
3 Harris
him, he is so distraught that he shoots himself. To revenge himself on Danglars, who loves
money more than anything else, Monte Cristo ruins him financially. To revenge himself on
Caderousse, Monte Cristo easily traps Caderousse because of his greed, then watches as one of
Caderousse's friends murders him. To revenge himself on Villefort, Monte Cristo slowly reveals
to Villefort that he knows about a love affair that Villefort had long ago with the present Madame
Danglars. He also reveals to him, by hints, that he knows about a child whom he fathered, a child
whom Villefort believed that he buried alive. The child lived, however, and is now engaged to
Danglars' daughter, who is the young man's half-sister.
Surprisingly, Villefort's wife proves to be even more evil than her husband, for she poisons the
parents of Villefort's first wife, then she believes that she has successfully poisoned her husband's
daughter by his first marriage. With those people dead, her own son is in line to receive all his
riches. Villefort, however, discovers his wife's evil plan and threatens her, and so she poisons
herself and their son. At this point, Dantès is half-fearful that his revenge has been too thorough,
but because he is able to unite two young people who are very much in love and unite them on
the Isle of Monte Cristo, he sails away, happy and satisfied, never to be seen again.
4 Harris
Works Cited
“Book Summary.” CliffsNotes,
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/c/the-count-of-monte-cristo/book-summary.
Accessed 7 April 2026.
Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo. Prakash Books, 2021.
Surprenant, Céline. “The Count of Monte Cristo | Summary, Legacy, & Facts.” Britannica, 27
March 2026, https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Count-of-Monte-Cristo. Accessed 7
April 2026.