The Count of Monte Cristo (French: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered, along with The Three Musketeers, as Dumas' most popular work. It is also among the highest selling books of all time. The writing of the work was completed in 1844. Like many of his novels, it is expanded from the plot outlines suggested by his collaborating ghostwriter Auguste Maquet.
The story takes place in France, Italy, islands in the Mediterranean and the Levant during the historical events of 1815–1838 (from just before the Hundred Days through the reign of Louis-Philippe of France). The historical setting is a fundamental element of the book. It is primarily concerned with themes of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy, forgiveness and death, and is told in the style of an adventure story.
Plot Summary
Edmond Dantès, a dashing 19-year-old sailor aboard the ship Pharaon, returns home to Marseille. He is excited to be reunited with his family and friends, and eager to marry his fiancée, the Catalan beauty Mercédès. He is also proud of his recent promotion to captain. At the same time, he is saddened by the recent death of his friend Captain Leclère, his predecessor.
Captain Leclère, a supporter of the now exiled Napoléon, had charged Dantès on his deathbed to deliver a package to former Grand Marshal Maréchal Bertrand, who had been exiled to the isle of Elba. During the Pharaon's stop at Elba, Dantès spoke to Napoléon himself, who asked the sailor to deliver a confidential letter to a man in Paris.
Edmond's good fortune inspires jealousy in those close to him. His promotion to captain offends the ship's purser, Danglars; his windfall stuns his neighbour, the impoverished tailor Caderousse; his relationship with Mercédès inspires the jealousy of her cousin Fernand Mondego, who wants Mercédès for his own. Danglars writes an anonymous letter to the crown prosecutor accusing Dantès of being a Bonapartist traitor. Inflaming his jealousy, he instigates Fernand to send the letter, while Caderousse looks on in a drunken stupor, his slurred words goading on the others and revealing his true feelings of jealousy...
(From Wikipedia, description text under GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL))
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