Alexander Dumas' novel The Count of Monte Cristo ended up being an astounding novel that truly captivated me. The beautiful usage of language and imagery never let me put the book down once I started. The final section of the novel was the most exciting out of all of the sections. As I predicted, the novel picked up more toward the end. The beginning set up the whole story in an intriguing turn of events, setting the main character against all odds. The final section brought about a closure to Edmond Dantes pain and anguish. He was able to exact his final revenge on his adversaries and make a final push to save Maximilian, save the love between Maximilian and Valentine, and still had the capacity to sail off with Haydee in happiness.
Regarding my final thoughts, I was left reminded of the common saying: the bigger they are, the harder they fall. The Baron (Danglars), The Count de Morcef (Ferdinand), and de Villefort were all extremely successful men after the incarceration of Edmond in Chateau de If. They accumulated large sums of wealth by various means and the three co-conspirators gained prestigious titles and positions in society. Also, Ferdinand fulfilled his love desires and was able to marry Mercedes in the absence of Edmond. However, all of this glory and success ended up being their own downfall. The Count of Monte Cristo exploited their lack of carefulness and brought them down by sucking them dry of money. I personally approve of the monetary depletion method to revenge, but for de Villefort, the revenge was more cruel in my opinion. To seek revenge on the last of the conspirators, de Villefort's family members had to die, one after another. Financial loss is one thing, but the cruelty of emotional distress and mental damage is extremely severe, and reveals a certain special hatred for Villefort. This, most likely, sprouted from the concept that Villefort promised to keep him out of jail, but
At the same time, The Count of Monte Cristo also was able to show compassion. He saved Valentine for Maximilian by feeding her Noiter's medicine, which was able to counter the effects of the poison given to her by Valentine's step-mother. He also gave her a medication that severely reduced her heart rate, putting her into a dead-like state for about a month, during which time he took care of her in the Isle of Monte Cristo. In addition, Dantes was able to save Maximilian from committing suicide, and reunited him with his love. The dichotomy of Edmond Dantes was an interesting choice for Alexander Dumas. I interpreted this dichotomy as the effect of trauma on a normal person.
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who has the time, and also anyone who is a patient reader. Although it has a slow start, the novel certainly pays off toward the end, and truly is a novel for the ages.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Post 4: Continued Rising Action
This portion of the novel continued just as I had predicted. Similar to the previous section, the third portion of the novel includes more of a build up than a climax, and offers more intrigue to entice the reader and keep them wanting to read on. There are several minor conflicts that pop up in the story, all part of Edmond Dantes' master plan to seek revenge on his former friends. Such conflicts and tensions primarily exist between several other characters, but the last conflict of the section applies greatly to the Count of Monte Cristo. Overall, however, these plots seem to set the story up such that the enemies of the Count become more and more vulnerable to an immanent attack. However, at this point in the story, it is still unclear as to how exactly revenge will be exacted.
One of the first conflicts that arrise in this section of the novel is very severe, and exists between Maximilian, or Monsieur Morrel's son, Valentine, the daughter of Monsieur de Villefort, and indirectly involves the old friend of the Count, Franz. Monsieur de Villefort and his wife have decided that they want to marry Valentine off, as she is approaching the appropriate age for marriage. However, unbeknownst to them, Valentine had already embarked on a love venture with Maximilian, keeping it a secret. While her parents want her to marry Franz, she is torn between her loyalty to her father and mother and the love she has for Maximilian. Maximilian solemnly dictates, "Listen to me ... breathed in France" (386 - 387). In this lengthy monologue he pours out his love and affection for Valentine, hoping to sway her opinion and to elope with him. In the event that she doesn't, he says that he will wait until his "fate was sealed" (387). Then he would proceed to fire a pistol set at his own head. Valentine, taken aback by this statement, cries in tears to make Maximilian promise not to kill himself. Such a situation puts extreme strain on their relationship and on the relationship that Valentine has with several other people. Luckily, Monsieur Noiter, de Villefort's father, saves Valentine from the arranged marriage by revealing his history to Franz. He showed Franz a letter he had written years ago which demonstrates that he had actually killed Franz's father during the time when Noiter was the president of a secret organization. Upon hearing this, Franz calls off the marriage, and Valentine is overjoyed. Although this ultimately ended the conflict, it still puts strain on the true target of the Count, Monsieur de Villefort, as now has to find a new suitor for his daughter.
Another major conflict that arose during the section was the conflict between Albert and the Count of Monte Cristo. Previously, the two were good friends, as the Count saved Albert's life when he was kidnapped by Luigi the Bandit in Rome and held for ransom. However, recently, Albert feels insulted by the Count, feeling as though his beloved mother is doing things and making him do things to prevent his wrath from coming down on them. The feeling of inferiority sets down on Albert, and disliking it, he insults the Count during a play and the two challenge each other to a duel. However, once this duel actually begins to occur, the Count makes the statement, "I will not fire upon you". After all, the Count's rage was not toward his friend, but toward his father, who did him wrong nearly twenty years prior.
These two conflicts do end up resolving, but they leave a scar upon the characters involved. These scars, I predict, will come back to affect more characters in the end of the story. Still, there remain a few questions that are essential to the plot of the story. What will Maximilian and Valentine do about their love? How will the conflict in the de Villefort household be resolved? Ultimately, how exactly will Edmond Dantes exact his revenge on the people he called friends that turned their backs on him?
The attached brainstorming chart attempts to ease the trouble of trying to understand all of the complicated relationships in this section of the story by connecting characters and showing how they are connected (what kind of relationship they share).
One of the first conflicts that arrise in this section of the novel is very severe, and exists between Maximilian, or Monsieur Morrel's son, Valentine, the daughter of Monsieur de Villefort, and indirectly involves the old friend of the Count, Franz. Monsieur de Villefort and his wife have decided that they want to marry Valentine off, as she is approaching the appropriate age for marriage. However, unbeknownst to them, Valentine had already embarked on a love venture with Maximilian, keeping it a secret. While her parents want her to marry Franz, she is torn between her loyalty to her father and mother and the love she has for Maximilian. Maximilian solemnly dictates, "Listen to me ... breathed in France" (386 - 387). In this lengthy monologue he pours out his love and affection for Valentine, hoping to sway her opinion and to elope with him. In the event that she doesn't, he says that he will wait until his "fate was sealed" (387). Then he would proceed to fire a pistol set at his own head. Valentine, taken aback by this statement, cries in tears to make Maximilian promise not to kill himself. Such a situation puts extreme strain on their relationship and on the relationship that Valentine has with several other people. Luckily, Monsieur Noiter, de Villefort's father, saves Valentine from the arranged marriage by revealing his history to Franz. He showed Franz a letter he had written years ago which demonstrates that he had actually killed Franz's father during the time when Noiter was the president of a secret organization. Upon hearing this, Franz calls off the marriage, and Valentine is overjoyed. Although this ultimately ended the conflict, it still puts strain on the true target of the Count, Monsieur de Villefort, as now has to find a new suitor for his daughter.
Another major conflict that arose during the section was the conflict between Albert and the Count of Monte Cristo. Previously, the two were good friends, as the Count saved Albert's life when he was kidnapped by Luigi the Bandit in Rome and held for ransom. However, recently, Albert feels insulted by the Count, feeling as though his beloved mother is doing things and making him do things to prevent his wrath from coming down on them. The feeling of inferiority sets down on Albert, and disliking it, he insults the Count during a play and the two challenge each other to a duel. However, once this duel actually begins to occur, the Count makes the statement, "I will not fire upon you". After all, the Count's rage was not toward his friend, but toward his father, who did him wrong nearly twenty years prior.
These two conflicts do end up resolving, but they leave a scar upon the characters involved. These scars, I predict, will come back to affect more characters in the end of the story. Still, there remain a few questions that are essential to the plot of the story. What will Maximilian and Valentine do about their love? How will the conflict in the de Villefort household be resolved? Ultimately, how exactly will Edmond Dantes exact his revenge on the people he called friends that turned their backs on him?
Friday, March 11, 2011
Post 3: Build Up
In the second section of the book, the story is beginning to build up. However, Dumas adds a bit of a twist. Instead of continuing the story as normal, he shifts locations to Rome and introduces three new characters: Albert, Franz, and the Count of Monte Cristo. These three characters can be categorized as important because they exist later into the story and seem to play a major role regarding Edmond's revenge. The first character, Albert, is the son of the Count de Morcef, who is the original Ferdinand, just as an alias. He is a close friend of Franz, who is the second new character introduced at this point in the story. Franz, as the author explains, is the suitor of Valentine de Villefort. She, obviously, is the daughter of Monsieur de Villefort, a co-conspirator to Edmond Dantés' incarceration and a target of his revenge plot. During their time at Rome, Albert and Franz are attempting to enjoy themselves when one day, Albert is kidnapped by the Bandit, a infamous and notorious criminal who recently appeared in the news of the town. He is held ransom, and not having anyone else to go to, he humbly, but urgently asked for the help of the Count of Monte Cristo, their neighbor at their hotel. Incidentally, the Count helps Franz out, and happens to be an acquaintance of the Bandit, and ordered him to release Albert. This created a bond that would hold between the three people for the rest of the story.
Regarding the rest of the section, it seems to be a large portion of what would be classified as rising action. Although the story has already been set up, I feel as though the Count of Monte Cristo is gaining a familiarity with the certain situation in paris at the time. Considering the fact that he was gone for a little over seventeen years, perhaps he is trying to understand his victims before he properly exacts revenge. On that note, the book is written in such a way to make the reader assume that the Count of Monte Cristo is indeed Edmond Dantés, with numerous reasons to back it up. However, Dumas continues the story without revealing this crucial connection. This is contrasting to a French writer such as Victor Hugo, who reveals that Monsieur Madeline was indeed Jean Val Jean in his famous book, Les Miserables. The only one that could recognize him was his former fiance, Mercedes. It was extremely touching that she still loved him after all that time and was dying to be loyal to him, but still displayed loyalty to her husband, to whom she was obligated for life.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Balzac/swiss-cut-off-bank-accoun_n_792542_69783769.html
This article states the last few steps to legal exacting of revenge. They entail planning your revenge and then exacting it by carrying out the most effective plans. This has an apparent application to the story because the Count of Monte Cristo is seeking revenge on all of those that falsely accused him of being a bonapartist and imprisoning him. If Edmond Dantes were to read this post from Wikileaks, he would most likely agree entirely with it. Without a doubt, he would concur with the notion of knowing your target and then doing a plan.
The video on the other hand, shows a different prediction to the plan. Basically, it could go totally wrong and end up putting Edmond in a more difficult situation than before. However, it is more probable that he comes out on top, as he is the protagonist.
Regarding the rest of the section, it seems to be a large portion of what would be classified as rising action. Although the story has already been set up, I feel as though the Count of Monte Cristo is gaining a familiarity with the certain situation in paris at the time. Considering the fact that he was gone for a little over seventeen years, perhaps he is trying to understand his victims before he properly exacts revenge. On that note, the book is written in such a way to make the reader assume that the Count of Monte Cristo is indeed Edmond Dantés, with numerous reasons to back it up. However, Dumas continues the story without revealing this crucial connection. This is contrasting to a French writer such as Victor Hugo, who reveals that Monsieur Madeline was indeed Jean Val Jean in his famous book, Les Miserables. The only one that could recognize him was his former fiance, Mercedes. It was extremely touching that she still loved him after all that time and was dying to be loyal to him, but still displayed loyalty to her husband, to whom she was obligated for life.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Balzac/swiss-cut-off-bank-accoun_n_792542_69783769.html
This article states the last few steps to legal exacting of revenge. They entail planning your revenge and then exacting it by carrying out the most effective plans. This has an apparent application to the story because the Count of Monte Cristo is seeking revenge on all of those that falsely accused him of being a bonapartist and imprisoning him. If Edmond Dantes were to read this post from Wikileaks, he would most likely agree entirely with it. Without a doubt, he would concur with the notion of knowing your target and then doing a plan.
The video on the other hand, shows a different prediction to the plan. Basically, it could go totally wrong and end up putting Edmond in a more difficult situation than before. However, it is more probable that he comes out on top, as he is the protagonist.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Post 2: Introduction
In the first 160 or so pages, a lot has occurred plot wise. The pace of the story was exceedingly quick, with events transpiring at pace that would be confusing to most. It only truly makes sense if re-read once or twice, so as to fully grasp the meaning of the events. Alexander Dumas introduces several main characters, including Edmond Dantés, Danglars, Ferdinand, Mercedés, Morrel, and de Villefort, not necessarily in that order. Among these characters and other, there are numerous interactions and relationships that complicate the story, and at the same time make it all the more interesting. Although everything centers around Edmond Dantés, Alexander Dumas maneuvers the point of view to allow the reader the advantages of the third-person omniscient POV.
Edmond Dantés is a sailor that works for Morrel. A noble and courageous person at only nineteen years old, he faces both great joy and great tragedy in the first section of the book. After arriving home from a long and exhausting voyage, Edmond came home and was awarded the title of captain of the Pharon by Morrel. Morrel owns a shipping company for which Edmond works, and is almost like a second father to Edmond. He cares very much for Edmond and feels an unimaginable pride for his success. However, this promotion stirred malicious emotions in his colleague Danglars. His senior, Danglars was angry and jealous that Edmond received such a prestigious title at such young age. Most likely, this happened because Danglars' age and experience far outweighs Edmonds, yet Danglars was not given the job, and to add salt to the wound, Danglars had to lie through his teeth by giving approval of Morrel's decision.
Edmond then goes to see his lover, Mercedés, but he also meets another character, Ferdinand. Ferdinand is also in love with Mercedés, but Mercedés is loyal to Edmond, and would not leave her. This creates a complicated love triangle, with two members sharing a love and a jealous third wheel. I predicted that Ferdinand would take revenge on Edmond for keeping his lover with him, and I was correct.
Danglars, Ferdinand, and Caderouse, Edmond's neighbor, all conspired against him. They hate him for various other reasons, and eventually created a plan to make him go to jail. They found a letter from Napoleon to the Pharon's late captain, which would incriminate Edmond as a Bonapartist. This was extremely severe because Napoleon had just been exiled to the remote island, and any possible contact of Napoleon with supporters could lead him to start another uprising, which would create a dire situation for the current ruler, Louis XVIII. This is a conflict, that although not explored, plays a key role in the story so far.
As one may predict, Danglar's plan, of which he was the mastermind, actually worked, and Edmond was thrown into jail, where he befriended an Abbe, or prestigious priest. This abbe knew much about the world, and after the two had created a hole between their dungeon cells, Edmond learned all the abbe had to teach him. Edmond also learned of a treasure that the abbe's former boss had. The abbe's boss was a count who's ancestor had a great fortune, hidden away somewhere for his children to find. Although the last count could not find the treasure, the abbe figured it out. But sadly, he was diagnosed with epilepsy, or the condition of frequent seizures, which eventually killed him before Edmond and the abbe could escape. So Edmond escaped and found the treasure, questioning all of his relationships so far.
I predict that after this incident, Edmond will be more cautious. It is quite apparent that a sense of protection and caution would exist within Edmond after all that had happened to him. I also predict that he would seek revenge on his "friends" who betrayed him. He did go to Caderouse, and he explained to Edmond how the plan unfolded and also how he was innocent. This event foreshadows Edmond taking action, as the first step to a successful plan is to gather good and solid information. So I know Edmond will take revenge, but I do not know how he will go about doing it …. Overall, this has been an extremely interesting story. The fast pace, I predict, will end here, with a more methodical and slower pace taking hold. Perhaps this book may be about morals and about a age-old questions that is "Do the ends justify the means?" Who knows ….
Edmond Dantés is a sailor that works for Morrel. A noble and courageous person at only nineteen years old, he faces both great joy and great tragedy in the first section of the book. After arriving home from a long and exhausting voyage, Edmond came home and was awarded the title of captain of the Pharon by Morrel. Morrel owns a shipping company for which Edmond works, and is almost like a second father to Edmond. He cares very much for Edmond and feels an unimaginable pride for his success. However, this promotion stirred malicious emotions in his colleague Danglars. His senior, Danglars was angry and jealous that Edmond received such a prestigious title at such young age. Most likely, this happened because Danglars' age and experience far outweighs Edmonds, yet Danglars was not given the job, and to add salt to the wound, Danglars had to lie through his teeth by giving approval of Morrel's decision.
Edmond then goes to see his lover, Mercedés, but he also meets another character, Ferdinand. Ferdinand is also in love with Mercedés, but Mercedés is loyal to Edmond, and would not leave her. This creates a complicated love triangle, with two members sharing a love and a jealous third wheel. I predicted that Ferdinand would take revenge on Edmond for keeping his lover with him, and I was correct.
Danglars, Ferdinand, and Caderouse, Edmond's neighbor, all conspired against him. They hate him for various other reasons, and eventually created a plan to make him go to jail. They found a letter from Napoleon to the Pharon's late captain, which would incriminate Edmond as a Bonapartist. This was extremely severe because Napoleon had just been exiled to the remote island, and any possible contact of Napoleon with supporters could lead him to start another uprising, which would create a dire situation for the current ruler, Louis XVIII. This is a conflict, that although not explored, plays a key role in the story so far.
As one may predict, Danglar's plan, of which he was the mastermind, actually worked, and Edmond was thrown into jail, where he befriended an Abbe, or prestigious priest. This abbe knew much about the world, and after the two had created a hole between their dungeon cells, Edmond learned all the abbe had to teach him. Edmond also learned of a treasure that the abbe's former boss had. The abbe's boss was a count who's ancestor had a great fortune, hidden away somewhere for his children to find. Although the last count could not find the treasure, the abbe figured it out. But sadly, he was diagnosed with epilepsy, or the condition of frequent seizures, which eventually killed him before Edmond and the abbe could escape. So Edmond escaped and found the treasure, questioning all of his relationships so far.
I predict that after this incident, Edmond will be more cautious. It is quite apparent that a sense of protection and caution would exist within Edmond after all that had happened to him. I also predict that he would seek revenge on his "friends" who betrayed him. He did go to Caderouse, and he explained to Edmond how the plan unfolded and also how he was innocent. This event foreshadows Edmond taking action, as the first step to a successful plan is to gather good and solid information. So I know Edmond will take revenge, but I do not know how he will go about doing it …. Overall, this has been an extremely interesting story. The fast pace, I predict, will end here, with a more methodical and slower pace taking hold. Perhaps this book may be about morals and about a age-old questions that is "Do the ends justify the means?" Who knows ….
Sunday, February 13, 2011
The Anticipation
I have long awaited reading The Count of Monte Cristo. The book appears to consist of three elements that are sure to captivate any reader fortunate enough: betrayal, adventure, and finally, revenge. Often I heard excellent reviews that compelled me to read this exquisite piece of literature, but alas, the difficulty exceeded my abilities. Perhaps now I am up for the task at hand. Such language, I predict, will be very common in this book, mostly because it was written by a frenchman in the 1800's. Having read Les Miserables, I predict the writing styles to be similar, consisting of detailed imagery and powerful diction. I also know the book takes place in the Napoleonic era, or at least when there is a sort of power struggle between Louis XVIII and Napoleon. Perhaps the time period could play a role into the activities the characters do or the characters themselves. Going off of the time period idea, I foresee a possible hinderance: there is most likely going to be certain words and references that I am not aware of, which could affect my understanding and perception of the plot and/or characters. But obviously, a simple solution would be to research the unknown terms and concepts so as to keep pace with the story.
Reading Schedule:
Section 1: 9 - 194
Section 2: 195 - 355
Section 3: 355 - 500
Section 4: 500 - end
Reading Schedule:
Section 1: 9 - 194
Section 2: 195 - 355
Section 3: 355 - 500
Section 4: 500 - end
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