The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, then published in book form in 1846. Like many of his novels, it was expanded from plot outlines suggested by his collaborating ghostwriter, Auguste Maquet. It is regarded as a classic of both French and world literature.
The novel is set in France, Italy, and islands in the Mediterranean Sea during the historical events of 1815–1839, the era of the Bourbon Restoration through the reign of Louis Philippe I. It begins on the day when Napoleon left his first island of exile, Elba, beginning the Hundred Days period of his return to power. The historical setting is fundamental to the narrative. The Count of Monte Cristo explores themes of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy and forgiveness.
Edmond Dantès is a French nineteen-year-old first mate of a merchant ship. Arriving home from a voyage and set to marry his fiancée, Mercédès, he is falsely accused of treason. He is arrested and imprisoned without trial at the Château d'If, a grim island fortress off Marseille. A fellow prisoner, Abbé Faria, correctly deduces that Dantès's romantic rival Fernand Mondego, his envious crewmate Danglars and the double-dealing magistrate De Villefort are responsible for his imprisonment. Over the course of their long imprisonment, Faria educates the initially illiterate Dantès and, knowing himself close to death, inspires him to retrieve for himself a cache of treasure Faria had discovered. After Faria dies, Dantès escapes and finds the treasure. Posing as a member of nobility, he concocts the title Count of Monte Cristo. Fabulously wealthy, powerful and mysterious, he enters the world of Parisian high society in the 1830s focused on vengeance.
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