Edmond Dantès is a French nineteen-year-oldfirst 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 theChâteau d'If, a grim island fortress offMarseille. A fellow prisoner,Abbé Faria, correctly deduces that Dantès's romantic rival Fernand Mondego, his envious crewmate Danglars and the double-dealingmagistrate 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 ofnobility, he concocts the title Count ofMonte Cristo. Fabulously wealthy, powerful and mysterious, he enters the world ofParisianhigh society in the 1830s focused on vengeance.
The protagonist, Edmond Dantès, was a merchant sailor before his imprisonment. (Illustration byPierre-Gustave Staal)
On the day in 1815 whenNapoleon escapes fromElba, first mate Edmond Dantès sails thePharaon intoMarseille after the death of the captain, Leclère. On his deathbed, Leclère charged Dantès to deliver a package toGeneral Bertrand (exiled with Napoleon) and a letter from Elba to Noirtier, aBonapartist in Paris.
The ship's owner, Morrel, decides to promote Dantès to captain. Dantès's crewmate Danglars is jealous of this rapid promotion. On the eve of Dantès's wedding to hisCatalan fiancée, Mercédès, Danglars meets Fernand Mondego, Mercédès's cousin and a rival for her affections. Fernand and Danglars hatch a plot to anonymously accuse Dantès of being a Bonapartist. Dantès's neighbour Caderousse is present; he too is jealous of Dantès, and although he objects to the plot, he becomes too drunk to prevent it. When Dantès is arrested on his wedding day, the cowardly Caderousse stays silent.
Villefort, the deputy crown prosecutor in Marseille, is Noirtier's son. Villefort knows his political career would be ruined if it were known that his father is a Bonapartist, so Villefort destroys the letter and silences Dantès by sentencing him without trial to life imprisonment.
After six years of solitary imprisonment in theChâteau d'If, Dantès is on the verge of suicide. However, another prisoner, the Abbé Faria, an Italian scholarly priest, digs an escape tunnel that mistakenly ends in Dantès's cell. The Abbé helps Dantès to deduce the culprits of his imprisonment. Over the next eight years, Faria educates Dantès in languages, history, culture, mathematics, chemistry, medicine, and science. Knowing himself to be close to death fromcatalepsy and having grown fond of his pupil, Faria tells Dantès the location of a vast treasure hidden on the island ofMonte Cristo. When Faria dies, Dantès takes Faria's place in the burial sack, which guards throw into the sea.
Dantès cuts through the sack and swims to a nearby island, where, claiming to be a shipwrecked sailor, he is rescued byGenoese smugglers. Months later, he locates and retrieves the treasure; he later purchases the island of Monte Cristo and the title ofcount from theTuscan government.
Having sworn vengeance on Danglars, Fernand, and Villefort, Dantès returns to Marseille in search of information to accomplish his goal. Travelling as the Abbé Busoni, Dantès finds Caderousse, who regrets not intervening in Dantès's arrest. Caderousse informs him that Mercédès eventually resigned herself to marrying Fernand. He recounts that Dantès's father died of starvation, and that Morrel tried unsuccessfully to secure Dantès's release and save his father, but now Morrel is on the brink of bankruptcy. Both Danglars and Fernand have prospered greatly. Danglars became a speculator, amassed a fortune, married a wealthy widow, and became abaron. Fernand served in theFrench Army, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Dantès rewards Caderousse with a diamond, but he does not disclose his real identity. Later, Caderousse negotiates the sale of the diamond to a jeweller, but he kills the jeweller to keep the diamond and the money. He is eventually arrested andsentenced to the galleys.
To rescue Morrel from bankruptcy, Dantès poses as a banker, buys Morrel's debts, and gives him three months' reprieve. At the end of the three months, Morrel is about to commit suicide, but learns that the debts have been mysteriously paid and that one of his lost ships has returned with a full cargo; it was secretly rebuilt and laden by Dantès.
Dantès reappears in 1838 as the mysterious, fabulously wealthy Count of Monte Cristo. Fernand is now the Count de Morcerf, Danglars is a baron and banker, and Villefort is a royal prosecutor.
InRome, atCarnival time, Dantès befriendsViscount Albert de Morcerf, the son of Mercédès and Fernand. He arranges for Albert to be captured by thebandit Luigi Vampa (an ally of Dantès), and "rescues" the boy, earning his trust. Albert introduces the Count to Parisianhigh society. In his guise as the Count, Dantès meets Mercédès for the first time in 23 years and eventually makes the acquaintance of Danglars, Fernand and Villefort.
The Count purchases a home inAuteuil, a suburb of Paris. He has learnt from his servant Bertuccio that it is the home in which Villefort once had an extramarital affair with Danglars's wife, who gave birth to a child that Villefort buried alive in order to cover up the affair. The infant was rescued by Bertuccio, named Benedetto, and raised by Bertuccio's sister Assunta, but Benedetto turned to a life of crime as a young man, murdered Assunta, and was sentenced to the galleys.
Having impressed Parisian society with his wealth and air of mystery, the Count sets up the pieces for his revenge. He persuades Danglars to extend him a credit of six million francs. He discusses the properties of various poisons with Villefort's second wife Heloïse and allows her to borrow some of his supply. He allows his ward, Haydée—the exiled daughter ofAli Pasha of Janina, whom Dantès purchased from slavery—to see Fernand, recognising him as the man who betrayed and murdered her father and stole his fortune. Under the alias Lord Wilmore, Dantès frees Benedetto and Caderousse from the galleys; then he anonymously hires Benedetto to impersonate an Italian nobleman, Viscount Andrea Cavalcanti, and introduces him to Parisian society. Dantès manipulates the financial markets by bribing atelegraph operator to transmit a false message, causing Danglars to lose hundreds of thousands of francs.
Meanwhile, Villefort's daughter Valentine is engaged to marry Albert's friend Franz, but she is secretly in love with Morrel's son Maximilien. Noirtier, her grandfather, induces Franz to break the engagement by revealing that Noirtier himself killed Franz's father in a duel. Benedetto ingratiates himself to Danglars, who betroths his daughter Eugénie to him after canceling her engagement to Albert. Caderousseblackmails Benedetto, threatening to reveal his past if he does not share his newfound wealth. Heloïse begins poisoning members of Villefort's family, intending to ensure that all of the family's wealth will be inherited by her son Édouard, rather than her stepdaughter Valentine. However, Noirtier secretly doses Valentine with a drug that will give her limited resistance to the poison.
Caderousse attempts to rob the Count's house but is caught by "Abbé Busoni" and forced to write a letter to Danglars, exposing "Cavalcanti" as an impostor. When Caderousse leaves the estate, he is stabbed by Benedetto. Caderousse dictates a deathbed statement naming his killer, and the Count reveals his true identity to Caderousse before he dies.
The Count anonymously leaks to the newspapers Fernand's betrayal of Ali Pasha. At theChamber of Peers' inquiry into the accusations, Haydée testifies against him as an eyewitness. Albert blames the Count for his father's downfall and challenges him to aduel. The Count is later visited by Mercédès, who recognized him as Dantès upon their first meeting but chose not to say anything. Mercédès begs Dantès to spare her son. He tells her of the injustices inflicted on him, but he agrees not to kill Albert. Realizing that Dantès intends to let Albert kill him, she reveals the truth to Albert, who makes a public apology to the Count. Albert and Mercédès disown Fernand, renounce their titles and wealth, and depart to begin new lives. Albert enlists as a soldier, while Mercédès lives alone in Dantès's old house in Marseilles. Fernand confronts the Count of Monte Cristo, who reveals his identity. Fernand shoots himself.
At the party to celebrate "Cavalcanti"'s engagement to Eugénie Danglars, the police arrive to arrest Benedetto for Caderousse's murder. Benedetto flees, but he is arrested and returned to Paris. Eugénie (who is implied to be a lesbian[3][4]) flees Paris with her girlfriend.
Valentine barely survives Héloïse's first attempt to poison her, and Maximilien begs the Count to protect her from the unknown poisoner. He does so by faking her death, making it appear that the poisoner succeeded. Villefort deduces that Héloïse is the murderer, and before leaving to prosecute Benedetto's trial, he gives her a choice between the shame of a public trial or committing suicide in private. At the trial, Benedetto reveals that he is Villefort's son and was rescued after Villefort buried him alive, having learned the truth from Bertuccio. Villefort admits his guilt and rushes home to prevent his wife's suicide, but he is too late; she is dead and has poisoned her son Édouard as well. The Count confronts Villefort, revealing his true identity, which drives Villefort insane. Dantès tries but fails toresuscitate Édouard, causing him to question if his revenge has gone too far.
As a result of the Count's financial manipulations, Danglars is left with a ruined reputation and 5,000,000 francs he has been holding in deposit for hospitals. The Count demands this sum to fulfill their credit agreement, and Danglars embezzles the hospital fund. He flees to Italy with the Count's receipt for the cash and 50,000 francs of his own, and he is reimbursed the 5,000,000 francs from the Count's own bank account. While leaving Rome, he is kidnapped by Luigi Vampa. The bandits extort Danglars' ill-gotten gains from him by forcing him to pay exorbitant prices for food and water. Dantès anonymously returns the money to the hospitals. Danglars finally repents of his crimes, and a softened Dantès forgives him and allows him to depart with his 50,000 francs.
Maximilien Morrel is driven to despair by Valentine's apparent death and considers suicide. Dantès reveals his true identity and persuades Maximilien to delay his suicide for one month. One month later, on the island of Monte Cristo, he reunites Valentine with Maximilien and reveals the true sequence of events. Having found peace, Dantès leaves the couple part of his fortune on the island and departs forthe East to begin a new life with Haydée, who has declared her love for him. The reader is left with a final line: "l'humaine sagesse était tout entière dans ces deux mots: attendre et espérer!" ("all human wisdom is contained in these two words: 'Wait and Hope'").
Character relationships inThe Count of Monte Cristo
Edmond Dantès (born 1796): A sailor with good prospects, engaged (1815) to Mercédès. After his transformation into the Count of Monte Cristo (1830s), he reveals his true name to his enemies as each revenge is completed. During the course of the novel, he falls in love with Haydée.
The Count of Monte Cristo: The identity Dantès assumes when he emerges from prison and acquires his vast fortune. As a result, the Count of Monte Cristo is usually associated with a coldness and bitterness that come from an existence based solely on revenge. This character thinks of Lord Wilmore as a rival.
Chief Clerk of the banking firm Thomson & French, an Englishman.
Lord Wilmore: An Englishman, and the persona in which Dantès performs random acts of generosity.
Sinbad the Sailor: The persona that Dantès assumes when he saves the Morrel family and while conducting business withsmugglers andbrigands.
Abbé Busoni: The persona of an Italian priest with religious authority.
Monsieur Zaccone: Dantès, in the guise of the Abbé Busoni, and again as Lord Wilmore, tells an investigator that this is the Count of Monte Cristo's true name.
Number 34: The name given to him by the new governor of Château d'If. Finding it too tedious to learn Dantès's real name, he was called by the number of his cell.
The Maltese Sailor: The name he was known by after his rescue by smugglers from the island of Tiboulen.
Abbé Faria: Italian priest, sage and former secretary to Cardinal Spada, imprisoned (1815) in the Château d'If. Edmond's dearest friend, and his mentor and teacher while in prison. On his deathbed, he reveals to Edmond the secret treasure hidden on Monte Cristo. Partially based on the historicalAbbé Faria.
Giovanni Bertuccio: The Count of Monte Cristo's steward and loyal servant. The Count first meets him in his role as Abbé Busoni, the confessor to Bertuccio, whose past is tied with M. de Villefort. Bertuccio's sister-in-law Assunta was the adoptive mother of Benedetto.
Luigi Vampa: Celebrated Italian bandit and fugitive.
Peppino: Formerly a shepherd, becomes a member of Vampa's gang. The Count arranges for his public execution in Rome to be commuted, causing him to be loyal to the Count.
Ali: Monte Cristo's mute Nubian slave.
Baptistin: Monte Cristo's valet-de-chambre.
Jacopo: A poor smuggler who helps Dantès survive after he escapes prison. When Jacopo proves his loyalty, Dantès rewards him with his own ship and crew. (Jacopo Manfredi is a separate character, the "bankrupt of Trieste", whose financial failure contributes to the depletion of Danglars's fortune.)
Haydée (or Haidee): Monte Cristo's young, beautiful slave. She is the daughter ofAli Tebelen, sold into slavery by Morcerf after her father was killed. Buying her is part of Dantès' plan to get revenge on Fernand. At the novel's end, she and Monte Cristo leave together, presumably to eventually marry.
Mercédès Mondego (née Herrera): A Catalan girl engaged (1815) to Edmond Dantès. She later marries Fernand, and they have a son, Albert. She is consumed with guilt over Edmond's disappearance and is able to recognize him when (1830s) they meet again. In the end, she returns to Marseilles, living in a house provided by the Count, praying for Albert. She is portrayed as a compassionate, kind and caring woman who thinks of her loved ones more than herself.
Fernand Mondego, Count de Morcerf: cousin of Mercédès; Edmond's rival for her affection. Initially (1815) a Catalan fisherman in a Spanish village near Marseilles, Fernand helps Danglars ruin Edmond by sending the denunciation in a desperate but successful attempt to separate him from Mercédès. He marries her, achieves the rank of general in the French army, and purchases a peerage in the Chambre des Pairs, keeping secret his betrayal of the Pasha Alì Tebelen and the selling into slavery of both his daughter Haydée and her mother Vasiliki. He shows a deep affection and care for his wife and son. He (1830s) meets his end by suicide, in the despair of having lost Mercédès and Albert, who disown him when they discover his hidden crimes.
Albert de Morcerf: Son of Mercédès and Fernand. He is (1830s) described as a kind-hearted, joyful and carefree young man, and fond of Monte Cristo, whom he sees as a friend. After acknowledging the truth of his father's war crimes and the false accusation towards the sailor Edmond Dantès, Albert leaves his home with Mercédès. He starts a new life as a soldier under the name "Herrera" (his mother's maiden name) and travels to Africa in search of fortune and honor.
Baron Danglars: Dantès's jealous junior officer (1815) and mastermind behind his imprisonment, writing the letter of denunciation which Fernand mails. He is later (1830s) a wealthy banker, but goes bankrupt and is left with only 50,000 francs, after stealing 5,000,000 francs.
Madame Hermine Danglars (formerly Baroness Hermine de Nargonne née de Servieux): Once a widow, she had an affair with Gérard de Villefort, a married man. They had an illegitimate son, Benedetto.
Eugénie Danglars: Daughter of Baron Danglars and Hermine Danglars. She (1830s) is free-spirited and aspires to become an independent artist.
Gérard de Villefort: The royal prosecutor who (1815) imprisons Dantès to protect his career. He goes insane (1830s) after his crimes are exposed.
Renée de Villefort (née de Saint-Méran): Gérard de Villefort's first wife, mother of Valentine.
The Marquis and Marquise de Saint-Méran: Renée's parents.
Valentine de Villefort: The daughter of Gérard de Villefort and his first wife, Renée. She is (1830s) 19 years old with chestnut hair, dark blue eyes, and "long white hands". Though she is engaged to Baron Franz d'Épinay, she is in love with Maximilien Morrel.
Monsieur Noirtier de Villefort: The father of Gérard de Villefort and grandfather of Valentine, Édouard, and, unknowingly, Benedetto. A committed anti-royalist, it is his plot to restore Napoleon in which (1815) Dantès becomes entangled. He is (1830s) paralyzed and only able to communicate with his eyes, but retains his mental faculties and acts as protector to Valentine.
Héloïse de Villefort: The murderous second wife of Gérard de Villefort, mother of Édouard.
Édouard (or Edward) de Villefort: The only legitimate son of de Villefort.
Benedetto: The illegitimate son of de Villefort and Baroness Hermine Danglars (Hermine de Nargonne), raised by Bertuccio and his sister-in-law, Assunta, in Rogliano. While he and his loutish friends are torturing and trying to rob Assunta, they accidentally kill her. He runs away and later becomes "Andrea Cavalcanti" in Paris.
Pierre Morrel: Dantès's employer, owner of Morrel & Son. He attempts (1815) to obtain Dantès's freedom, but is unsuccessful. Later, on the verge of bankruptcy (1830s), he and his family are saved from ruin by the Count.
Maximilien Morrel: Son of Pierre Morrel, he is an army captain who becomes a friend of Dantès. In love (1830s) with Valentine de Villefort.
Julie Herbault: Daughter of Pierre Morrel, wife of Emmanuel Herbault.
Emmanuel Herbault: An employee of Morrel & Son, who marries Julie Morrel and succeeds to the business.
Gaspard Caderousse: A tailor in Marseilles, he was (1815) a neighbor and friend of Dantès who knew of Danglars and Fernand's plot but did not speak up out of cowardice. Having become an innkeeper (1830s), he is rewarded by "Abbé Busoni" with a valuable diamond for explaining the denunciation plot. He then turns to crime, spends time in prison, and ends up murdered by Andrea Cavalcanti.
Madeleine Caderousse, née Radelle, dite La Carconte: Wife of Caderousse, who egged him on to murder a Jewish jeweler. Caderousse then killed her to gain ownership of the money.
Louis Dantès: Edmond Dantès's father, who dies from starvation during his son's imprisonment.
Baron Franz d'Épinay: A friend of Albert de Morcerf, (1830s) engaged to Valentine de Villefort. Originally, Dumas wrote part of the story, including the events in Rome and the return of Albert de Morcerf and Franz d'Épinay to Paris, in the first person from Franz d'Épinay's point of view.[5]
Lucien Debray: Secretary to the Minister of the Interior, a friend of Albert de Morcerf, and a lover of Madame Danglars, whom he provides with inside investment information, which she then passes on to her husband.
Beauchamp: Journalist and Chief Editor ofl'Impartial, and friend of Albert de Morcerf.
Raoul, Baron de Château-Renaud: Member of a noble family and friend of Albert de Morcerf.
Louise d'Armilly: Eugénie Danglars's music instructor and her intimate friend.
Monsieur de Boville: Originally an inspector of prisons, later a detective in the Paris force, and still later the Receiver-General of the charities.
Barrois: Old, trusted servant of Monsieur Noirtier.
Monsieur d'Avrigny: Family doctor treating the Villefort family.
Major (also Marquis) Bartolomeo Cavalcanti: Old man who plays the role of Prince Andrea Cavalcanti's father.
Ali Tebelen (or Ali Tepelini): An Albanian nationalist leader, Pasha of Yanina, whom Fernand Mondego betrays, leading to Ali Pasha's murder at the hands of the Turks and the seizure of his kingdom. His wife Vasiliki and daughter Haydée are sold into slavery by Fernand.
Countess Teresa Guiccioli: Her name is not actually stated in the novel. She is referred to as "Countess G—".
Georges, a short novel by Dumas, was published in 1843, preceding whenThe Count of Monte Cristo was written.Georges is of particular interest to scholars because Dumas reused many of the ideas andplot devices inThe Count of Monte Cristo.[6]
Dumas wrote that the germ of the idea of revenge as one of the novel's themes sprung from an anecdote (Le Diamant et la Vengeance[7]) written byJacques Peuchet, an archivist of the Paris police, and published in the multi-volumeMémoires tirés des Archives de la Police de Paris (Memoirs from the Archives of the Paris Police) in France in 1838.[8][9][10] Dumas included this essay in one of the editions of his novel published in 1846.[11]
Peuchet related the tale of a shoemaker,Pierre Picaud, living inNîmes in 1807. Picaud was engaged to marry a wealthy woman, but three jealous friends falsely accused him of being a spy on behalf of England in a period of wars between France and England. Picaud was placed under a form ofhouse arrest in theFenestrelle Fort, where he was a servant to a rich Italian cleric. The cleric began to treat Picaud like a son, and when the cleric died, he left his fortune to Picaud. Picaud spent years plotting his revenge on the three men who were responsible for his misfortune. He stabbed the first with a dagger on which the words "Number One" were printed, and he poisoned the second. The third man, named Loupian, had married Picaud's fiancée while Picaud was under arrest. Picaud lured Loupian's son into crime and his daughter into prostitution, and then he fatally stabbed Loupian.[7]
In another of the true stories reported by Ashton-Wolfe, Peuchet describes a poisoning in a family.[11] This story is also mentioned in the Pléiade edition of this novel,[10] and it probably served as a model for the chapter of the murders inside the Villefort family. The introduction to the Pléiade edition mentions other sources from real life: a man,Abbé Faria, did exist. He was imprisoned but did not die in prison; he died in 1819 and left no large legacy to anyone.[10] As for Dantès, his fate is quite different from his model in Peuchet's book, since that model is murdered by the "Caderousse" of the plot.
The Count of Monte Cristo was originally published in theJournal des Débats in eighteen parts. Serialization ran from 28 August 1844 to 15 January 1846. The first edition in book form was published in Paris byPétion in 18 volumes with the first two issued in 1844 and the remaining sixteen in 1845.[12] Most of the Belgian pirated editions, the first Paris edition and many others up to theLécrivain et Toubon illustrated edition of 1860 feature a misspelling of the title with "Christo" used instead of "Cristo". The first edition to feature the correct spelling was theL'Écho des Feuilletons illustrated edition, Paris 1846. This edition featured plates byPaul Gavarni andTony Johannot and was said to be "revised" and "corrected", although only the chapter structure appears to have been altered with an additional chapter entitledLa Maison des Allées de Meilhan having been created by splittingLe Départ into two.[13]
The first appearance ofThe Count of Monte Cristo in English was the first part of a serialization by W. Harrison Ainsworth in volume VII ofAinsworth's Magazine published in 1845, although this was an abridged summary of the first part of the novel only and was entitledThe Prisoner of If. Ainsworth translated the remaining chapters of the novel, again in abridged form, and issued these in volumes VIII and IX of the magazine in 1845 and 1846 respectively.[13] Another abridged serialization appeared inThe London Journal between 1846 and 1847.
The first single volume translation in English was an abridged edition with woodcuts published by Geo Pierce in January 1846 entitledThe Prisoner of If or The Revenge of Monte Christo.[13]
In April 1846, volume three of theParlour Novelist, Belfast, Ireland: Simms and M'Intyre, London: W S Orr and Company, featured the first part of an unabridged translation of the novel by Emma Hardy. The remaining two parts would be issued as the Count of Monte Christo volumes I and II in volumes 8 and 9 of the Parlour Novelist respectively.[13]
The most common English translation is an anonymous one originally published in 1846 byChapman and Hall. This was originally released in ten weekly installments from March 1846 with six pages of letterpress and two illustrations by M Valentin.[14] The translation was released in book form with all twenty illustrations in two volumes in May 1846, a month after the release of the first part of the above-mentioned translation by Emma Hardy.[13] The translation follows the revised French edition of 1846, with the correct spelling of "Cristo" and the extra chapterThe House on the Allées de Meilhan.
Most English editions of the novel follow the anonymous translation. In 1889, two of the major American publishersLittle Brown andT.Y. Crowell updated the translation, correcting mistakes and revising the text to reflect the original serialized version. This resulted in the removal of the chapterThe House on the Allées de Meilhan, with the text restored to the end of the chapter calledThe Departure.[15][16]
In 1955,Collins published an updated version of the anonymous translation which cut several passages, including a whole chapter entitledThe Past, and renamed others.[17] This abridgment was republished by many Collins imprints and other publishers including theModern Library,Vintage, and the 1998Oxford World's Classics edition (later editions restored the text). In 2008 Oxford released a revised edition with translation by David Coward. The 2009Everyman's Library edition reprints the original anonymous English translation that first appeared in 1846, with revisions by Peter Washington and an introduction by Umberto Eco.
In 1996,Penguin Classics published a new translation by Robin Buss. Buss' translation updated the language, making the text more accessible to modern readers, and restored content that was modified in the 1846 translation because of Victorian English social restrictions (for example, references to Eugénie's lesbian traits and behavior) to reflect Dumas' original version.
In addition to the above, there have also been many abridged translations such as an 1892 edition published by F.M. Lupton, translated by Henry L. Williams (this translation was also released by M.J. Ivers in 1892 with Williams using the pseudonym of Professor William Thiese).[13] A more recent abridgment is the translation by Lowell Bair forBantam Classics in 1956.
Many abridged translations omit the Count's enthusiasm forhashish. When serving a hashish jam to the young Frenchman Franz d'Épinay, the Count (calling himselfSinbad the Sailor), calls it, "nothing less than the ambrosia whichHebe served at the table of Jupiter". When he arrives in Paris, the Count brandishes an emerald box in which he carries small green pills compounded of hashish and opium which he uses for sleeplessness. (Source: Chapters 31, 32, 38, 40, 53 & 77 in the 117-chapter unabridgedPocket Books edition.) Dumas was a member of theClub des Hashischins.
In June 2017, Manga Classics, an imprint of UDON Entertainment, publishedThe Count of Monte Cristo as a faithfully adaptedmanga.[18]
The first Japanese translation byKuroiwa Shūroku was entitled "Shigai Shiden Gankutsu-ou" (史外史伝巌窟王,A historical story from outside history, the King of the Cavern), and serialized from 1901 to 1902 in the newspaperYorozu Chōhō. It was released in book form in four volumes by publisher Aoki Suusandou in 1905. Though later translations use the title "Monte Cristo-haku" (モンテ・クリスト伯,The Count of Monte Cristo), the "Gankutsu-ou" title remains highly associated with the novel and is often used as an alternative. As of March 2016, all movie adaptations of the novel brought to Japan used the title "Gankutsu-ou", with the exception of the 2002 film, which has it as a subtitle (with the title itself simply beingMonte Cristo).
The novel is popular in Japan, and has spawned numerous adaptations, the most notable of which are the novelsMeiji Gankutsu-ou by Taijirou Murasame andShin Gankutsu-ou byKaitarō Hasegawa. Its influence can also be seen in perception of one of the first prominent cases of miscarriage of justice in Japan, in which an innocent man was charged with murder and imprisoned for half a century; it is known in Japanese as the "Yoshida Gankutsu-ou incident" (吉田岩窟王事件).
Monte Cristo Hakushaku (モンテ・クリスト, 伯爵), a manga adaptation of the novel by Ena Moriyama, was published in November 2015.
The first translation into Chinese was published in 1907. The novel had been a personal favorite ofJiang Qing, and the 1978 translation became one of the first mass-popularized foreign novels in mainland China after the end of theCultural Revolution. Since then, there have been another 22 Chinese translations.
The original work was published in serial form in theJournal des Débats in 1844. Carlos Javier Villafane Mercado described the effect in Europe:
The effect of the serials, which held vast audiences enthralled ... is unlike any experience of reading we are likely to have known ourselves, maybe something like that of a particularly gripping television series. Day after day, at breakfast or at work or on the street, people talked of little else.[19]
TheMontecristo Cuban cigar brand is allegedly named after the fondness of cigar rollers for listening to the novel read by alector during their work.
George Saintsbury stated that "Monte Cristo is said to have been at its first appearance, and for some time subsequently, the most popular book in Europe. Perhaps no novel within a given number of years had so many readers and penetrated into so many different countries."[20] This popularity has extended into modern times as well. The book was "translated into virtually all modern languages and has never been out of print in most of them. There have been at least twenty-nine motion pictures based on it ... as well as several television series, and many movies [have] worked the name 'Monte Cristo' into their titles."[19] The titleMonte Cristo lives on in a "famous gold mine, a line of luxury Cuban cigars,a sandwich, and any number of bars and casinos—it even lurks in the name of the street-corner hustlethree-card monte."[21]
Modern Russian writer and philologist Vadim Nikolayev determinedThe Count of Monte-Cristo as amegapolyphonic novel.[22]
Fantasy novelistSteven Brust's 2020 novelThe Baron of Magister Valley usesThe Count of Monte Cristo as a starting point.[26][27]Jin Yong has admitted some influence from Dumas, his favorite non-Chinese novelist.[28] Some commentators feel that the plot ofA Deadly Secret resemblesThe Count of Monte Cristo, except that they are based in different countries and historical periods.
In the novel, Dumas tells of the 1815 return ofNapoleon I, and alludes to contemporary events when the governor at theChâteau d'If is promoted to a position at the castle of Ham.[10][Notes 1] The attitude of Dumas towards "bonapartisme" was conflicted. His father,Thomas-Alexandre Dumas,[Notes 2] a Haitian ofmixed descent, became a successful general during theFrench Revolution. In 1840, the body of Napoleon Iwas brought to France and became an object of veneration in the church ofLes Invalides, renewing popular patriotic support for the Bonaparte family. As the story opens, the character Dantès is not aware of the politics, considers himself simply a good French citizen, and is caught between the conflicting loyalties of the royalist Villefort during the Restoration, and the father of Villefort, Noirtier, loyal to Napoleon, a firm bonapartist, and the bonapartist loyalty of his late captain, in a period of rapid changes of government in France.
Montecristo islet, view from the north
InCauseries (1860), Dumas published a short paper, "État civil du Comte de Monte-Cristo", on the genesis of his story.[10][Notes 3] It appears that Dumas had close contacts with members of the Bonaparte family while living inFlorence in 1841. He sailed around the island ofMontecristo in a small boat, accompanied by a young prince, a cousin to Louis Bonaparte, who was to become EmperorNapoleon III of the French ten years later, in 1851. During this trip, he promised that cousin of Louis Bonaparte that he would write a novel with the island's name in the title. In 1841, when Dumas made his promise, Louis Bonaparte himself was imprisoned at the citadel of Ham – the place mentioned in the novel. Dumas did visit him there,[29] although Dumas does not mention it in "Etat civil".
Hobart Bosworth (right) inThe Count of Monte Cristo (1908)Edmond Dantès (James O'Neill) loosens a stone before making his escape from the Château d'If inThe Count of Monte Cristo (1913)
1908:The Count of Monte Cristo, a silent film starringHobart Bosworth
In 1853, a work professing to be the sequel of the book, entitledThe Hand of the Deceased, appeared in Portuguese and French editions (respectively entitledA Mão do finado andLa Main du défunt). The novel, falsely attributed to Dumas, but in fact, originally published anonymously or sometimes attributed to one F. Le Prince, has been traced to Portuguese writerAlfredo Possolo Hogan [es].[32][33]
1881:The Son of Monte Cristo,Jules Lermina (1839–1915). This novel was divided in the English translation into two books:The Wife of Monte Cristo andThe Son of Monte Cristo). Both were published in English in New York, 1884, translated byJacob Ralph Abarbanell (1852–1922).
1884:Edmond Dantès: The Sequel to Alexander Dumas' Celebrated Novel The Count of Monte Cristo,Edmund Flagg (1815–1890). Published in English by T.B. Peterson and Brothers in 1886 (no translator credited).
1884:Monte-Cristo's Daughter: Sequel to Alexander Dumas' Great Novel, "The Count of Monte-Cristo," and Conclusion of "Edmond Dantès", Edmund Flagg. Published in English by T.B. Peterson and Brothers in 1886 (no translator credited).
1885:The Treasure of Monte-Cristo, Jules Lermina (1839–1915).
1869:The Countess of Monte Cristo, Jean Charles Du Boys (1836–1873). Published in English by T.B. Peterson and Brothers in 1871 (no translator credited).
1887:Monte Cristo and his wife, presumably by Jacob Ralph Abarbanell.
1902:Countess of Monte Cristo, by Jacob Ralph Abarbanell.
Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet wrote a set of four plays that collectively told the story ofThe Count of Monte Cristo:Monte Cristo Part I (1848);Monte Cristo Part II (1848);Le Comte de Morcerf (1851) andVillefort (1851). The first two plays were first performed at Dumas' ownThéâtre Historique in February 1848, with the performance spread over two nights, each with a long duration (the first evening ran from 6pm until midnight). The play was also unsuccessfully performed at Drury Lane in London later that year where rioting erupted in protest against French companies performing in England.
The adaptation differs from the novel in many respects: several characters, such as Luigi Vampa, are excluded; whereas the novel includes many different plot threads that are brought together at the conclusion, the third and fourth plays deal only with the fate of Mondego and Villefort respectively (Danglars's fate is not featured at all); the play is the first to feature Dantès shouting "the world is mine!", an iconic line that would be used in many future adaptations.
Two English adaptations of the novel were published in 1868. The first, by Hailes Lacy, differs only slightly from Dumas' version with the main change being that Fernand Mondego is killed in a duel with the Count rather than committing suicide. Much more radical was the version by Charles Fechter, a notable French-Anglo actor. The play faithfully follows the first part of the novel, omits the Rome section and makes several sweeping changes to the third part, among the most significant being that Albert is actually the son of Dantès. The fates of the three main antagonists are also altered: Villefort, whose fate is dealt with quite early on in the play, kills himself after being foiled by the Count trying to kill Noirtier (Villefort's half brother in this version); Mondego kills himself after being confronted by Mercedes; Danglars is killed by the Count in a duel. The ending sees Dantès and Mercedes reunited and the character of Haydee is not featured at all. The play was first performed at the Adelphi in London in October 1868. The original duration was five hours, resulting in Fechter abridging the play, which, despite negative reviews, had a respectable sixteen-week run. Fechter moved to the United States in 1869 and Monte Cristo was chosen for the inaugural play at the opening of the Globe Theatre, Boston in 1870. Fechter last performed the role in 1878.
In 1883, John Stetson, manager of the Booth Theatre and The Globe Theatre, wanted to revive the play and askedJames O'Neill (the father of playwrightEugene O'Neill) to perform the lead role. O'Neill, who had never seen Fechter perform, made the role his own and the play became a commercial, if not an artistic success. O'Neill made several abridgments to the play and eventually bought it from Stetson. A motion picture based on Fechter's play, with O'Neill in the title role, was released in 1913 but was not a huge success. O'Neill died in 1920, two years before a more successful motion picture, produced by Fox and partially based on Fechter's version, was released. O'Neill came to despise the role of Monte Cristo, which he performed more than 6000 times, feeling that his typecasting had prevented him from pursuing more artistically rewarding roles. This discontent later became a plot point in Eugene O'Neill's semi-autobiographical playLong Day's Journey Into Night.
In 2008, the Russian theater of Moscow Operetta set a musicalMonte-Cristo based on the book with music of Roman Ignatiev and lyrics of Yulii Kim. Six years later it won in Daegu International Musical Festival in South Korea. Original plot was slightly changed and some characters are not mentioned in the musical.
The Count of Monte Cristo is a musical based on the novel, with influences from the 2002 film adaptation of the book. The music is written byFrank Wildhorn and the lyrics and book are by Jack Murphy. It debuted in Switzerland in 2009.[34]
2017: The Count of Monte Cristo musical adaption by Berry & Butler[38]
2021:Radio Mirchi Kolkata's station airedThe Count of Monte Cristo inBengali, translated by Rajarshee Gupta for Mirchi'sSunday Suspense Programme. Edmond Dantès was voiced by actorGaurav Chakrabarty. Abbé Faria was voiced by RJMir, Fernand Mondego byAnirban Bhattacharya and the story was narrated by RJ Deep.[39][40] Apart from being a 6-hours epic, this adaptation was famous for having "Pitcairn Story" as the background music. This BGM is now being more identified with this epic.
2024: Little Lucky Productions created the first-ever fiction podcast adaptation of" The Count of Monte Cristo," split into two parts. Part 1 premiered in May 2024, Part 2 premiered in Fall 2024.[41]
^The governor at the Château d'If is promoted to a position at the castle ofHam, which is the castle where Louis Napoleon was imprisoned 1840–46, on page 140 of the novel.
^Thomas Alexandre Dumas was also known as Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie.
^"État civil du Comte de Monte-Cristo" is included as an "annexe" to the novel.
^David Coward (ed), Oxford's World Classics, Dumas, Alexandre, The Count of Monte Cristo, p. xvii
^Lebeaupin, Noël."Georges".dumaspere.com (in French). The Alexandre Dumas père Web Site. Retrieved10 October 2020.Solidarité avec les opprimés donc (thèmes de la justice et de la vengeance, omniprésents chez Dumas) [Solidarity with the oppressed therefore (themes of justice and vengeance, omnipresent in Dumas)]
^Peuchet, Jacques (1838). "Le Diamant et la Vengeance: Anecdote contemporaine" [The Diamond and the Vengeance: A contemporary anecdote].Mémoires tirés des Archives de la Police de Paris (in French). Vol. 5. Levasseur. pp. 197–228.
^Dumas, Alexander (1857). "Etat civil du Comte de Monte-Cristo, chapter IX" [Civil status of the Count of Monte Cristo].Causeries (in French). Retrieved10 October 2020.
^abcdeSigaux, Gilbert (1981). Introduction.Le comte de Monte-Cristo. By Dumas, Alexander (in French). Library of the Pléiade.ISBN978-2070109791.
^abAshton-Wolfe, Harry (1931).True Stories of Immortal Crimes. E. P. Dutton & Co. pp. 16–17.
^David Coward (ed), Oxford's World Classics, Dumas, Alexandre,The Count of Monte Cristo, p. xxv
^abcdefMunro, Douglas (1978).Alexandre Dumas Père: a bibliography of works translated into English to 1910. Garland Pub. pp. 91–92.
^Dumas, Alexandre (1889).The Count of Monte Cristo. Vol. II. University Press. Retrieved9 July 2025 – via archive.org.
^Dumas, Alexandre (1889).The Count of Monte Cristo : or, The Adventures of Edmond Dantès. T.Y Crowell.
^Dumas, Alexandre (1889).The Count of Monte Cristo with an introduction by Richard Church (1955 ed.). Collins.
^The Count of Monte Cristo. Manga Classics. UDON Entertainment. 2017.ISBN978-1927925614.
^abSante, Luc (2004). Introduction.The Count of Mount Cristo. By Dumas, Alexander. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics. pp. xxiv.ISBN978-1593083335.
^Sante, Luc (2004). Introduction.The Count of Mount Cristo. By Dumas, Alexander. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics. p. 601.ISBN978-1593083335.
^Sante, Luc (2004). Introduction.The Count of Mount Cristo. By Dumas, Alexander. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics. pp. xxiv–xxv.ISBN978-1593083335.
^"ШЕКСПИР и "ГРАФ МОНТЕ-КРИСТО"" [Shakespeare and "Graffe Monte Cristo"].Электронная энциклопедия "Мир Шекспира" [Electronic encyclopedia "Shakespeare's World"] (in Russian).
^Wallace, Lew (1906).Lew Wallace; an Autobiography. p. 936.ISBN1142048209.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Fry, Stephen (2003). "Introduction".Revenge. Random House Trade Paperbacks.ISBN0812968190.a straight steal, virtually identical in all but period and style to Alexandre Dumas'The Count of Monte Cristo
^《金庸一百問》盧美杏 輯. ["A Hundred Questions about Jin Yong" Lu Meixing Collection]. Archived fromthe original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved6 October 2020.《倚天屠龍記》裏謝遜說的山中老人霍山的故事和《連城訣》的故事架構，是否都出自金庸最喜歡的外國作家大仲馬的《基度山恩仇記》？（eling）金庸：山中老人那段不是，過去真的有此傳說，《連城訣》的監獄那一段有一點，但不一定是參考他的，是參考很多書的。 Are the story of Huoshan the old man in the mountain and the story structure of "Liancheng Jue" described by Xie Xun in "The Legend of Heaven and Slaying the Dragon" come from "The Enemy of Jidushan" by Jin Yong's favorite foreign writer Dumas? (Eling) Jin Yong: It's not the old man in the mountains. There was a legend in the past. There was a little bit about the prison section of "Liancheng Jue", but it didn't necessarily refer to him. It refers to many books.]
^Oliveira, Paulo Motta (2009). "A mão do finado: as extraordinárias aventuras de um sucesso mundial".II Seminário Brasileiro Livro e História Editorial.
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