Edmond Dantès

Edmond Dantès (1796-) was a French sailor from Marseille who, after being wrongfully imprisoned at the Chateau d'If, discovered a hidden treasure on the Tyrrhenian Sea island of Montecristo and reinvented himself as le Comte de Monte-Cristo, a wealthy nobleman. Dantès used his newfound wealth and his new identity to take revenge on the men who had betrayed him - his childhood friend, Count Fernand Mondego; his former crewmate Philippe Danglars; and the corrupt chief prosecutor Gérard de Villefort - and reclaim his love Mercédès Herrera and their son Albert.

Biography[]

Edmond Dantès was born in Marseille, France, the son of Bernard Dantès, and he became a seaman alongside his childhood friend Fernand Mondego (son of the Count Monedgo), who became the shipowner Patrice Morell's representative. By 1815, Dantès was serving as second mate of the merchant ship Pharaon, and, during a Mediterranean voyage, the ship's captain Reynaud Leclère contracted brain fever. Dantès and Mondego put in at Elba for help, in spite of the British garrison's orders to shoot any visitor on sight to prevent a Bonapartist agent from freeing the imprisoned Napoleon I from the island. Dantès naively fired his pistol in the air to attract the attention of Lieutenant Gregory Graypool's British dragoons, who proceeded to charge Dantès and Mondego and shoot at them. The two French sailors fought off the dragoons, wounding one in the shoulder with a gunshot, before Emperor Napoleon told the British that the men were no agents of his. Dantès explained his situation, and Napoleon had his physicians tend to Captain Leclère's illness. However, the two Frenchmen were visited by the Emperor at their quarters, and Napoleon persuaded Dantès to walk with him. Napoleon told Dantès that he had recruited a sentimental letter to an old comrade in Marseille that he would rather the British not see, assuring Dantès that the letter was totally innocent, and that it was the price he demanded for Dantès' use of his physician. Dantès agreed to deliver the letter to Monsieur Clarion, but Napoleon had him hide the letter's existence from everyone, including Mondego, who watched the letter exchange from a window, unbeknownst to the two men.

Early in the morning, Napoleon woke the two sailors and told them that it was time they left, as their captain had been dead for half an hour. Dantès and Mondego returned to their ship and sailed back to Marseille, where his rival crew member, first mate Philippe Danglars, attempted to get Dantès in trouble with Morell for insubordination. On hearing of Dantès' effortrs to save Captain Leclère's life, however, Morell decided that Dantès had done what Danglars should have, and that Danglars had hidden behind his rank on the ship. Morell proceeded to make Dantès the new captain of the Pharaon, angering Danglars, who saw Dantès' promotion as a demotion for him. Morell offered Danglars the opportunity to serve aboard another berth if he refused to continue serving as the ship's first mate. Morell advised Dantès to let his girlfriend Mercédès Herrera know about his promotion, and Dantès met her and Mondego at the nearby rocks. There, Dantès announced his promotion to both Mercédès and Mondego; Mercédès was enthused to hear of her boyfriend's promotion two years ahead of schedule, but a jealous Mondego strutted off. Dantès spent the evening with Mercédès in a cave by the sea, where he promised to propose to Mercédès as soon as he could afford a ring.

Dantès having dinner with his father and Mercédès

That night, Dantès and Mercédès ate dinner with Dantès' father, only for their meal to be interrupted by a group of gendarmes, who announced that Dantès was under arrest by order of the magistrate. When Dantès asked the charges for which he was to be arrested, the gendarmerie told him that the charges were privileged. Dantès told his father that he would be back later that night, and he was brought before the magistrate Gérard de Villefort to answer for his perceived crimes, which had been reported to him by Danglars.

Villefort asked Dantès if he had made contact with Napoleon on Elba, and Dantès said that he and his friend Mondego had done so, and had been together almost the whole time. When Villefort asked about the time in which Dantès and Napoleon were alone, Dantès revealed that Napoleon had given him a personal letter to be brought back to Marseille. Villefort informed Dantès that such receipt of a treasonous letter was the reason why he was arrested, and, when he asked if Dantès had delivered the letter, Dantès said that the recipient of the letter was supposed to have found him, and that he still had the letter in his pocket. Dantès had the letter conveyed to Villefort, who opened it and discovered that it was a letter to one of Napoleon's agents, giving the times and locations of the British beach patrols on Elba. Dantès said that he couldn't read, and that Napoleon had sworn that the contents were innocent. Villefort decided that Dantès was innocent, if foolish, and he said that as he had intercepted the document, there was no harm done. Villefort decided to let Dantès go, but he asked him the intended recipient of the letter. Dantès said that the intended recipient was Monsieur Clarion; Villefort took an interest in that name and asked if Dantès had told anyone else that name, or about the letter. Dantès revealed that Mondego knew nothing of the letter, and Villefort had the letter burned. Villefort then led Dantès down a staircase and into a wagon, which he expected to take him home, but Dantès quickly discovered that he was being carted off to prison rather than being released. Villefort ignored Dantès' cries, and Dantès was sent away.

Dantès was taken to the docks, where he asked his guards if he would be allowed home. When a guard told him that his new home would be the Chateau d'If, a terrified Dantès fought off his guards and fled on horseback, traveling to Mondego's mansion. There, he told Mondego about the treasonous letter that Napoleon had deceived him into delivering, and he pled for Mondego's help. Mondego offered money to Dantès before asking him if he had a pistol, and, when Dantès said tha the did not have a pistol, Mondego drew a fencing sword on him. Mondego revealed that he had seen Napoleon give Dantès the letter, and that he had betrayed Dantès at Danglars' idea. Mondego expressed his betrayal at Dantès' concealing of the letter from him, and Mondego revealed that he had read the letter as Dantès slept on Elba. When Dantès asked Mondego for his reasons, Mondego replied that it was complicated. Dantès proceeded to draw a sword and duel his former friend, and Mondego prevented Dantès from fleeing through a window and disarmed him. Mondego revealed that he had betrayed Dantès because he was the son of a clerk, and a nobleman like Mondego was not supposed to want to be like Dantès. Shortly after, the gendarmes entered the chateau, and Mondego left Dantès with a chess piece to remind him of better days.

Dantès was transported to the rocky prison island of the Chateau d'If, where he met the warden Armand Dorléac, pleading his innocence. Dorléac said that he knew that Dantès was innocent, as, if he was truly guilty, there would be a hundred prisons in France where he could be locked away, but Chateau d'If was where the regime imprisoned those it was ashamed of. Dorléac then showed Dantès to his quarters, a room with the phrase "God will give me justice" inscribed onto the walls. Dorléac then told Dantès that the way he helped prisoners keep track of time was by hurting them every yearly anniversary of their imprisonment, and that, on prisoners' first day, he liked to do a special torture. He had Dantès chained before whipping him; Dorléac said that God was not in France that time of year, but Dantès said that God saw everything. Dorléac told Dantès to ask for help, and he would stop whipping Dantès when God showed up. While Dantès was tortured in prison, Mondego disingenuously attempted to secure Dantès' freedom from Villefort as a means of showing false kindness to Mercédès, and Villefort persuaded Mercédès that it would be best if she forgot that Dantès ever existed and found comfort with Mondego. Over the next several years, Dantès was flogged every anniversary, and he failed in his attempt to hang himself with a bedsheet after recalling the phrase "God will give me justice," whose carving he continued to maintain with his sharp rock.

In 1821, seven years into his imprisonment, Dantès met the prisoner Abbé Faria after the abbot dug an escape tunnel in the wrong direction over the course of five years and wound up in Dantès' cell. Abbé Faria said that he had been imprisoned for the past eleven years, and Dantès - unused to conversation - came out of his shyness to say that he had counted 72,519 stones within his walls, before crying after Faria suggested that he should name them. Faria comforted a crying Dantès, saying that it would pass. Dantès let Faria stand on his shoulders to have a view of the sky for the first time in eleven years. When Faria thanked God, Dantès said that there was no talk of God in prison, and the phrase scrawled in the wall faded, as had God in his heart. Dantès said that revenge had taken God's place in his heart, but Faria invited Dantès to join him in his cell, where he invited him to sit in a chair for the first time in many years. Faria revealed that there were only two possibilities of digging to the outer wall, and he had exhausted one of them, meaning that, if there were two men, they could tunnel in the other direction and escape the prison within eight years. Faria offered knowledge in exchange for Dantès' help, promising to teach him economics, mathematics, philosophy, science, and even how to read and write, as they had unlimited time in prison.

Faria also told Dantès of his service in Napoleon's army, during which his regiment ran down a band of Spanish guerrillas who had ran into a church for a sanctuary; Faria ashamedly burned down the church with the men inside it, and he said that he deserted the following day to devote his life to repentance and to God, and he served as private secretary to the enormously wealthy Count Enrique Spada, who died a few years later after hiding his massive fortune. Two weeks later, Faria had been arrested, as Napoleon wanted Spada's treasure and did not believe that Spada had no idea where it was. Faria said that he had remained in prison with only God for company until God sent Dantès; Dantès said that God was no more real than Faria's treasure. Several days later, Dantès forced Faria to teach him the arts of weaponry if he wanted his continued help, and Faria had Dantès train in speed through sweeping his hand through water dropping from the ceiling without getting wet. The two also used loose wood from their cell doors to fashion fencing implements, and Faria taught Dantès to fence.

Dantès overturning a table after learning of the conspiracy against him

By Christmas of 1821, the two men believed that escape was possible within a month. Dantès perfected his speed and his fencing abilities, while also learning the Italian language, Isaac Newton's laws of physics, Niccolo Machiavelli's book The Prince, and the principles of economics. Faria also asked Dantès about why Villefort would go through the charade of arresting Dantès after clearing his charges unless he had reason to change his mind about letting Dantès go. Faria was suspicious when he learned that Villefort had burned the letter, saying that it was strange that a chief magistrate would burn evidence of a treasonous conspiracy and then imprison the only man who was aware of Monsieur Clarion's connection to that conspiracy. Dantès realized that Villefort was protecting someone, and that Clarion could be a relative, possibly Villefort's father. This cause Dantès to flip over a table, as he realized that Villefort's father was a colonel in Napoleon's army, and that he was protecting himself by covering up the crime. Danglars falsely testified that he saw Napoleon give Dantès the letter, and Mondego told Villefort that Dantès had it, leading Villefort to send Dantès to prison. Faria applauded Dantès' deduction of the conspiracy, and Dantès grew enraged.

In 1828, the two became hopeful after noticing a plant in the roof of their tunnel, but Faria was fatally injured when the roof caved in, as his lungs were punctured. Faria told Dantès that there were loose rocks under his books, and he had Dantès move the rock, before finding the map to Spada's treasure. Faria confessed that he had lied to Napoleon about not knowing the location of the treasure, and he told Dantès that the treasure was on the Italian island of Montecristo. Faria urged Dantès to keep digging and use the treasure only for good and not for his revenge, and he gave Dantès a final lesson, telling him not to commit the crime for which Dantès now served the sentence. Faria told Dantès that God had said, "Vengeance is mine," and that God believed in Dantès, even if Dantès did not believe in God. Faria then died in Dantès' arms, and the prison guards Pascal Robert and Claude Lucchesi later found Faria's body after he failed to present his dinner plate at the door. The guards put Faria's body in a bag and sewed him up, only for Dantès to sneak into Faria's room after the guards left. Dantès took Faria out of the body bag after bidding him farewell and telling him that he was free, and Dantès proceeded to put himself in the bag.

Dorleac had the guards bring the bag along for burial at sea, but the jailer Charles Marchand found Faria's body in Dantès' cell and rushed to tell Dorleac of the ruse. As the guards swung the bag several times to prepare for throwing it, Dantès grabbed Dorleac by the keys on his waist and dragged him with him as the guards threw the body bag into the sea. Dantès used the keys to unlock himself before drowning Dorleac, and he proceeded to swim to the nearest island, washing ashore while unconscious.

Dantès found himself alive, and he thanked the priest for his help before running down the shore, laughing with relief that he was finally free. He came across the crew of the smuggler Luigi Vampa, and Vampa sat to talk with Dantès, surmising that he was an escaped prisoner. He told Dantès that he was planning on burying alive a crew member of his who had refused to share some stolen gold with the rest of the crew, but that several members of the crew wished to spare the mutineer. Vampa asked Dantès to fight the tied-up crewmember Jacopo to the death; if Dantès won, Jacopo would be spared, and Dantès would take Jacopo's place on Vampa's ship. Vampa warned Dantès that Jacopo was the best knife-fighter he had ever scene, but Dantès joked, "Perhaps you should get out more," causing Vampa to laugh and oversee the fight. Dantès easily defeated Jacopo, and he bade Vampa spare Jacopo and allow both men to serve in Vampa's crew. Vampa, impressed with Dantès' skills, agreed to take him into the crew with the pseudonym Zatarra, meaning "driftwood". Jacopo swore on his dead relatives, "even on the ones that are not feeling too good," he would be Dantès' man forever.

Three months later, Dantès returned to Marseille, where Vampa noticed that Dantès did not join the others ashore. Dantès explained that he was originally from Dantès, and an intuitive Vampa said that Dantès would not be able to make things right from the boat, encouraging him to go ashore. Dantès shared Napoleon's words of wisdom, "We are kings or pawns," causing Vampa to laugh when Dantès said that Napoleon had given him that advice, and Dantès said that he might come to find Vampa someday, as a man was often in need of a good friend.

Dantès and Jacopo proceeded to walk ashore, where Dantès observed that Danglars had taken over Morell's old company. Dantès told Jacopo to buy a boat for the two of them, and to wait for his return, as Dantès determined to make his next visit alone. Dantès visited the home of Monsieur Morell, where he found his granddaughter Juliane. Dantès told the girl that her grandfather might wish to see a man named "Edmond Dantès", and Morell received his old employee, though he could not recognize "Zatarra" as his old employee. Dantès learned that his father had hanged himself after learning of Edmond's treason; Villefort left for Paris soon after to become chief prosecutor following his father's violent murder; and Morell reluctantly took on his captain Danglars as a partner before the latter forced him out. Morell then lamented Edmond's fate, believing him dead. Dantès said that Morell's luck might be about to change, and Dantès decided to search out Edmond's fiancee. Morell revealed that, a month after Edmond was arrested, Mercédès wed his best friend Fernand. With the death of Fernand's father and brother in the Napoleonic Wars, Fernand became the Count Mondego and his wife his countess, residing in Paris. Dantès thanked Morell for his help and said that Dantès was dead, before leaving Morell a bag of silver and leaving.

Jacopo purchasing the Chateau Monte Cristo

Jacopo revealed that he had bought Zatarra a small skiff, and the two of them sailed to the island of Montecristo. There, Dantès used the clues on Faria's mapp to find several treasure chests underwater in a cave, and he and Jacopo recovered the gold. Jacopo celebrated their newfound discovery, but Dantès decided that all he wanted was to buy revenge against Danglars, Villefort, Fernand, and Mercédès. Jacopo suggested that they kill the people and then split the treasure, but Dantès said that he wanted to study the people first, as he wanted them to suffer as he had suffered, ripping their whole world fromt hem. Jacopo said that Dantès needed a better name than Zatarra if he wanted to accomplish that, and Dantès said that he would become a count. He proceeded to burn his map by throwing it against a torch, and he and Jacopo traveled to Paris, where Jacopo - serving as the valet for the "Count of Monte Cristo" - procured a home from a wealthy nobleman after showing him his cartload of golden treasures. In 1831, Dantès - now a well-connected aristocrat - sent out invitations to the nobility to invite them to a ball at the Chateau Monte Cristo on the Rue de la Roi.

Dantès' guests marveled at his mansion and his arrival to the party in a hot air balloon, and Dantès was introduced to Villefort by his wife Valentina before Jacopo told him that Mondego had retired early, as he had a morning appointment he could not miss. Dantès learned from Jacopo that Mondego was losing money at the other casinos and that he had taken a bank loan for his boat; Dantès purchased the bank and told the other banks to stay away from Mondego, forcing him to return to business with Danglars. One night, Jacopo woke Dantès - who had been sleeping on the ground due to getting used to 13 years of sleeping on a stone slab - and informed him that Mondego had a son, Albert. Dantès learned that Albert and his friends were to go on vacation to Rome in time for the Carnevale, and Dantès arranged for Vampa to stage a kidnapping of Albert. Dantès proceeded to "rescue" Albert from the criminals' hideout, and he invited Albert to visit his chateau the next day, telling Albert to consider him a friend.

As Dantès let Albert walk around the palace grounds, he assured Jacopo that Albert was just a means to an end, although Albert had taken note of Albert's courage in the tunnels. Dantès sat with Albert, who asked how Dantès knew of his kidnapping; Dantès said that he paid well to be informed of anything of note in any city in which he stayed, including the kidnapping of a count's son. Albert, impressed with the food Dantès brought out, begged Dantès to come to Paris and meet his parents. Dantès had Jacopo let him know that his "shipment" from Spada would take another three weeks to arrive, and Albert persuaded Dantès to visit Paris during those three weeks. Albert overheard Jacopo let slip that the shipment was gold, and that Dantès had business with Spada, causing him to tell his father, Count Mondego, who realized that the Count of Monte Cristo had found the treasure of Spada.

Dantès giving a toast at Albert's 16th birthday

Albert was eager to see the County arrive at his family's party, and he introduced the Count to Mondego, whom he told of his desire to meet him for some time. Mondego had Dantès meet his wife, the countess, who nearly caught on to Dantès' disguise, and thanked him for the rescue of her son. Dantès borrowed the countess for a waltz, where Mercédès said that the count reminded him of a past love; he also learned that Mercédès thought Dantès dead. Dantès also met with Villefort at the ball and convinced him to help him avoid troublesome inspections on a shipment coming from Marseille, and Villefort and Mondego later discussed the matter, planning to impound the gold shipment overnight and have it removed to Mondego's old family estate in Bouchon, where he and Villefort would meet the following day. That night, Dantès gave a toast at Albert's 16th birthday, commending him for his bravery against the criminals who had kidnapped him, and toasting his manhood in the face of danger. Over the course of the dinner, Mercédès noticed Dantès' habit of twirling his hair, remembering who he was. As he left that night, he found that Jacopo had smuggled Mercédès into his carriage, and Mercédès told Dantès that Villefort had told her that Dantès was executed. Dantès attempted to keep up his pretense, even after Mercédès revealed that she knew his identity. Dantès asked if Mercédès had loved the late Edmond, and she said that she had loved Edmond her entire life. Dantès asked how long after Edmond's death Mercédès had married the Count, causing Mercédès to say that the Count's remark wasn't fair. After the Count let Mercédès out of his carriage, she decided that the Count couldn't be her Edmond, and the Count assured her that Dantès was dead.

Back in the carriage, Dantès threatened Jacopo that, if he ever interfered in his affairs again, he would finish the business he started when he met Jacopo on the beach. Jacopo reminded Dantès that he had a fortune and a beautiful woman who loved him, and he asked Dantès to take the money and his woman and live his life. However, Dantès remained determined to see his revenge through. Jacopo reminded Dantès that he was still his man, and that he would protect him, even if it meant protecting Dantès from himself. Dantès decided to walk home rather than let Jacopo drive him, as he was conflicted about the morality of his machinations. That same night, the gendarmes crashed Danglars' attempt to steal Dantès' impounded gold form the docks of Marseille, charging him with the theft of goods from a certain merchant ship. Dantès confronted Danglars and said that they could resolve the matter easily if the gendarmes could search Danglars' vessel. Danglars concluded that Mondego had set him up, but said that he would not hang for Mondego. He proceeded to lash out at Dantès, who tied a rope around his neck and kick him from the ship after revealing that his friends knew him as Dantès.

Shortly after, Dantès met with Villefort in a sauna, thanking Villefort for helping him with his shipment. Dantès then confronted Villefort over his telling of the Countess Mondego 16 years ago that Edmond Dantès had been executed. Dantès turned up the steam as Villefort denied it, but Villefort explained that Dantès had delivered a treasonous letter from Napoleon. Dantès pressed Villefort, asking him what he stood to gain by telling Mercédès that Dantès was dead. He deduced that Villefort gained nothing, and that the clearest beneficiary was Fernand Mondego. Dantès implicated that Villefort had persuaded Mondego to murder his own father, who had helped plot Napoleon's escape from Elba, and whose activities could hampert Villefort's rise to power. Villefort said that Dantès only had theories and conjectures, but Dantès said that he had Mondego. Villefort said that Mondego would never confess in a million years, but Dantès lifted the steam and told Villefort that Villefort had already done so. Several gendarmes arrested Villefort and put him in a wagon bound for prison, and one of the gendarmes gave Villefort a pistol, saying that it was a courtesy for a gentleman. After hearing Villefort click the empty gun, Dantès asked him, "You didn't think I'd make it that easy, did you?" Villefort was then hauled off to prison to suffer as Dantès had suffered.

That night, as Dantès returned home, he found Mercédès waiting for him at home. Dantès said that he thought that their conversation had ended at the carriage, but Mercédès recalled how the Count had said the name "Dantès", a name she had never mentioned. Mercédès then told Dantès that she wanted to be free of him, and that she needed a few answers from him. Dantès told Mercédès that he had been in the Chateau d'If for 13 years and had been everywhere else, and he rebuked Mercédès for marrying the man who had betrayed him. However, he observed that Mercédès was still wearing a piece of string she wore around her finger, as she had promised to wear Dantès' ring forever. Dantès told Mercédès not to rob him of his hate, as it was all he had after 16 years of separation, but Mercédès said that God had brought them together, and asked Dantès not to slap his hand away. Dantès asked if he could ever escape God, but Mercédès said that God was in everything, even in a kiss; the two proceeded to kiss and sleep together once again, repairing their relationship.

The next morning, Mercédès awoke to hear that Dantès wanted Mercédès to join him in leaving the country with their son. When Mercédès returned to her home to gather her possessions, she found her husband in a panic, as all of his debts had been called in, and he was to be arrested for piracy, corruption, and murder. Mondego said that the gendarmes were on their way and asked his wife to pack something before joining him, but Mercédès said that she would not join her husband. When Mondego asked for his son, Mercédès revealed to Mondego that Albert was the son of Dantès, and that she had rushed to marry Mondego so quickly to cover up their son's true parentage. An angry Mondego bade farewell to his wife and headed to the ruins of his Bouchon estate, where he found that his chests were full of rubble. He was ambushed by Dantès after opening a chest and seeing that its only content was the chess piece he had given to Dantès years earlier. Mondego realized the shaved Monte Cristo as Dantès, who revealed that he had escaped from prison with difficulty and planned their confrontation with pleasure. Dantès revealed that he had taken everything from Mondego but his life, and, when Mondego asked why Dantès had been doing everything, Dantès replied, "It's complicated," the same excuse Mondego had offered for his previous betrayal. Dantès quickly disarmed Mondego when he attempted to draw a sword on Dantès, and Dantès demanded answers from Mondego. Mondego demanded that Dantès know that he would spill the blood of a noble, and that he was no more a count than Mondego was a commoner.

Just then, Albert arrived with a sword and attempted to rescue his father, as Madame Villefort had met him on the street and told him of how Monte Cristo had used Albert as a dupe to get into his father's life. As Albert attempted to duel Dantès, Mondego reloaded his pistol. Mercédès interrupted the fight before Dantès could spill the blood of his own son, and Mercédès revealed to Albert that she had found the note he had written excusing his departure; she also told Albert that he was the son of Edmond Dantès, the man he knew as the Count of Monte Cristo. Jacopo also arrived to confirm this, and Albert turned on Mondego, who said, "You are the walking proof that your mother was as much of a whore in her younger years as she is today." Albert confronted his father for letting him fight Dantès, but Mondego threw his son aside and aimed his gun at Dantès. Dantès called for Mondego to show mercy, and he warned Mondego that it would take more than one shot to stop him. Mondego fired a shot, but Jacopo threw a knife at Mondego's gun, causing the bullet to strike Mercédès in the shoulder instead. Jacopo assured Dantès that Mercédès would live, and Mondego, who initially attempted to flee, threw away his gun and decided to fight Edmond to the death.

Jacopo handed Dantès his sword and told him to end his vengeance, as even the priest would understand. Dantès kissed the wounded Mercédès before heading out to confront Mondego, who said that he could not live in a world in which Dantès had everything and he nothing. Dantès cut Mondego down from his horse, but Mondego wounded him and disarmed him. Dantès managed to duck Mondego's attack with his two swords, take one sword from him, and run him through. Dantès then left with his son, Jacopo, and Mercédès, and, three months later, Dantès purchased the Chateau d'If. Dantès soliloquized that Faria was right, and he promised Faria that all that was used for vengeance would be used for good. Dantès embraced his three companions and told them that, while he originally intended to tear down the island, all the things he cared about were walking off the island with him.

Edmond Dantès

Biography[]

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