By Alexandre Dumas (father)
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| "Everybody likes revenge." (GLaDOS) |
I'm actually stuck reading Dracula, lost all motivation, but good thing is school is here but not for studying and stuff. So I always carry a book and read in class. School's boriness gives me motivation to read. So it's really a win-win situation. I have fun while being at school and school thinks he's funny.
What I'm trying to say you people who may say, "Are your grades okay?" (they are, thank you) is that I'm going to recommend you a book I already read. Big book but cool story. Made a huge movie which I haven't seen or have the time to. What I have gather from some fans of this book is that actually it was a story that appeared at a newspaper or something like that bit by bit.
I can't exactly remember all the plot as I read it almost two or one years ago so I'm going to more less tell you what's about.
Edmond Dantès is a nice fellow who is a sailor in a boat of the Morrel's business. While in the sea, the captain fells ill and asks him to deliver a letter when they return to Marseille. By the time they arrive the captain has died.
Dantés is a truly blessed boy who has a beautiful fianceé named Mercédès who he is going to marry soon, he's going to become the next captain of the boat and is saving up money so his poor father can have a better life. His life is heading in a good direction but as his blessings increase so his enemies.
Dantés is a truly blessed boy who has a beautiful fianceé named Mercédès who he is going to marry soon, he's going to become the next captain of the boat and is saving up money so his poor father can have a better life. His life is heading in a good direction but as his blessings increase so his enemies.
One of them is the cousin of Mercédès, Fernand, who is madly in love with her. The next is is Danglars, a fellow sailor who is jealous of his rise to captain. Finally Caderousse, the room provider, believes Dantés to have money hidden. While the three grieve in a bar, Danglars suddenly makes a plan to make Dantès seem like a traitor. Caderousse is too drunk to stop them but Danglars persuades Fernand into working with him. They send a letter to the police saying that Dantès is a spy from Napoléon.
While Dantès is a about to marry Mercédès, the police appears and take him under arrest. As Danglars foresaw, the letter the late captain gave to an ignorant Dantès was addresed to an enemy of the crown. Villefort, a man who married the same day Dantès was supposed to, judged him and felt sympathy for him. Yet all his intentions to help him vanished when he saw the letter adressed to his own father. Villefort, sneakily burned the letter and made Dantès think that he would be safe is nobody knew to whom the letter was adressed to. Innocently, Dantés believes him and so Villefort dooms him.
Dantès, who believes he will set free as he is innocent, waits patiently to discover he's going to be taken to a prison, the Château d'If. He discovers it too late and can't escape. Dantès is imprisoned in the basement cells where he gets depressed and thinks of taking his life by becoming anorexic.
As their tunnel plan has failed, Dantès reasons that only dead people may exit. In a last effort he changes places with Faria. Takes Faria to his room and he enters the sack where they had put Faria. In fact, he is taken to the graveyard outside the castle but this graveyard is the sea. They throw the sack and somehow Dantès survives and swims away. He's later taken by a smuggler ship which help him head to the island of Monte Cristo where the lost fortune was and becomes dirty, dirty rich.
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| What are you gonna do with all that money? Bath in money while I make my enemies' life a nightmare... |
As he sees the heartwarming happiness of his dear friends, Dantès decides it's time to abandon all traces of humanity and devote to revenge against the ones who unfairly imprisoned him.
He appears in Paris as the rich Count of Montecristo and is introduced to the Count de Morcef (Fernand), Baron Danglars and procureur du roi Villefort. Yet the only one to recognize him is Mércèdes who is truly sorry to Dantés, who doesn't forgive her and she is unable to stop him. He slowly but surely makes their lives once happy into a nightmare. Reveals dirty secrets, makes own members of a family kill themselves and tricks them into losing all even when his actions drive innocent people as well.
The fun part is knowing how he does it! So I will put the spoiler at the end. So the people who want to read the book without spoilers beware: I will put them below.
Ruin of Count de Morcerf
Montecristo moves Danglars to investigate what happened in Janina and appears published in the newspapers. It accuses Morcerf of betraying his benefactor, Ali Pasha.
Albert, son of Fernand, blames Monte Cristo for the disgrace and promise to duel to death the next day. Mércèdes meets Montecristo at night and begs him to not kill her son. He is moved by her and is able to tell her the truth about her imprisonment. She later tells the truth to Albert who makes a public apology to Montecristo.
Morcerf is brought to court and tries to lie his way out but is exposed by Haydeé, sent by Montecristo, that he betrayed his father and leader of Janina, Ali Pasha, to the Turks for the sake of money and sold her to slavery along with her mother. This totally ruins his family's honour. His wife and son abandon him and Fernand is confronted by Montecristo who reveals himself as Dantès and the cause of his misfortune (In your face!). Fernand who can't bear the disgrace and the lost of his family shoots his brains out.
Ruin of Villefort
Montecristo becomes friend of the current bride of Villefort, Eloísa, who is also the stepmother of Valentina. He recommends her the use of a venom as medicine but hints that in high doses it can kill a person without leaving a trace.
As Eloísa sees Valentina will inherit alone the Saint-Mérans (her mother's family) and also Nortier's (Villefort's father) inheritance when they die and leave his own son peniless, she starts poisoning the members of the family. First she poisons the Saint-Mérans, making Valentina inherit the money and tries to kill Nortier but fails.
Villefort knows by his doctor friend that a person in the house is poisoning the family, he suspects Valentina. And Villefort starts believing so too.
Montecristo grinning while seeing the house of the Villeforts crumble is then pleaded by Morrel (Jr) who desperately begs him to save Valentina, whom he loves. Montecristo is struck between his desire to please his most dear friend whom he deem as a son and his darker desire for vengeance against an evil family. But at last promises Morrel to do all in his might (almost God-like) to help him.
Eloísa starts targetting Valentina as she was unable to poison Nortier. She reasons that when she dies Nortier will have to make his son inherit the money, so she starts going at night to introduce the venom in the water glass near her bed. Montecristo appears (not sure how) in her bedroom and throws the poison, says he's sent by Morrel and asks her to drink of the mix he brought. The next morning Valentina appears dead.
Villefort is shocked by her death as he believed her to be the culprit and is full of regret and confusion about the real murderer. This is when Nortier even when completely paralyzed is able to point out with his eyes that the culprit is Eloísa who is playing with her son in a heartwarming scene. He faces her and lets her choose between public execution or suicide by her own poison and leaves even when she begs him.
Montecristo grinning while seeing the house of the Villeforts crumble is then pleaded by Morrel (Jr) who desperately begs him to save Valentina, whom he loves. Montecristo is struck between his desire to please his most dear friend whom he deem as a son and his darker desire for vengeance against an evil family. But at last promises Morrel to do all in his might (almost God-like) to help him.
Eloísa starts targetting Valentina as she was unable to poison Nortier. She reasons that when she dies Nortier will have to make his son inherit the money, so she starts going at night to introduce the venom in the water glass near her bed. Montecristo appears (not sure how) in her bedroom and throws the poison, says he's sent by Morrel and asks her to drink of the mix he brought. The next morning Valentina appears dead.
Villefort is shocked by her death as he believed her to be the culprit and is full of regret and confusion about the real murderer. This is when Nortier even when completely paralyzed is able to point out with his eyes that the culprit is Eloísa who is playing with her son in a heartwarming scene. He faces her and lets her choose between public execution or suicide by her own poison and leaves even when she begs him.
Villefort heads to the court where he is to sentence Andrés Calvancanti who's really Benedetto, the bastard son he had with Mrs. Danglars. Benedetto reveals in court that Villefort is his father and that he tried to kill him when he was born thus making Villefort an infanticide and father of a murderer.
With his honour totally destroyed, as a criminal and a change of heart, he returns home hoping he may reach his wife before it's too late. By the time he arrives he finds his wife has chosen to suicide but also decided to take her little son with her. Montecristo comes to mock him and reveal himself as Edmond Dantés like saying, "In your face!," but a desperateVillefort questions him about the death of his son as also part of his plan. Dantés tries to save the boy but is unable to do it. Villefort finally snaps, turns mad and starts digging the soil searching for the box where his bastard son, Benedetto, should have been.
Ruin of Baron Danglars
Danglars became a wealthy bank owner over the years and what he was more interested than anything is in becoming richer.
Montecristo makes a deposit in his bank of a lot of money and retrieves a little with the condition that he can retrieve the rest any time he wants. He later proceeds to make an information fraud so that Danglars who always receives those kind of information early makes the wrong move and therefore lose the majority of his fortune along with multiple bankruptcies and the like which continue undermining his wealth.
In a last attempt to regain his fortune, he cancels the engagement of his daughter, Eugenia, to Albert de Morcef and changes it to Andrés Calvancanti believing he's rich. Which, in the day of the wedding, is set under arrest in a similar fashion to Dantès and judged as a murderer known as Benedetto. Eugenia freed from an unwanted engagement, elopes with her friend to to make her dreams of becoming an famous pianist a reality.
Finally Montecristo, when Danglars seems to be pending from the edge, like a jerk demands the withrawal of all his money. Danglars is unable to and some people who study this things may know better than me how screwed he became. He gives him back his money but escapes with the deposit of a hospital he was managing leaving her wife without prior call.
He travels to Rome in hope to reopen business with what he has left of the money he stole and start again. This is so until he is kidnap by the bandits and taken to a cave where he meets their boss, Luigi Vampa. Luigi imprisons him in a cell where he is actually comfortable. The floor is covered by fur, he has a table, a bed and like that.
He starts growing hungry and asks his jailer when they're gonna bring the food. The jailer acts suprised and assures him that he only has to ask for it. Danglars seems pleased until the jailer tells him that he has to pay for it as it is difficult getting food. As a pro greedy man, Danglars prefers to wait until he can no longer. He asks for the prices which are so exorbitant that Danglars has a hard time deciding. All the food is extremely expensive and when Danglar can resist no longer the hunger he buys and the next day even though he refuses, he does so again. Until he is left with a misery compared with what he had before.
When he screams out of desesperation at the bandits, Montecristo who is a good friend of Luigi comes in and tells him with a solemn face that he is Edmond Dantès. Danglars discovers that the misery of Fernand and Villefort are his doing and supposes he came to do the same. Yet Montecristo says he learned his lesson, he sets Danglars free with what little money he has left as he has received enough punishment and lets him go away. He also assured him that he had already paid the money he owed to the hospital.
Well many of you may say what happened to Caderousse, if any of you remembers. Well, Caderousse also died because Montecristo was angry because he knew and didn't do anything to help him, and also with time had turned even nastier and a killer. He was murdered by Benedetto and was pinpointed out moments before he died so that's why Villefort had to prosecute him as he was like a judge.
As you may see many thing are interwined and is hard to put it all, so I only put you the most important characters which are Montecristo who by the way pretends to be other three persons, and the persons he want revenge from. So practically this is a story about a good innocent guy turn rich, believes he's justice and wishes revenge. And well, everybody likes revenge, much more when they guy owns them the way he did and is dirty rich.
But he also through revenge discovers he has to seek for forgiveness.
Also another spoiler: Valentina isn't dead. Montecristo did something similar to Juliet in Romeo & Juliet.
Finally Montecristo, when Danglars seems to be pending from the edge, like a jerk demands the withrawal of all his money. Danglars is unable to and some people who study this things may know better than me how screwed he became. He gives him back his money but escapes with the deposit of a hospital he was managing leaving her wife without prior call.
He travels to Rome in hope to reopen business with what he has left of the money he stole and start again. This is so until he is kidnap by the bandits and taken to a cave where he meets their boss, Luigi Vampa. Luigi imprisons him in a cell where he is actually comfortable. The floor is covered by fur, he has a table, a bed and like that.
He starts growing hungry and asks his jailer when they're gonna bring the food. The jailer acts suprised and assures him that he only has to ask for it. Danglars seems pleased until the jailer tells him that he has to pay for it as it is difficult getting food. As a pro greedy man, Danglars prefers to wait until he can no longer. He asks for the prices which are so exorbitant that Danglars has a hard time deciding. All the food is extremely expensive and when Danglar can resist no longer the hunger he buys and the next day even though he refuses, he does so again. Until he is left with a misery compared with what he had before.
When he screams out of desesperation at the bandits, Montecristo who is a good friend of Luigi comes in and tells him with a solemn face that he is Edmond Dantès. Danglars discovers that the misery of Fernand and Villefort are his doing and supposes he came to do the same. Yet Montecristo says he learned his lesson, he sets Danglars free with what little money he has left as he has received enough punishment and lets him go away. He also assured him that he had already paid the money he owed to the hospital.
Well many of you may say what happened to Caderousse, if any of you remembers. Well, Caderousse also died because Montecristo was angry because he knew and didn't do anything to help him, and also with time had turned even nastier and a killer. He was murdered by Benedetto and was pinpointed out moments before he died so that's why Villefort had to prosecute him as he was like a judge.
As you may see many thing are interwined and is hard to put it all, so I only put you the most important characters which are Montecristo who by the way pretends to be other three persons, and the persons he want revenge from. So practically this is a story about a good innocent guy turn rich, believes he's justice and wishes revenge. And well, everybody likes revenge, much more when they guy owns them the way he did and is dirty rich.
But he also through revenge discovers he has to seek for forgiveness.
Also another spoiler: Valentina isn't dead. Montecristo did something similar to Juliet in Romeo & Juliet.
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