The Count of Monte Cristo Themes
Revenge
Revenge is everywhere in The Count of Monte Cristo. No matter what the situation, no matter who is speaking, it lurks in the corners, propelling the story forward. We wait on tenterhooks, wondering...
Fate vs. Free Will
The characters in The Count of Monte Cristo don't spend too much time worrying about the "free will" part of the equation. Usually they only stop to consider the repercussions of their decisions wa...
Perseverance
Conventional wisdom says good things come to those who wait. At book's end, the Count of Monte Cristo seems to agree; in fact, he couldn't make his thoughts any clearer: Wait and hope, he tells Val...
Justice and Judgment
It's no coincidence that one of the main characters in The Count of Monte Cristo is a prosecutor. Dumas wants to see you thinking long and hard about justice and judgment, whether it be human or di...
Transformation
In The Count of Monte Cristo, the transformed becomes the transformer. Edmond, irrevocably changed during his time in prison by forces outside of his control, learns to transform the world around h...
Hatred
As a wise man once said, "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." OK, that was Yoda, and Yoda's not technically a man, but you get the point. Hatred is powerful stuff, a...
Ambition
There's nothing wrong with ambition. Really, we wouldn't get much done without it. In the case of The Count of Monte Cristo, though, the ambition in question would more accurately be called over-am...
Manipulation
Manipulation is a bit of dirty word. Nobody wants to feel like they've been manipulated by anyone – not by Fate, by God, or by their parents. In The Count of Monte Cristo Edmond must feel thi...