James Baquet Who doesn’t love a great revenge story? And French author Alexandre Dumas the elder’s 1844 “Count of Monte Cristo” is one of the greatest of them all. Along with “The Three Musketeers,” it is one of Dumas’ most popular works. The story takes place during 1815-1839, a time of great upheaval in Europe in general and France in particular. A dying ship’s captain gives a 19-year-old Frenchman named Edmond Dantes a package to deliver. He is supposed to marry a woman named Mercedes, but a shipmate named Danglars, and Fernand Mondego, Mercedes’ cousin and a rival for her affection, accuse Dantes of being a supporter of the disgraced Napoleon, using the contents of the package as “evidence.” Dantes is arrested the day of his wedding. To keep him from speaking publicly and exposing the political sympathies of several government officials, including one Villefort, he is imprisoned without a trial or appeals. After six years Dantes meets the Abbé Faria, a priest who has tunneled into his cell. The priest educates Dantes and before he dies, tells him the location of a treasure on the Island of Monte Cristo. Dantes escapes in the sack supposed to hold Faria’s body. He recovers the treasure, and buys the island and a title to go with it: the Count of Monte Cristo. Disguised as a priest he discovers the names of the men who betrayed him. Mercedes has married Mondego, and they have a son named Albert. Both Danglars and Mondego have become quite successful. Dantes travels to the east to study and make a plan, and reappears nine years later, now as the wealthy Count. He exacts his revenge on three men: Danglars, Mondego, and Villefort. He begins by arranging for Mercedes’ son Albert to be kidnapped and then “rescue” him; the young man then introduces “the Count” into Parisian society. Dantes destroys a large portion of Danglars’ fortune by manipulating the bond market; through many subplots, he causes Mondego to kill himself; and he exposes Villefort’s crimes. When he learns “the Count” is really Dantes, it drives him insane. In the end, though, Dantes decides that it is wrong to “play God,” and leaves for the east with a new love. Vocabulary: Which word above means: 1. shamed, having lost one’s reputation 2. dressed, appearing 3. one competing for the same thing 4. demands, requires 5. mad, crazy 6. love 7. dug a hole 8. the act of getting even 9. managing or influencing skillfully 10. exposed by treachery | 