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Flashbacks
Chapter 7 – The Interrogation
Explanation and Analysis—Villefort and Dantès:
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas sets up Villefort and Dantès as foils for each other. This much is clear from their first interaction, when Dantès reveals that he was arrested at his own betrothal feast:
‘You were at your betrothal feast?’ said the deputy, shuddering in spite of himself.
‘Yes, Monsieur. I am about to marry a woman whom I have loved for the past three years.’
Though usually impassive, nevertheless Villefort was struck by this coincidence; and the emotion in the voice of Dantès, whose happiness had been interrupted, sounded a sympathetic chord with him: he too was to be married, he too was happy, and his own felicity had been disturbed so that he might help to destroy that of a man who, like himself, was on the very brink of happiness.
Villefort, of course, is in the midst of his betrothal process as well. The men are in strikingly parallel situations, and furthermore share a sharp intelligence and sense of cunning. Nevertheless, Villefort persists in helping "to destroy" Dantès, as the architect of his prolonged imprisonment. From this moment on, the two men are set against each other: Villefort descends into increasingly sinister and criminal machinations, using his talents to protect himself at the cost of those around him, while Dantès discovers in exile how his own talents can be used to seek revenge from Villefort and his peers who conspired against him. Where Villefort should be the arbiter of justice, given his status as a public prosecutor, it is Dantès who actually brings justice to bear. To highlight the qualities of the two characters, Dumas sets them against each other, thereby emphasizing their core characteristics.
Chapter 33 – Roman Bandits
Explanation and Analysis—Vampa's Tale:
In Chapter 33, the reader discovers a story within a story—the tale of a legendary bandit named Luigi Vampa, as told by Signor Pastrini:
You could not have a better informant than I, Excellency, if you want to have the full story, because I knew Luigi Vampa as a young child. One day when I myself fell into his hands while traveling from Ferentino to Alatri, he remembered our earlier acquaintance, luckily for me. He let me go, not only without making me pay a ransom, but even making me a present of a very fine watch, and telling me his life story.
[...]
The hotelier sat down, after bowing respectfully to his future listeners, with the intention of letting them know that he was ready to give them any information about Luigi Vampa that they might require.
Dumas's frame story of Vampa's epic adventures lends additional depth to his world—an entire canon of adventure stories equivalent to Dumas's own work—and allows Dumas to draw parallels between characters in frame stories and characters in the main novel. In this case, Vampa emerges as another foil for the Count of Monte Cristo himself. Unlike the Count, however, Vampa is a generally violent criminal who uses his intelligence and cunning—traits he shares with the Count—for personal gain or otherwise for ill. Consider the following passage, in which Pastrini playfully implies that Vampa sets fire to a villa:
That same night a great accident occurred, no doubt because of the neglectfulness of some servant who had forgotten to put out the lights: the Villa San-Felice caught fire, in the very wing where the beautiful Carmela had her apartments.
While Vampa leaps in to save Carmela and avoid suspicion, he manages to also rob her of a fine dress and priceless jewelry so as to impress his lover, Teresa. Where Vampa is the architect of this sort of chaos for the sake of personal enrichment—or enrichment of the status of his legend—the Count, by contrast, uses his equivalent talents for the sake of revenge. Although his specific methods may be objectionable, Dumas makes clear over the course of the considerable scope of his novel that this revenge is a noble enough cause.
Related Themes:
Chapter 112 – Departure
Explanation and Analysis—Mercédès and Haydée:
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas sets up Mercédès and Haydée as foils for each other. As the two primary love interests of the Count throughout the novel, the qualities of both characters serve to emphasize their differences—particularly in the eyes of the Count. From the Count's perspective, Mercédès's decision to marry Fernand in his absence constitutes a betrayal—whereas Haydée, over the course of her relationship to the Count, stays decidedly loyal. Dumas does not directly juxtapose these traits; the reader comes to understand their narrative function as foils through dialogue with the Count. This is especially clear at the end of the book, when the Count bids a final farewell to Mercédès and a rapturous greeting to Haydée. The final interaction between the Count and Mercédès comes in Chapter 112:
If I were to tell you that I should live in this place as Mercédès once did, that is to say by working, you would not believe me. I can no longer do anything except pray, but I do not need to work. The little treasure that you buried was still in the place that you mentioned. People will wonder who I am, and ask what I do, and have no idea how I live; but that is of no significance! It is between God, yourself and me.
At the end of the novel, Mercédès lives only for her son—her one wish is for Albert to be safe. Her life has been taken away from her by the events of the novel and the actions of the Count, and now there is nothing left to do "except pray." By comparison, Haydée's life is only just beginning at this point—she is finally freed by the Count, and chooses to stay by his side in Chapter 117:
‘I love life, which you have always made so pleasant for me.’
[…]
‘Do you mean that if I were to leave you, Haydée …’
‘Yes, my Lord, I should die!’
‘Do you love me, then?’
[…]
The count [… ] opened his arms and Haydée threw herself into them with a cry. ‘Oh, yes! Oh, yes I love you!’ she said. ‘I love you as one loves a father, a brother, a husband! I love you as one loves life, and loves God, for you are to me the most beautiful, the best and greatest of created beings!’
Hyperbole and convoluted power dynamic aside, Haydée's youth and enthusiasm for life stands in sharp contrast to Mercédès's sense of resignation. By the end of the novel, the reader may appreciate Mercédès as an embodiment of the effects of the Count's ruthless quest for revenge, while Haydée has become an embodiment of his newfound humanity.
Related Themes:
Chapter 117 – October the Fifth
Explanation and Analysis—Mercédès and Haydée:
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas sets up Mercédès and Haydée as foils for each other. As the two primary love interests of the Count throughout the novel, the qualities of both characters serve to emphasize their differences—particularly in the eyes of the Count. From the Count's perspective, Mercédès's decision to marry Fernand in his absence constitutes a betrayal—whereas Haydée, over the course of her relationship to the Count, stays decidedly loyal. Dumas does not directly juxtapose these traits; the reader comes to understand their narrative function as foils through dialogue with the Count. This is especially clear at the end of the book, when the Count bids a final farewell to Mercédès and a rapturous greeting to Haydée. The final interaction between the Count and Mercédès comes in Chapter 112:
If I were to tell you that I should live in this place as Mercédès once did, that is to say by working, you would not believe me. I can no longer do anything except pray, but I do not need to work. The little treasure that you buried was still in the place that you mentioned. People will wonder who I am, and ask what I do, and have no idea how I live; but that is of no significance! It is between God, yourself and me.
At the end of the novel, Mercédès lives only for her son—her one wish is for Albert to be safe. Her life has been taken away from her by the events of the novel and the actions of the Count, and now there is nothing left to do "except pray." By comparison, Haydée's life is only just beginning at this point—she is finally freed by the Count, and chooses to stay by his side in Chapter 117:
‘I love life, which you have always made so pleasant for me.’
[…]
‘Do you mean that if I were to leave you, Haydée …’
‘Yes, my Lord, I should die!’
‘Do you love me, then?’
[…]
The count [… ] opened his arms and Haydée threw herself into them with a cry. ‘Oh, yes! Oh, yes I love you!’ she said. ‘I love you as one loves a father, a brother, a husband! I love you as one loves life, and loves God, for you are to me the most beautiful, the best and greatest of created beings!’
Hyperbole and convoluted power dynamic aside, Haydée's youth and enthusiasm for life stands in sharp contrast to Mercédès's sense of resignation. By the end of the novel, the reader may appreciate Mercédès as an embodiment of the effects of the Count's ruthless quest for revenge, while Haydée has become an embodiment of his newfound humanity.
Related Themes:
