Monte Cristo Symbol in The Count of Monte Cristo

The island of Monte Cristo (which is a real place: a small, rocky island in the Mediterranean) is the location of the hidden Italian fortune that makes Dantes wealthy. Dumas uses the island to represent shifting identities and the isolation from society that makes such transformations possible. Finding the treasure immediately confers status on Dantes—he fashions his own title, the “Count” of Monte Cristo, in response to his newfound wealth—but the island also represents a more complex transformation than simple class mobility. Dantes creates on the island an underground hideout loosely based on the legends of the 1,001 Arabian Nights. This Orientalist inspiration informs Dantes’ character of the Count, who professes to appreciate the culture of the Middle East, and its penchant for brutal, “eye-for-an-eye” revenge, more than he does the cultures of France and Italy, where he spends the majority of his time. Thus Monte Cristo becomes a place in the West that is removed from the West—“Eastern” in its influences, accoutrements, and signification. Just as it is for the smugglers who use it as a port, Monte Cristo becomes, for Dantes, a secret place close to France in which he can feel entirely apart from France.

Monte Cristo Quotes in The Count of Monte Cristo

The The Count of Monte Cristo quotes below all refer to the symbol of Monte Cristo. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Justice, Revenge, and God’s Will Theme Icon

Then he began to count his fortune. There were a thousand gold ingots, each of two or three pounds. Next to these, he piled 25,000 gold ecus, each worth perhaps twenty-four francs in today’s money ... Finally, he measured ten times the capacity of his joined hands in pearls, precious stones and diamonds ...

Related Characters: Edmond Dantes (The Count of Monte Cristo, the Abbe Busoni, the Envoy, Lord Wilmore, Sinbad the Sailor) (speaker)

Related Symbols: Monte Cristo

Page Number and Citation: 235

Explanation and Analysis:

Monte Cristo Symbol Timeline in The Count of Monte Cristo

The timeline below shows where the symbol Monte Cristo appears in The Count of Monte Cristo. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...the two of them did get in a fight onboard, near an island called “ Monte Cristo .” Dantes requests two weeks’ leave to marry Mercedes and to go to Paris, which... (full context)

...the breviary notes that the Spada family has hidden its treasure on the island of Monte Cristo , in the Mediterranean; that this treasure is of enormous size, over 13 million francs... (full context)

...if they had escaped before his second stroke, he would have led Dantes himself to Monte Cristo and they could have split the treasure. But now, since he has had no children... (full context)

...plots the revenge he will take on those who’ve wronged him. Dantes is familiar with Monte Cristo , a deserted island between Elba and Corsica, although the Abbe himself has never been... (full context)

...stash it somewhere safe and away from prying eyes. The captain suggests the island of Monte Cristo , and Dantes’ eyes light up—he realizes this is his chance to stop on the... (full context)

Dantes is so excited about the impending visit to Monte Cristo that he can’t sleep the night before and has dreams that the entire fortune vanishes... (full context)

...Jacopo to take it back to the other men, now assembled on the shores of Monte Cristo , to cook it for later. Dantes then walks along the path into the center... (full context)

The narrator shifts to the perspective of the Monte Cristo smugglers, who see Dantes jumping from rock to rock, headed back toward them. Dantes, from... (full context)

...the ship’s captain, who is named Captain Baldi, that he wishes to remain alone on Monte Cristo to nurse his wounds. He argues that his wounds are too severe to allow him... (full context)

...father and a woman named Mercedes, then to meet Dantes back on the island of Monte Cristo . Jacopo agrees to this and sets off. Dantes heads to Genoa, finds a boat... (full context)

Dantes lands at Monte Cristo and, having anchored the vessel (in which the shipbuilders have constructed secret compartments), he loads,... (full context)

...hunt, spots an island that his guide, a man named Gaetano, tells him is called Monte Cristo . Gaetano says that he and his men can row Franz out to the island,... (full context)

...if, as a tourist, he might not be interested in some of the wonders that Monte Cristo has on display. Franz is indeed intrigued, and Gaetano seems to indicate that Franz can... (full context)

...society, playing host to him as Sinbad hosts Franz now on the mysterious island of Monte Cristo . (full context)

...up on the cusp of the cave, feeling the warm air of the island of Monte Cristo . He remembers, slowly, the night before: his meeting with the mysterious Sinbad the Sailor;... (full context)

...pass through the island have: the cave is impregnable. Franz hunts for another day on Monte Cristo , and then heads back to the mainland of Italy with Gaetano, wondering if he... (full context)

...story, jumps up, for he remembers the name from his night on the island of Monte Cristo some days before. Franz also remembers that a rich man is holding the rooms next... (full context)

...and Albert wake up the next day, they learn from Pastrini that the Count of Monte Cristo , rumored to be their neighbor in the hotel, would like to offer them use... (full context)

...who has only hinted at his dislike before, tells his friend about the night at Monte Cristo , the hashish, and then of how strange it was to find that the Count... (full context)

...indebted to someone else’s. At this, he announces to the group that the Count of Monte Cristo , his friend from Rome, will be joining them for breakfast. Albert tells the story... (full context)

...he replies, to the group’s astonishment, that his Nubian servant, Ali, whom Franz met on Monte Cristo , has been dispatched to Paris to find a place on the Champs-Elysees, the most... (full context)

...codicil to his will, leaving large amounts of land to Haydee and his money at Monte Cristo to Maximilien Morrel. He then rides with Morrel to the dueling spot, where he meets... (full context)

...cautions him to maintain hope and to be patient, and to meet the Count on Monte Cristo on October the Fifth. On that day, the Count promises, if Morrel is still so... (full context)

Maximilien Morrel meets the Count on the island of Monte Cristo , where they had promised to rendezvous. The Count says that all his wealth, over... (full context)

The Count of Monte Cristo

Alexandre Dumas

Monte Cristo Symbol Analysis

Monte Cristo Quotes in The Count of Monte Cristo

Monte Cristo Symbol Timeline in The Count of Monte Cristo