Figurative Language

     The Count of Monte Cristo is a novel that is rich with figurative language. Alexander Dumas uses literary techniques to evoke imagery and emotion which enable the reader to be drawn into the mood of the novel. Examples of  literary devices used are:
 Simile:

•  "Fernand twisted in his chair and wiped away the large beads of sweat which gathered on his forehead like the first raindrops of a storm". (pg19) This gives a sense of the coming storm of troubles. 
•  Dantes" fell like a wounded bird" and "he plunged like an arrow into the icy sea"(pg79)The reader is given the imagery of what it would have felt like for Dantes to be tossed into the sea in a body bag with an iron ball tied around his ankles.
• "the granite giant rose up like a threatening phantom"(pg80) This is Dantes' impression of the Château d'If as he looks back at it, having just escaped.
• "I felt myself driven like a cloud of fire descending from heaven to destroy an accursed city"(pg495) The Count of Monte Cristo describes his need to deliver punishment. 

 Verbal irony:

• "Oh!" cried Dantes, you're more than just, sir; your kindness itself!"(pg29) Dantes exclaims this to Villefort when he burns the letter that would have condemned Villefort's father and helped to prove Dantes' innocence.

                 A Passage that Appeals to Me

     Alexander Dumas uses a particular passage to describe how the Count perceived Paris as a symbol of his struggles with human nature." Paris spread out like a dark sea below, agitates its millions of light like phosphorescent waves; waves more tumultuous, more seething, more furious than those of the angry ocean, waves which never know, like those of the vast sea, waves forever clashing, forever forming, forever engulfing...."(490) I like the imagery that this passage clearly reveals in the mind's eye, that the Count saw how the light of good can be affected by the darkness of evil. The lights being the millions of good people and kind deeds which can be engulfed by the darkness brought on by greed, jealousy, and pride. This is a pessimistic view of human nature yet sadly, true. Though there is potential for corruption in people and for evil we need to stay focused on the light that inherently resides alongside the darkness in the human heart. It is the individual's responsibility to choose good over evil.
 

                The Perfect Setting

The setting of The Count of Monte Cristo is during the Napoleonic era in France. The setting is important to the plot because the protagonist, Edmond Dantes is arrested under the pretenses that he is a traitor and sympathizer of Napoleon. The story could take place elsewhere but a few requirements need to be met so the plot does not change too dramatically.  

First of all, it needs a post-revolution government that fears being toppled. Essentially, a political situation where the government is unstable because there is a potential usurper who has allies as well as enemies. This is required because Edmond Dantes would not have been charged for being a traitor to the crown if there was not a very real possibility of such a thing.

The prison to which Dantes was sent was the Chateau D’If.The fact that it was such a notorious  prison adds to Dantes’ misery. “The unexpected appearance of this dreaded prison, with its centuries-old tradition of terror, produced the same effect on Dantes as the sight of gallows on a man condemned to death.” (page 32)

Being set elsewhere would not necessarily change the plot but it would change the atmosphere and feel of the novel. Paris adds a quality of vibrant life that I feel would be diminished if it was set elsewhere.

                                               http://www.pbase.com/image/105702853   
                                                             The Chateau D'If

              

                  A Change of Character

The reader follows the descent of Dantes from a well-liked, fortunate, humble young man to one who, driven by revenge, has developed a superiority complex to the point where he believes he is second only to God. Dantes starts out with everything seeming to be going his way. However, there is foreshadowing in Dantes sentiment that "I don't think man was meant to attain happiness so easily. Happiness is like those palaces in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it" (page18) When Dantes happy life does change and he is arrested, he says to Villefort, “ I'm not important enough to have made any enemies.”  Villefort notices that “the young man was so candid and open, so full of affection for his fellow man.”(page26)

It is also apparent, that despite his good nature, there is potential if provoked, for anger. "The way the young man's eyes flashed as he spoke” his words revealed to Villefort  “all the violent energy that was hidden under the gentleness which had impressed him so deeply at first"(page 26)

During his time in prison"his soul became dark"and"his despondency gave way to wrath."(page 41) When Faria helped Dante to understand who was behind his imprisonment the Abbe regretted enlightening him. "I've stilled in your heart a feeling that wasn't there before: vengeance"(page 58) By Dumas showing Dantes change from a good-natured person to one who is obsessed by the need for vengeance, he reveals what hate can do to the human heart and mind.

                                                                  

                                                  The Count of Monte Cristo
                                 by Alexandre Dumas

      Set in the troubling times of France's Napoleonic era, Alexandre Dumas paints a dramatic and exciting story of betrayal and revenge. The protagonist, Edmond Dantes, is wrongfully "thrown into a secret dungeon in the Chateau d'If-doomed to spend his life in a dank prison cell." Many long years of imprisonment pass before he is able to execute a sly escape. Now free, Dantes sets himself on an determined path of rewarding those who were kind to him and delivering his own form of justice upon those who caused him so much misery. It is a classic tale of intrigue and human emotion. Bantam Dell, New York, NY, 2003. ISN0-553-21350-4Book Review: https://thebookstop.wordpress.com/2012/05/20/review-of-the-count-of-monte-cristo-by-alexandre-dumas/  Pages 531