Edmond Dantès’ Edmond Dantès’ Philosophy of Revenge Philosophy of Revenge

What is Revenge? Revenge: retaliation in kind or degree to

get even; to inflict injury in return for insult; getting satisfaction; self-imposed restoration to what you see as right, reasonable, or fair

Edmond’s views on revenge are deeply rooted in personal interpretations of Biblical passages.

“Eye for an Eye” Exodus 21: 23-25  “And if any mischief follow, then thou

shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for

hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound,

stripe for stripe.”

“Eye for an Eye”

The revenge is not complete and perfect unless Edmond can match his methods of vengeance to each specific crime.

“Trial by Fire”

1 Corinthians 3:13 “Every man’s work shall be made manifest

for the day he shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.”

“Trial By Fire” People must earn happiness by proving

their worthiness. Even Edmond’s friends and supporters

(and their families) must go through tests to see if they are worthy of enjoying a good life.

“Refiner’s Fire”

Malachi 3:2

“But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire…”

“Refiner’s Fire” Edmond sees himself as a human

representative of the Avenging Angel Raphael, a Biblical figure who dispenses justice in an all-powerful, all-knowing, and completely perfect way.

Monte Cristo will be seen by many characters as being omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.

The Count of Monte The Count of Monte Cristo: The Paradoxical Cristo: The Paradoxical

PersonaPersona

Time Gap Ten years pass between Chapters 19 and 20 During that time, Edmond goes off to

perfect his “Count of Monte Cristo” persona

We only get hints of what he’s done and where he’s been – adds an air of mystery to the character

Monte Cristo as Supernatural Comes across as all-knowing and all-

powerful Super-human physical strength Cunning and sneaky Physically sometimes described as being

like a corpse or vampire

The Paradox The Count of Monte Cristo has an odd

combination of character traits: Lifestyle seems aimed at maximizing

pleasure: best food, beautiful women, every possible luxury

BUT: He barely eats, never even looks at women; fascination with torture and death

Result: People are drawn in and frightened by him simultaneously

Why the discrepancies? Monte Cristo aims to impress everyone –

and it works Everyone is enthralled, but no one gets too

close to him His travels make him comfortable in any

situation – maximizes his efforts to gather information

Obsessed with revenge – no room in his life for anything else