Edmond Dantès 

-  The protagonist of the novel. Dantès is an intelligent, honest, and loving

man who turns bitter and vengeful after he is framed for a crime he does not commit. When
Dantès finds himself free and enormously wealthy, he takes it upon himself to act as the
agent of Providence, rewarding those who have helped him in his plight and punishing
those responsible for his years of agony.

The Count of Monte Cristo -  The identity Dantès assumes when he emerges from prison
and inherits his vast fortune. As a result, the Count of Monte Cristo is usually associated
with a coldness and bitterness that comes from an existence based solely on vengeance.

Lord Wilmore -  The identity of an eccentric English nobleman that Dantès assumes when
committing acts of random generosity. Lord Wilmore contrasts sharply with Monte Cristo,
who is associated with Dantès’s acts of bitterness and cruelty. Appropriately, Monte Cristo
cites Lord Wilmore as one of his enemies.

Abbé Busoni -  Another of Dantès’s false personas. The disguise of Abbé Busoni, an
Italian priest, helps Dantès gain the trust of the people whom the count wants to manipulate
because the name connotes religious authority.

Sinbad the Sailor -  The name Dantès uses as the signature for his anonymous gift to
Morrel. Sinbad the Sailor is also the persona Dantès adopts during his time in Italy.

Other Characters

Mercédès -  Dantès’s beautiful and good fiancée. Though Mercédès marries another man,
Fernand Mondego, while Dantès is in prison, she never stops loving Dantès. Mercédès is
one of the few whom Dantès both punishes (for her disloyalty) and rewards (for her
enduring love and underlying goodness).
Abbé Faria -  A priest and brilliant thinker whom Dantès meets in prison. Abbé Faria
becomes Dantès’s intellectual father: during their many years as prisoners, he teaches
Dantès history, science, art, and many languages. He then bequeaths to Dantès his vast
hidden fortune. Abbé Faria is the most important catalyst in Dantès’s transformation into
the vengeful Count of Monte Cristo.

Fernand Mondego -  Dantès’s rival for Mercédès’s affections. Mondego helps in framing
Dantès for treason and then marries Mercédès himself when Dantès is imprisoned.
Through acts of treachery Mondego becomes a wealthy and powerful man and takes on
the name of the Count de Morcerf. He is the first victim of Dantès’s vengeance.

Baron Danglars -  A greedy, envious cohort of Mondego. Danglars hatches the plot to
frame Dantès for treason. Like Mondego, he becomes wealthy and powerful, but loses
everything when Monte Cristo takes his revenge. Danglars’s obsession with the
accumulation of wealth makes him an easy target for Monte Cristo, who has seemingly
limitless wealth on hand to exact his revenge.
Caderousse -  A lazy, drunk, and greedy man. Caderousse is present when the plot to
frame Dantès is hatched, but he does not take an active part in the crime. Unlike Danglars
and Mondego, Caderousse never finds his fortune, instead making his living through petty
crime and the occasional murder.

Gérard de Villefort -  The blindly ambitious public prosecutor responsible for sentencing
Dantès to life in prison. Like the others, Villefort eventually receives punishment from
Dantès. Villefort stands out as Monte Cristo’s biggest opposition, as he employs his own
power to judge people and mete out punishments.

Monsieur Morrel  -  The kind, honest shipowner who was once Dantès’s boss. Morrel does
everything in his power to free Dantès from prison and tries to save Dantès’s father from
death. When Dantès emerges from prison, he discovers that Morrel is about to descend
into financial ruin, so he carries out an elaborate plot to save his one true friend.

Louis Dantès -  Dantès’s father. Grief-stricken, Louis Dantès starves himself to death
when Dantès is imprisoned. It is primarily for his father’s death that Dantès seeks
vengeance.

Maximilian Morrel -  The son of Monsieur Morrel. Brave and honorable like his father,
Maximilian becomes Dantès’s primary beneficiary. Maximilian and his love, Valentine,
survive to the end of the story as two good and happy people, personally unaffected by the
vices of power, wealth, and position.

Albert de Morcerf -  The son of Fernand Mondego and Mercédès. Unlike his father, Albert
is brave, honest, and kind. Mercédès’s devotion to both Albert and Dantès allows Monte
Cristo to realize her unchanging love for him and causes him to think more deeply about his
sole desire for revenge.

Valentine Villefort -  Villefort’s saintly and beautiful daughter. Like Maximilian Morrel, her
true love, she falls under Dantès’s protection.

Noirtier -  Villefort’s father. Once a powerful French revolutionary, Noirtier is brilliant and
willful, even when paralyzed by a stroke. He proves a worthy opponent to his son’s selfish
ambitions.

Haydée -  The daughter of Ali Pacha, the vizier of the Greek state of Yanina. Haydée is
sold into slavery after her father is betrayed by Mondego and murdered. Dantès purchases
Haydée’s freedom and watches her grow into adulthood, eventually falling in love with her.

Signor Bertuccio -  Dantès’s steward. Though Bertuccio is loyal and adept, Dantès
chooses him as his steward not for his personal qualities but because of his vendetta
against Villefort.
Benedetto -  The illegitimate son of Villefort and Madame Danglars. Though raised lovingly
by Bertuccio and Bertuccio’s widowed sister-in-law, Benedetto nonetheless turns to a life of
brutality and crime. Handsome, charming, and a wonderful liar, Benedetto plays the part of
Andrea Cavalcanti in one of Dantès’s elaborate revenge schemes.

Madame d’Villefort -  Villefort’s murderous wife. Devoted wholly to her son Edward,
Madame d’Villefort turns to crime in order to ensure his fortune.

Julie Herbaut -  The daughter of Monsieur Morrel and sister of Maximilian. Angelically
good and blissfully in love, Julie and her husband, Emmanuel, prove to Monte Cristo that it
is possible to be truly satisfied with one’s life.

Emmanuel Herbaut -  Julie’s husband. Emmanuel is just as noble and perpetually happy
as his wife, Julie.

Madame Danglars -  Danglars’s wife. Greedy, conniving, and disloyal, Madame Danglars
engages in a never-ending string of love affairs that help bring her husband to the brink of
financial ruin.

Eugénie Danglars -  The Danglars’ daughter. A brilliant musician, Eugénie longs for her
independence and despises men. On the eve of her wedding, she flees for Italy with her
true love, Louise d’Armilly.

Louise d’Armilly -  Eugénie Danglars’s music teacher and constant companion.

Lucien Debray -  The secretary to the French minister of the interior. Debray illegally leaks
government secrets to his lover, Madame Danglars, so that she can invest wisely with her
husband’s money.

Ali -  Dantès’s mute Nubian slave. Ali is amazingly adept with all sorts of weapons.

Luigi Vampa -  A famous Roman bandit. Vampa is indebted to Dantès for once setting him
free, and he puts himself at the service of Dantès’s vengeful ends.

Major Cavalcanti -  A poor and crooked man whom Dantès resurrects as a phony Italian
nobleman.

Edward d’Villefort -  The Villeforts’ spoiled son. Edward is an innocent victim of Dantès’s
elaborate revenge scheme.

Beauchamp -  A well-known journalist and good friend to Albert de Morcerf.

Franz d’Epinay -  Another good friend to Albert de Morcerf. D’Epinay is the unwanted
fiancé of Valentine Villefort.

Marquis of Saint-Méran -  The father of Villefort’s first wife, who dies shortly after her
wedding day.

Marquise of Saint-Méran -  The wife of the Marquis of Saint-Méran.

Jacopo -  A smuggler who helps Dantès win his freedom. When Jacopo proves his selfless
loyalty, Dantès rewards him by buying the poor man his own ship and crew.

Ali Pacha  -  A Greek nationalist leader whom Mondego betrays. This betrayal leads to Ali
Pacha’s murder at the hands of the Turks and the seizure of his kingdom. Ali Pacha’s wife
and his daughter, Haydée, are sold into slavery.

Baron of Château-Renaud -  An aristocrat and diplomat. Château-Renaud is nearly killed

in battle in Constantinople, but Maximilian Morrel saves him at the last second. Château-
Renaud introduces Maximilian into Parisian society, which leads to Maximilian and Dantès
crossing paths.

Peppino -  An Italian shepherd who has been arrested and sentenced to death for the
crime of being an accomplice to bandits, when he merely provided them with food. Monte
Cristo buys Peppino his freedom.

Countess G— -  A beautiful Italian aristocrat who suspects that Monte Cristo is a vampire.

Key Facts
F U L L T I T L E    ·  The Count of Monte Cristo (Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, in the original

French)

A U T H O R    · Alexandre Dumas

T Y P E O F W O R K    · Novel

G E N R E    · Adventure; Romantic novel; moralistic tale

L A N G U A G E    · French

T I M E A N D P L A C E W R I T T E N    · 1844, France

D A T E O F F I R S T P U B L I C A T I O N    · Published serially from August 1844 until January

1846

P U B L I S H E R    ·  Le Journal des Débats

N A R R A T O R    · The novel is narrated by an anonymous voice.

P O I N T O F V I E W    · The narrator speaks in the third person, focusing almost entirely on

outward action and behavior rather than delving into the psychological realities of the
characters.

T O N E    · The narrator is detached from the story, relating the events as they happen.
T E N S E    · Present

S E T T I N G ( T I M E )    · The novel takes place during the years following the fall of Napoleon’s

empire. The story begins in 1815 and ends in 1844.

S E T T I N G ( P L A C E )    · Though most of the action takes place in Paris, key scenes are also

set in Marseilles, Rome, Monte Cristo, Greece, and Constantinople.

P R O T A G O N I S T    · Edmond Dantès

M A J O R C O N F L I C T    · Unjustly imprisoned, Dantès’s seeks to punish those responsible for

his incarceration; as the vengeful Count of Monte Cristo, he struggles to transcend his
human nature and act as an agent of divine retribution.

R I S I N G A C T I O N  · In prison, Dantès meets Abbé Faria, who unravels the mystery of

Dantès’s downfall; Dantès vows to spend his fortune on an obsessive quest to reward
those who have been kind to him and to punish those who have harmed him; Dantès visits
Caderousse and confirms the details of the events leading up to his incarceration; Dantès
eases himself into the lives of those responsible for his time in prison.

C L I M A X  · Dantès slowly brings complete devastation upon Caderousse, Fernand, Villefort,

and Danglars.

F A L L I N G A C T I O N    · Dantès enables the blissful union of Maximilian Morrel and Val-

entine Villefort; Dantès finally opens himself to emotions other than gratitude and
vengeance and admits his love for Haydée.

T H E M E S    · The limits of human justice; relative versus absolute happiness; love versus

alienation

M O T I F S    · Names; suicide; politics

S Y M B O L S    · The sea; the red silk purse; the elixir

The Count of Monte Cristo Character List
Edmond Dantes/Abbe Busoni/Count of Monte Cristo
Dantes, the naïve sailor from Marseilles, is imprisoned as a political criminal in the
Chateau D'If. Those he trusted imprison him. He remains in prison for fourteen years.
He no longer is the same man once he breaks free, the lion of vengeance has grown in
his soul. Revenge is reason for living now. Dantes assumes the role of the Italian priest,
Abbe Busoni as well as the role of the Count of Monte Cristo to avenge the wrongs
committed against the hopeful nineteen year old sailor he once was. The knowledge and
fortune that Abbe Faria imparted to him allows him to accomplish this goal. He truly
believes that he has the right to act as divine justice by punishing the sins of his
enemies. They must suffer slowly. In the end, the death of Villefort's young son causes
Monte Cristo to question his God-like role. He reaffirms the justification for his deeds
when he visits the Chateau D'If and asks to see his former cell.

Abbe Faria
This is the Abbe who saves Dantes from suicide. The old Abbe had tried to tunnel h is
way to freedom, however, a miscalculation brought him to Dantes' cell. The Abbe is
also a political prisoner. The Abbe has made his own tools and has also written a
treatise while incarcerated. The Abbe spends the next few years educating Dantes in the
sciences, literature, and languages. He also helps Dantes figure out who was responsible
for his imprisonment. Thus, he instills vengeance in his young protégé. He sees Dantes
as a son, thus before he dies of apoplexy, the Abbe tells Dantes of a treasure that is
buried on the Isle of Monte Cristo. When the Abbe dies, Dantes replaces his body in the
Abbe's body bag in order to escape.

Mercedes/Countess de Morcerf
Mercedes is a poor Catalan, yet she is noble and beautiful. She is the fiancee of Dantes
who is wronged by the man whom she thought of as a brother, Fernand Mondego.
When Dantes is imprisoned she cares for Dantes' father until his death. She is comforted
by Mondego, but she loses hope of ever regaining Dantes. She thus marries Fernand,
who has amassed military glory. They become the Count and Countess de Morcerf. She
alone recognizes Dantes when he returns as Monte Cristo, however, she keeps silent
until her son challenges Monte Cristo to a duel for having destroyed his father's honor.
She then visits Monte Cristo to plead for her son's life. He accepts, yet tells her of her
husband's treachery. This knowledge causes her and her son to abandon their name and
fortune. They pack their bags and leave. Mercedes shall finish her life in a convent.

Fernand Mondego/Count de Morcerf

Fernand was the fisherman who betrayed Dantes because he was in love with Mercedes.
Military glory brought him a fortune, and he changed his name to Count de Morcerf. He
commits suicide after Monte Cristo reveals his military treason. He betrayed his
benefactor in Greece, Ali Pasha. He surrendered the Greek city to the Turks, and sold
Ali's wife and daughter into slavery.

Albert de Morcerf
The Count's son is befriended and saved from bandits by the Count of Monte Cristo in
Italy. He thus introduces his savior into Parisien society. He is shamed however, when
Monte Cristo reveals the treachery of his father. At first he challenges the Count to a
duel, however, his mother relates to him the truth, after which he apologizes to the
Count. Albert has his mother's noble character, thus he renounces his fortune and name,
and leaves to seek his own glory and fortune in the army.

Danglars
Danglars is the mastermind behind the letter, which incriminates Dantes. He becomes
captain of the Pharaon once Dantes is imprisoned. He becomes a banker with an
incredible fortune and a Baron. He has one daughter, Eugenie. His wife and he are
alienated, especially when his wife, as money hungry as he, ruins part of his fortune.
Monte Cristo ruins the other half. He destroys Danglars by destroying his fortune.

Madame Danglars
Madame Danglars is the lover of many. She is currently usurping much of her husband's
fortunes with her lover Monsieur Debray. Previously, she had been the lover of
Monsieur de Villefort with whom she had a child. Monsieur de Villefort buried this
child alive. Madame Danglars believed it to be dead upon its birth. This scandal
destroys Villefort, and causes Madame Danglars to faint during a trial that revealed it
all. She is also abandoned by Debray once her husband leaves and no longer has a
fortune.

Lucien Debray
Debray is Madame Danglars' lover. They are involved in amassing a fortune from
Danglars' earnings. Once Danglars abandons his wife, Debray no longer has any interest
in Madame Danglars.

Eugenie Danglars
Originally Eugenie was to marry Albert de Morcerf. However, her father decided
Andrea Calvacanti would be a more profitable match. Eugenie herself does not wish to
marry at all. Thus she is anything but disappointed when Andrea, and escaped-convict is
arrested. She herself, a willful girl, runs away with her best friend Louise d'Armilly
using the Calvacanti episode as her excuse. Thus, Danglars loses his daughter.

Monsieur de Villefort
Monsieur de Villefort is the public prosecutor of Marseilles who was responsible for
Dantes' incarceration. Much to Villefort's chagrin, Villefort's father was a known
Bonapartist, thus his policy for Bonapartist conspirators was harsh. He sought to protect
his own name. He succeeds in becoming the public prosecutor in Paris. His first
marriage is one that is politically advantageous. He has one daughter by that marriage,
Valentine. He also has a son by his second marriage. Monte Cristo ruins Villefort at
Calvacanti's trial. Calvacanti reveals that his father, Villefort, buried him as a newborn
baby. He was saved by Bertuccio who had been spying on Villefort waiting for an
opportunity to seek revenge on him. Villefort had failed to seek out the man who had
killed Bertuccio's brother. Villefort is thus ruined. His wife also poisons his daughter,
son, and herself. He becomes crazy.

Madame Heloise de Villefort

Madame Heloise de Villefort is the public prosecutor's second wife. She is obsessed
with attaining an inheritance for her son Edouard. Valentine, daughter of Villefort and
his first wife, is to inherit her grandfather's fortune as well as her mother's parents'
fortune. Thus Madame de Villefort poisons the Saint-Merans, Valentine's grandparents.
She also poisons Valentine. Monte Cristo saves Valentine, however. When Monsieur de
Villefort discovers her evil deeds he demands that she commit suicide. She thus poisons
both herself and Edouard.

Valentine de Villefort
Valentine is an endearing creature who is much loved by her grandfather, the
Bonapartist Noirtier and Maximilien Morrel. Her grandfather helps her out of a
marriage contract with Franz d'Epinay. Noirtier reveals to d'Epinay that he had killed
his father. D'Epinay thus no longer desires the marriage, and Valentine will be able to
marry Maximilien. Valentine becomes ill, however. Monte Cristo saves her from the
poisons of Her stepmother, however. He wishes happiness upon her and Maximilien.

Edouard de Villefort
Edouard is a mere nine-year old boy, who is poisoned by his own mother when she
commits her own suicide. Monte Cristo realizes that he may have gone to far with his
vengeance when this innocent boy dies. Monsieur de Villefort goes mad when he sees
his son dead.

Marquis and Marquise de Saint-Meran

The Marquis and Marquise de Saint-Meran are the parents of Villefort's first wife.
Heloise De Villefort poisons them in her efforts to secure their fortune for her son.

Monsieur Noirtier
Noirtier is Monsieur de Villefort's Bonapartist father. It was to Noirtier that Napoleons'
letter, which Dantes was to deliver before his arrest, was addressed. When Villefort
noticed this, he quickly imprisoned Dantes, though he realized that Dantes was a mere
pawn in the transaction. Twenty four years later, when Dantes returns as Monte
Cristo,Noirtier has suffered from a stroke and can no longer speak. He lives with his
son, and is extremely close to his granddaughter, Valentine. He saves her from marrying
Franz d'Epinay by informing the Baron that it was he that was responsible for killing
d'Epinays father. Noirtier will bless the marriage of Valentine with Maximilien.

Doctor d'Avrigny
This is the doctor who attends to the many "sicknesses" in the Villefort household. He is
adamant that the deaths are due to poison, yet he does not reveals his suspicions to the
public at Villefort's request.

Caderousse
Caderousse is originally Dantes' neighbor. He is incredibly jealous of Dantes.
Caderousse's greed destroys him, for when Dantes returns as Abbe Busoni, Caderousse
is given a diamond by the Abbe. Caderousse, however, kills the jeweler who buys the
diamond. He also kills his wife. He himself is now incarcerated. A few years later
Dantes visits his prison as Lord Wilmore and helps him escape. This is merely part of
Dantes' punishment. Caderousse has not changed, he is still the same greedy man. Thus
he dies in Monte Cristo's house murdered by his old friend Benedetto. The Count
reveals his identity to Caderousse just as he is dying.

Benedetto
Benedetto is the son of Madame Danglars and Monsieur de Villefort. Villefort is
destroyed when Benedetto returns as Andrea Calvacanti with the help of Monte Cristo
to accuse Villefort of burying him alive as a newborn. Benedetto also had been a
smuggler who had stayed at the inn run by Caderousse. Benedetto kills Caderousse as
Caderousse flees from Monte Cristo's house after his attempted robbery.

M. Morrel
Before Monte Cristo begins his revenge, he rewards M. Morrel and his family, for they
were his true friends. M. Morrel was the shipowner of the Pharaon. He had invested
efforts in saving Dantes from prison but to no avail. He had also paid for Dantes' father's
burial. M. Morrel is about to commit suicide because he can no longer his word
financially. Monte Cristo anonymously saves him from such a plight. On his deathbed
M. Morrel reiterates his belief to his family that the savior was Edmond Dantes.

Maximilien Morrel
M. Morrel's son is in love with Valentine de Villefort. He becomes a good friend of the
Count. He even agrees to be the Count's second man in a duel. The Count tests
Maxilmilien's love by pretending that Valentine is dead for a month. He then rewards
Maximilien's noble character with Valentine. He also gives them riches before he
departs with Haydee.

Julie Morrel
Julie is the sister of Maximilien. She is married to Emmanuel Herbault. His marriage
was made possible by the gift of Sinbad the Sailor (Monte Cristo). The count gave her a
diamond as her dowry.

Haydee
Haydee is Monte Cristo's new love. He had purchased her as a tool to strike down Count
de Morcerf. Morcerf sold her into slavery. She was the daughter of Ali Pasha, Morcerf's
benefactor in Greece. Haydee testifies against Morcerf and ruins his honor.

Bertuccio
Bertuccio is now a servant of Monte Cristo. His past is key to Monte Cristo's revenge.
Bertuccio had once attempted to stab Monsieur de Villefort. The moment he chose was
while Villefort was burying a box in his garden at Auteuil. Bertuccio retrieves the box
thinking it to be a treasure. He is shocked to find a newborn baby buried alive. He saves
the baby, and his sister in law adopts it. This is Benedetto, who later is the Andrea
Calvacanti who ruins Villefort by relating his relation to Villefort. Benedetto also is
connected to Caderousse. He was in a smuggler's ring that stayed at Caderousse's inn.
Caderousse asks Calvacanti for part of his allowance from Monte Cristo. Benedetto
murders Caderousse as the greedy old man attempts an escape from Monte Cristo's
house.

Dantes' father
Dantes' father dies of hunger soon after Dantes is imprisoned. This is another one of
Dantes' motive for revenge. He rewards those who were kind to his father, such as the
Morrel family. Those who allowed is father to perish, such as Danglars, he strikes
down. He destroys Danglars by charging him huge amounts of money for food in order
to survive.
Luigi Vampa
Luigi Vampa is the leader of a gang of Italian bandits who are indebted to Monte Cristo.
Monte Cristo released Luigi Vampa after capturing him, and did not turn him in to the
authorities. Luigi Vampa thus helps Monte Cristo win Albert de Morcerf's favor by
"capturing" Albert and later "releasing" him at the Count's wishes. Vampa's gang also
destroys Danglars.

Peppino
Peppino is part of Vampa's gang. The Count had saved him from death. It is Peppino
who starves Danglars until he pays a hundred thousand francs per food item.

Jacopo
Jacopo is the smuggler who saves Dantes from the sea right after he is thrown into the
waves in the Abbe Faria's body bag. Dantes smuggles with Jacopo for a few months
before recovering the Monte Cristo treasure. Jacopo later becomes the captain of Monte
Cristo's yacht.