The Count of Monte Cristo Essay

The Character of Edmond Dantes, created by Alexander Dumas, embodies the characteristics of a classical Romantic Hero. Dumas portrayed Dantes as a Romantic hero by giving certain aspects or character traits that define the composition of the romantic hero. Edmond can be considered a romantic hero because he had, at one point, sustained a grievous personal tragedy. He has a thirst for knowledge, an unquenchable appetite to learn, and has a dark side that is shown throughout the novel. 

Dantes experiences a life altering tragedy in the exposition of the novel. During Edmond’s marriage ceremony he was unexpectedly arrested for treason. He is viciously torn from the world he once knew, separated from society, and loses everything that was most dear to him. Edmond soon finds that he is incarcerated wrongfully and wastes away in prison desperate and longing for a way out, but yet that which we take for granted was all to far out of his grasp. Though Dantes circumstances are indeed grim, the most devastating part is that he can no longer be with his love Mercedes. He can no longer feel her warm embrace, because all he knows now is the cold and bitter taste of anger. It is this thought that torments Edmonds’s mind and causes suicidal tendencies, another aspect of the romantic hero. All that Edmond Dantes knew was lost to him in a blinding flash, as bright as the sun but as cold as the moon. He lost everything that he once held dear, including but not limited to the love of his life, his father (whom he was very close to), freedom, and the fortunate events that befell him before his incarceration. 

Dantes reveals his darker persona after his escape from prison. He is bent on revenge and nothing can sway Edmond from his ultimate goal. His eyes see but one thing, his mind but one thought, and the remainder of his life lived for one purpose: to seek out and destroy the lives of those who wronged him. With his newly acquired fortune, the Count put the gears into motion to bring about the downfall of his nemesis’. The Count’s darker personality is shown when he introduces Villefort’s murderous wife to poison, knowing full well the outcome of this dastrous deed. Another example of Edmond’s dark side is how he takes pleasure in exposing Fernand, Danglars, and Villefort. The Count does not simply kill them and be done with it, as this does not account for the years of his precious life that were wasted away while in prison. It could also lead to turmoil later on as Edmond would have to tangle with the law enforcement for the murder of three, presumably innocent men. Dantes deviously sets up three schemes to ruin each man’s life which does not necessarily mean killing them, but rather removing what is most precious in their lives, whether it be money, a person, or a concealed fact.