The Count of Monte Cristo Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
The Count of Monte Cristo follows Edmond Dantès, a young sailor framed by jealous rivals on the day of his engagement and thrown into an island fortress for fourteen years. He escapes, finds a vast hidden treasure and returns to Paris as the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo to reward those who were loyal and punish those who betrayed him.
It is one of the longest and most popular adventure novels ever written.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Edmond Dantès | Sailor who becomes the Count |
| Mercédès | His fiancée, who later marries Fernand |
| Fernand Mondego | Rival who becomes Count de Morcerf |
| Danglars | Jealous shipmate who becomes a banker |
| Gérard de Villefort | Ambitious prosecutor |
| Caderousse | Drunken neighbor |
| Faria | Old Italian scholar imprisoned beside Dantès |
| Haydée | Greek princess the Count rescued |
| Morrel family | Dantès's loyal employer and his children |
How is Dantès betrayed?
In 1815 Dantès returns to Marseille, about to be made captain and to marry Mercédès. Danglars, envious of his promotion, and Fernand, who loves Mercédès, write an anonymous letter accusing him of being a Bonapartist agent, while Caderousse watches. The prosecutor Villefort sees that the letter would ruin his own father, a Bonapartist, so he burns it and has Dantès locked away in the Château d'If without trial.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens in the Château d'If?
After years alone, Dantès hears digging. It is Faria, an old scholar trying to tunnel out. Faria teaches him languages, science and history, helps him work out who betrayed him and tells him of a treasure hidden on the island of Monte Cristo. When Faria dies, Dantès takes his place in the burial sack. The guards throw it into the sea, and he cuts himself free and swims away.
↑ Back to the topHow does Dantès become the Count?
Dantès finds the treasure and becomes enormously rich. Disguised, he learns that his father died of hunger, that Mercédès married Fernand and that his enemies have all risen in the world. He saves the Morrel family from ruin in secret. Years later he appears in Paris as the Count of Monte Cristo and wins his way into high society.
↑ Back to the topHow does he take revenge?
Fernand, now the Count de Morcerf, is exposed for having betrayed the Greek ruler Ali Pasha, when the Pasha's daughter Haydée testifies against him. Abandoned by Mercédès and their son, he takes his own life. Villefort's secrets come out in court: he once buried his newborn illegitimate son alive, and that son survived to become the criminal Benedetto. Villefort's wife, a poisoner, ends her life and her son's, and Villefort loses his mind. Danglars is ruined by the Count's financial schemes, then captured by bandits and starved until he repents. Caderousse is killed by Benedetto.
↑ Back to the topHow does it end?
Seeing the innocent suffer along with the guilty, especially young Edouard, the Count begins to doubt his right to judge. He saves Valentine, Villefort's daughter, by faking her death, and reunites her with Maximilien Morrel on the island of Monte Cristo. He leaves them his fortune and a letter whose message is that all human wisdom lies in waiting and hoping. Then he sails away with Haydée, who loves him.
↑ Back to the topMore about The Count of Monte Cristo
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.