ShmoopTube

00:06

The Count of Monte Cristo, a la Shmoop. We've all dreamed about getting back at someone,

00:11

be it the ex who broke our heart or the school bully who gave epic wedgies.

00:16

The problem with revenge, though, is that innocent people can get hurt.

00:22

Innocent… and not-so-innocent… people drop like flies in Alexandre Dumas' The Count

00:30

of Monte Cristo.

00:32

They're victims of an overly complicated, but really nasty revenge scheme thought up

00:37

by Edmond Dantes, <<Ed-mohn dahn-tay>> aka the Count.

00:40

You see, back in the day, Edmond had it all: a great job, a smokin' hot girlfriend, really

00:46

nice teeth...

00:47

...and some backstabbing frenemies who connived to get Edmond imprisoned for a crime he didn't

00:54

commit.

00:55

Edmond spends years in the dark, dank Chateau d'If. <<deef>>

01:00

Then, one day, he befriends an elderly Italian priest with a treasure map and a serious case

01:08

of deus ex machina. <<day-oos ex mack-uh-nah>>

01:12

In the end, Edmond gets his revenge. The question is: Was it worth it?

01:19

Edmond is so mentally and morally restricted by his quest for revenge…

01:19

…that he may as well have never escaped from the Chateau d'If.

01:19

Edmond burns through millions of dollars to punish the men who had him imprisoned.

01:24

His every thought revolves around making them suffer, to the exclusion of his concerns about

01:27

anything or anyone else.

01:28

This is a man who is so wealthy that he could have bought a tropical archipelago somewhere

01:33

and spent the rest of his days on the beach…

01:35

…getting a tan and listening to Jimmy Buffett's Greatest Hits.

01:36

Instead, Edmond chooses to avenge past wrongs.

01:38

Choosing revenge over babes in bikinis?

01:41

Edmond should've just stayed in jail. Doesn’t seem like it was worth it…

01:41

Edmond also completely loses his identity in his quest for vengeance.

01:46

In order to get his revenge, Edmond becomes the mysterious, all-powerful Batman...oops,

01:51

wrong story…we mean the Count of Monte Cristo.

01:54

All the things that were to be admired in Edmond when he was a simple sailor are destroyed

01:56

by the vengeful aristocrat Edmond feels compelled to be.

01:56

And then Edmond begins to lose his humanity as his plot moves forward.

02:01

He feels that God has given him a mandate to be an avenging angel, to smite the men

02:01

who ruined his life.

02:01

He ceases to care much about even the people he loves, until it's almost too late. Seems

02:06

like another checkmark in the… not worth it… column…

02:08

But… Edmond's vengeance might be worth it, because it's the one thing he wants.

02:14

After all, three of the four men responsible for Edmond's imprisonment don't just disappear

02:18

after they commit their foul deed.

02:20

They become wealthy and famous.

02:22

They practically buy baseball teams and drive Lamborghinis.

02:24

And let's not forget that all four of the frenemies go on to do some really, really

02:26

terrible and illegal things after they give Edmond the shaft.

02:27

There's no way Edmond was going to be able to move on until his frenemies were toast.

02:31

They took everything from him, so Edmond returned the favor.

02:35

So, what do you think?

02:38

Was Edmond's revenge worth it, since he got back at the men who stole his life from him?

02:42

Did Edmond pay too high a price for vengeance when he swapped his identity for that of a

02:45

count with a God complex?

02:47

Or, in carrying out his revenge, did Edmond become as reprehensible as the men who put

02:55

him in prison in the first place? Shmoop amongst yourselves.

Full Transcript