Time Edmund Dantes example essay topic

304 words
Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo questions the success of revenge, and illustrates the joy of letting go. While in prison, a bloodthirsty lust for revenge consumes Edmund Dantes and represses his faith, love, and all the other positive ideals he once treasured, leaving him with only a cold, black heart. Only until Dantes releases his hatred and embraces the love and wealth surrounding him can he reclaim his time spent in Chateau D'If. By the time Edmund Dantes escapes from prison, he can no longer see the positive aspects of his present or future. His hunger for vengeance, the news of his father's suicide, and Mercedes' marriage, blind him.

Dantes turns his back on divine justice decides to act as "the hand of God" himself, despite pleas of reconsideration from his friends. Once he retrieves the riches Abbe Faria bequeaths him and transforms into the Count of Monte Cristo, the trap is set. His initial plan, transfer all the pain he endured in Chateau D'If to his conspirators, works well in the beginning. He systematically entraps each betrayer, and soon only his Brutus and Cassius, Fernand and Mercedes, remain.

However just before he sets the final phase of his plan into motion, Mercedes comes to him, proves her undying devotion, and begs for forgiveness. A night of passion opens Dantes' black heart to the light of love and allows him to renounce his quest for justice for the first time since his imprisonment. Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo demonstrates the limits of human-delivered justice through the pursuits of Edmund Dantes. Only until Dantes releases his desire for vengeance and the self-proclaimed title of "the hand of God" can he embrace the goodness and love he stifles during his imprisonment.