Edmond Dantes, The Count of Monte Cristo, Played by Jim Caviezel
Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes.
― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
Last night, I watched the movie based on The Count of Monte Cristo, a classic novel by Alexandre Dumas. A wonderful movie! The book has long been rated as one of the World’s Greatest Novels. When I was in high school, it was required reading for my English class.
A popular bestseller since its publication in 1844, The Count of Monte Cristo is one of the great page-turning thrillers of all time. Set against the tumultuous years of the post-Napoleonic era, Alexandre Dumas’s grand historical romance recounts the swashbuckling adventures of Edmond Dantès, a dashing young sailor falsely accused of treason. The story of his long imprisonment, dramatic escape, and carefully wrought revenge offers up a vision of France that has become immortal. As Robert Louis Stevenson declared, “I do not believe there is another volume extant where you can breathe the same unmingled atmosphere of romance.”
The story takes place in France, Italy, and islands in the Mediterranean during the historical events of 1815–1839: the era of the Bourbon Restoration through the reign of Louis-Philippe of France. It begins just before the Hundred Days period (when Napoleon returned to power after his exile). The historical setting is a fundamental element of the book, an adventure story primarily concerned with themes of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy, and forgiveness. It centers on a man who is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes from jail, acquires a fortune, and sets about exacting revenge on those responsible for his imprisonment. His plans have devastating consequences for both the innocent and the guilty.
From the book and also the movie:
Abbe Faria:
Here is your final lesson – do not commit the crime for which
you now serve the sentence. God said, Vengeance is mine.
Edmond Dantes:
I don’t believe in God.
Abbe Faria:
It doesn’t matter. He believes in you.
Translating a World on the Edge 