Moral justification of revenge in The Count of Monte Cristo

Monte Cristo

The Justice of Vengeance in Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo is a tale of revenge. Dantes, wrongfully imprisoned, escapes and vows to destroy those who betrayed him. Dantes' quest for revenge is easily understandable: he is like vengeance personified -- the hand of God bringing justice to all those who have committed wrongs. This paper will analyze Dantes' quest for vengeance and show how it is depicted as morally just in two ways -- both because it represents God's divine justice and because it represents the Romantic vision of natural justice.

Vengeance is nothing new to the human condition -- and the most popular super heroes of today are possessed with a sense of righteousness which they manifest through acts of vengeance. Dantes' quest for revenge spells doom for many characters -- and while God, according to the Christian tradition, reserves the right to "repay" all for their actions, Dantes (in a way) represents this right and the idea that we are all repaid for the wrongs we commit. Heith Copes asserts as much when he states that "from the Count of Monte Cristo to Kill Bill, much popular writing has highlighted humanity's longing to dispense revenge for perceived wrongs. The popularity of such stories is likely due to the innate desire to enact justice" (362). This innate desire, which Copes identifies, is what is at the heart of Dumas' tale of revenge: Dantes' wrongful imprisonment serves as the catalyst for illustrating this desire.

The novel need not be considered an allegory for Christian teaching. After all, Dantes himself reckons that his revenge may be too extreme when the bodies begin to pile one atop another. However, he ultimately concludes that his vengeance is justified. Again, he manifests the human desire for justice: "In return for a slow, profound, eternal torture, I would give back the same, were it possible: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, as the Orientalists say" (Dumas 506). Dantes is not a representation of Christian mercy -- but of God's ultimate justice.

And yet Dantes may be viewed as a representation of humanity as well. Dantes does begin to doubt himself in his quest for vengeance. He shows scrupulosity early on, in fact: "I was awkward, and it is just that I should pay the penalty of my clumsiness" (Dumas 292). However, what Dantes realizes about himself is that his cause is just. Yet this period of doubt also allows him to come to a new wisdom as well: his vengeance may be tempered by mercy -- as he shows to Danglars.

Dantes' treatment of Danglars is a perfect example of the former's desire to take an eye for an eye. Danglars is subjected to the same kind of torture that Dantes underwent in prison. However, Dantes ultimately delivers Danglars himself and allows him to go free. This is done, though, only after Danglars confesses his crime and repents. Again, Dantes is carrying out justice: he has much in common with the super heroes of today, who bring criminals to justice -- punish them accordingly but also show a degree of mercy as well, proving that they are not as base as the criminals they confound.

Amelita Marinetti observes that Dantes represents Dumas' own "aspirations…to omniscience, social power, and the conquest of the impossible" (260). Marinetti's observation reveals some impressive insight to the character of Dantes and the way in which he may be viewed. He is not just a representation of Justice or of Revenge. Dantes also stands for a kind of Romantic vision of the 19th century. He is the archetypal innocent man. In the Romantic era, he may have been understood as modern man, carrying the burden of the tradition of original sin. In Dumas' tale, Dantes frees himself from this burden. In a way, the Count of Monte Cristo is not so much a tale of revenge and justice as it is a tale of self-acceptance.

But, of course, it depends on how one chooses to read the novel. If one views Dantes as a man who embodies a kind of Divine Retribution and acts according to the principles of justice, the novel appears in an entirely different light. One is willing to accept Dantes' actions, even if they do appear to be extreme (and murderous) at times. However, one is placated by Dantes' ability to show mercy to Danglars.

On the other hand, if one chooses to read the novel as Marinetti describes it -- as an attempt to illustrate modern man's reach for omniscience and power -- one may see it as a Romantic dream. In this sense, Dantes becomes a man fashioned after the principles of Rousseau, the French philosopher who wrote of accepting oneself on Nature's own terms. Rousseau did not accept the principal of original sin and thus did not accept the idea that man was fallen in nature. Viewed from this standpoint, Dantes becomes a Romantic hero, whose imprisonment is equated to the modern's sense of the traditional concept of sin. Dantes frees himself from prison and thus from this concept and begins a course of exacting justice on those who betrayed him. Dumas himself describes him thus: "erect and triumphant, like the avenging angel" (517).

From this standpoint Dantes' journey and quest for vengeance is just because it is Romantic. Dantes' doubt at the end of the tale allows him to explore the reasons for his vengeance and analyze whether they are just or not. Because he is a Romantic hero and personifies self-acceptance, his vengeance is viewed as morally just: it is part of his plan of upward mobility and the rightful enjoyment of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Dantes is heroic because he does not crumble under the weight of introspection. He looks at himself just as Rousseau looks at himself in his Confessions, and realizes that he cannot be condemned for pursuing his course of revenge (even if it might have unwanted consequences). Dantes accepts everything, and because he accepts everything he is able to climb another step higher in nobility. By coming to a new sense of nobility, he allows Danglars to have his freedom too (but of course he has been punished and has also repented as well).