The Count Of Monte Cristo Betrayal Analysis

Betrayal: An Unlikely Lens Betrayal. Defined as an act of deliberate disloyalty and is often a blatant stab in the back by one’s most trusted friends. This theme can be seen time and time again throughout history as well as literature; for instance the menacing duplicity of Judas and the shocking treachery of Julius Caesar, are just two of the many instances of this literary image. In Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo, the acts of betrayal reconstruct the main character, Edmond Dantes into a completely different person. In the beginning, The Count of Monte Cristo strays far from the power of vengeance and instead, focuses on an equally captivating power: happiness. The scene is set when the main character, Edmond Dantes, finally

However, the plot thickens when Edmond learns that his lover, Mercedes has married and had a child with the very man that put him in chains: Fernand. Although her betrayal was involuntary, the mere fact that it had occurred while he was away feeds the blazing fire inside Edmond. From this point on, he paves a path his past self never thought he could walk: killing, deceiving and transforming into the exact monsters that had put him away. This further shows how the betrayal of the men that were once his trusted peers not only stole years from his life, but stole the very thing that made him innocent: his happiness. If Edmond hadn’t been blind to the selfishness and envy that lies in every man, perhaps he could have seen the trouble that surrounded him. Instead, he became a victim of the human weakness that results in such selfishness and paid with it his morals, chastity and contentment. By the conclusion of the novel, the purity of the young, naive Edmond Dantes is dead and gone. Yet, from his ashes rises a new man: the Count of Monte Cristo. This sudden metamorphosis not only affects the character, but the novel itself. It shows the reader what greed and resentment can cause a man to do. From ruining lives to creating new ones, it inarguably takes away what little innocence still remains in men.
Betrayal, like many things, may only be seen for the negative impacts it has on life. However, in defiance of the agony, it can show the true nature of men and what they do when they let covetousness and their weak human nature rule them. However, as demonstrated in The Count of Monte Cristo, it is possible to rebound from this defeat, using the knowledge learned from the experience as a way to regain what was