The Count of Monte Cristo’s main theme is one of revenge. Edmond Dantes, now the Count of Monte Cristo, is seeking to get revenge on those who wronged him. However, one of his true motivations to get revenge is not that his unjust conviction, but that his fiancé married another after he was convicted.
I believe that the true reason that Dantes wishes to seek revenge on persons such as Fernand is because they are responsible for barring him from the love of his life. While Edmond is imprisoned, his fiancé Mercedes marries his enemy, Fernand and shortly after has a son, Albert. When the Count is seeking his revenge, he plans on using Albert as a way to get it, by killing him and ruining his father. When Mercedes learns of this, she confronts the Count and learns his true identity. The Count reveals himself to be Edmond Dantes, allowing him to tell her everything that has transpired and his plans to avenge himself. However, Mercedes pleads her case and ultimately convicted Dantes not to kill her beloved son.
At the end of this conversation Dantes exclaims:
“Fool that I am, that I did not tear out my heart the day I resolved to revenge myself,” (Dumas 341)
So with this quote, what can we take away? Is Dantes’ mission to seek revenge more for himself or for Mercedes? Throughout the novel, Dantes while acting as the Count of Monte Cristo has always acted in ways that would benefit the himself and set his enmities up for failure. With Mercedes however, he erases the facade of nobility and is again the just a sailor who has grown bitter with age. It is when he has unmasked himself that he can truly unveil his true intentions, to get Mercedes back. While his mission was fueled upon wanting revenge, the only thing he really sought was the fiancé he was taken from over a decade ago. The notion that Dantes’ heart is leading in his decision making and that Mercedes is able to influence it puts his motivations in a different light.
After this scene, and the Count admitting that his heart is his weakness, I would not be surprised if Mercedes will halt or change his plans for revenge again. I also think that is very possible that she will be used against the Count through her husband Fernand. Mercedes is his weakness and consequently may lead to his downfall.
Freedom of the Jess 
I found your character study of Edmond Dantes to be quite interesting. Even though I haven’t read the book, I was still intrigued by the count’s relationship with his fiance that seems so important to him, and how he dropped his facade of nobility. I’m interested in seeing how their relationship ends up and whether he gave up his plans for nothing.
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This is a great closing reading from your novel. You truly exemplify the power of love and the strong grasp that it can have on somebody when you state Dantes’s heart is making his decisions, not his mind. Additionally, I liked your predictions of what you feel will happen in the subsequent chapters of your novel, I am interested to see if they eventually do come true. Good job!
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I enjoyed how you really took apart that sentence and dove into the Count’s true motive. It’s such a shame that his Mercedes is his weakness, despite all that she has done wrong to him.
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