The theme of The Count of Monte Cristo, is one of vengeance, forgiveness, and power. The Count of Monte Cristo, is a story of revenge, and forgiveness all in one. This is a story of extreme revenge. The main Character Dante goes to great lengths so that he can avenge his enemies. He realizes at the end that forgiveness is the answer, and that revenge just causes tragedy. Dante is the character that embodies revenge and will change his beliefs many times.
             Vengeance is the overpowering theme of The Count of Monte Cristo. The story starts out with a young man Dante, he is a naive man that is in love. His life is going great until his "friends" betray him. He is wrongfully imprisoned for having contact with Napoleon Bonaparte. He is then taken to the Chateau d'lf, a prison on an island. Dante spends 14 years there, in this time he meets Abbe Faria, who is a major influence on Dante. Abbe is the man that explains to Dante how he was imprisoned. After he tells Dante this he realizes that he has made a mistake, because now Dante wants revenge. Faria says "I regret now," said he, "having helped you in your late inquiries, or having given you the information I did." "Why so?" inquired Dantès. "Because it has instilled a new passion in your heart-that of vengeance." (pg. ) From this moment on Dante is starting to change from a carefree loving man to man filled with anger and vengeance. Faria was a priest and is very good at predicting human nature, although Dante is not consumed with anger and vengeance yet he predicts that he will be. Faria helps Dante by telling him about the treasure that is hidden on an island from the Spada family. He also tells Dante how to escape. When Faria dies, Dante escapes when they throw the body sack into the sea. He then goes to look for the treasure that Faria has told him about. He realizes that with the treasure he can be a very powerful man a...