The Count of Monte Cristo is a very powerful book. So powerful in fact, that was controversial when it was first released. The Catholic church in France condemned it because of its powerful message it presented the reader. This theme was one of revenge and vengeance. Monte Cristo had two goals- to reward those who were kind to him and his aging father, and to punish those responsible for his imprisonment and suffering. For the latter, he plans slow and painful punishment. To have spent fourteen years barely subsisting in a dungeon demands cruel and prolonged castigation.
             The Count of Monte Cristo is set within the nineteenth century of France in large and populous cities. This was a time of great disruption. There was confusion all over the land in regards to who led France, King Louis or Napoleon. The citizens of France became divided by the two ruling parties. Royalists and the Bonapartist cut at each others throats in order to declare that their ruler was supreme. This situation has a profound effect on the events of the story. Dantes' enemies used the rivalry between the two parties in order to convince the Royalists that Edmond is a Bonapartist, therefore it is the basis for his arrest and inevitable captivity in the Chateau D'If..
             The Count of Monte Cristo is a story about a sailor, Edmond Dantes, who was betrayed during the prime of his life and career by the jealousy of his friends. His shipmate, Danglars, coveted his designation as the captain of the mighty Pharon. Ferdinand Mondego wished to wed Mercedes, who was affianced to Edmond.
             Danglars and Ferdinand wrote a letter accusing Edmond of carrying a letter from Elba to the Bonapartist committee in Paris. Caderousse, a neighbor, learned of the plot but kept silent. On his wedding day Edmond was arrested and taken before a deputy named Villefort, a political apostate, who, to protect himself, had Edmond secretly imprisoned in the deepest dungeons of the Chateau D'If. Th...