The Count of Monte Cristo
Anticipation Guide
Anticipation Guide
People who are too trusting deserve whatever they
get if someone takes advantage of them.
If you are innocent of any crime, but put in jail, it is
not wrong to escape from jail.
Wives whose husbands are missing for a long time or
are presumed dead should definitely get married
again, if the opportunity presents itself.
Even if someone hurts you or your family, you should
always let the law take care of them and not try to
get revenge yourself.
If you find buried treasure, you should be allowed to
keep it, even if the person who buried it shows up
and tries to claim it.


The Count of Monte Cristo
Background Information
The Author
Alexandre Dumas was born July 24, 1802 as a third child of a
French revolutionary general.
He took part in the revolution in 1830 that placed the Duc
d’Orleans on the French throne, as King Louis Philippe.
He wrote hugely successful plays and produced many travel
books of his travels in Switzerland and Italy.
During the 1840’s, he wrote a series of romanticized historical
novels designed to teach French history. Some of those novels
were The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask, and The
Count of Monte Cristo.
In his lifetime, he wrote over 300 volumes, including plays and
novels.
He married two of his mistresses and had two children, one
from each mistress.
He died on Dec. 5, 1870 of a stroke.



The History in
The Count of
Monte Cristo
Napoleon and French History
In April of 1814, Napoleon abdicated the throne and was exiled to the
island of Elba.
Louis XVIII ascended to the French throne, restoring the Bourbon
dynasty and bringing about the First Restoration.
Napoleon remained on Elba for only ten months, when he escaped and
landed with 1, 100 men near Cannes on March 1, 1815.
Napoleon crosses the Alps and marched on Paris where Louis XVIII fled.
However, Napoleon was defeated in battle by the British general,
Wellington, at the battle of Waterloo in June of 1815. Napoleon was only in
power for 100 days.
He was sent into exile to the Island of St. Helena where he died six years
later.
Louis XVIII returned to the French throne, known as the Second
Restoration and persecuted those who had helped Napoleon during his
return.


The Inspiration
for the Story
Francois Picaud
 Dumas found a memoir written by a Jacques






Peuchet which related the story of a
shoemaker named Francois Picaud.
Picaud was living in Paris in 1807 and
engaged to marry a rich woman.
Four jealous friends falsely accused him of
being a spy for England.
He was imprisoned for seven years, during
which a dying fellow prisoner bequeathed
him a treasure hidden in Milan.
When Picaud was released in 1814, he took
possession of the treasure, returned to Paris
under another name, and spent ten years
plotting successful revenge against his
former friends.
After he had gained all of his revenge, he
was taken prisoner by a former friend and
forced to pay 25,000 francs for each meal.
However, the kidnapper ended up going into
a rage and beating Francois by strangling
him, stabbing his eyes with a knife, and
cutting open his chest.
Facts About the
Novel
The Book…
 The book was originally published in serial





form. People would wait in long lines to buy
the latest installment.
It took him 18 installments and two years to
publish the entire book.
Within a few months, the novel was
translated into ten languages.
The book is acclaimed as one of the most
popular novels ever written, usually ranking
in the top ten novels of all time.
The book has been described as the
“greatest revenger’s tragedy in the whole
history of the novel” (Hemmings).
Avriel H. Goldberger states about The Count
of Monte Cristo that it ranks with the great
revenge stories of all time, but states:
“This is not because Monte Cristo has equal
merit as a work of art or as a probe of the
psyche, but because it speaks so powerfully
to our need to fantasize impossible victories
of the individual against injustice.”