The Count of Monte Cristo

Departure from Mercédès’ Home

The Count departs Mercédès’ home with a heavy heart, realizing he may never see her again. Since the death of little Edward, a profound change has come over Monte Cristo. Having reached the summit of his vengeance through a long and tortuous path, he is now troubled by an abyss of doubt. The conversation with Mercédès has awakened so many recollections that he feels compelled to wrestle with them, suspecting he may have erred in his calculations and that he is now dissatisfied because he no longer views the past clearly.

Doubt Over Past Vengeance

Tormented by his doubt, Monte Cristo questions whether he has deceived himself or pursued a false path. He wonders whether the end he proposed could have been mistaken, or whether one hour could suffice to prove to an architect that his life’s work was an impossible, sacrilegious undertaking. Dismissing such madness, he concludes that his dissatisfaction springs from a failure to clearly appreciate the past, which becomes indistinct like a landscape receding behind a traveler. Comparing himself to a man wounded in a dream who feels the wound yet cannot recall when he received it, he confronts the unease that gnaws at his conscience.

Resolving to Revisit Past Suffering

Monte Cristo resolves to revisit the scenes of his former suffering in order to recover clarity of heart. Addressing his regenerate, visionary, and invincible self, he commands himself to exchange riches for poverty, liberty for a prison, and a living body for a corpse. Too much gold and splendor, he feels, are reflected in the mirror through which he seeks to behold Dantès. He must hide his diamonds, bury his gold, and shroud his splendor if he is to truly review the life of starvation and wretchedness that shaped him.