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.

             Setting:.

             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.

             Basic Plot:.

             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 .