Religious Lens

1. THE COUNT OF MONTE
CRISTO:
RELIGIOUS LENS
Omar Namani, Ryan Snitzer, Emily Adams, and Zara Soomro

2. PARALLEL

3. PARALLEL BEFORE REBIRTH
 Bethrothal feast represents the Last Supper
 Betrayal by 3 friends parallels the Denial by Saint Peter (archetypal)
 Three nails into Jesus, three betrayals that affected Dantes.
 Dantes starves himself similar to Jesus’s fasting prior to revelation
 Dantes descent to jail parallels Jesus’s death

4.  Monte Cristo literally translates into Mountain
of Christ.
 Cavalry was the mountain where Christ was
crucified (Dumas, 451) Franz thinks that the
Count of Monte Cristo is no friendlier than
the Cavalry was to Christ (Dumas, 308).

5. PARALLEL AFTER REBIRTH
 Dantes’s escape from prison represents Jesus’s resurrection (older
and newer Dantes)
 Lost identity of Dantes compared to the missing body of Jesus
 Monte Cristo’s use of the elixir of life to save lives, and often
times bring them back from the “dead.” Jesus resurrected the
daughter of Jairus (which is told in the three gospels).
 Father-Son relationship

6. DIVINE JUSTICE
 Human Justice vs. Divine Justice
 The Count of Monte Cristo believes that human justice is
insufficient to what his betrayers deserve. On pages 551-556, the
Count expresses his view of punishment as an “eye for an eye” which
is similar to what God has ordained upon wrongdoers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=ANQQlP23Dh0
2:45 Abbe Faria asks Dantes about who caused his imprisonment
8:20 –Abbe Faria gives Dantes his final lesson

7. GOOD VS. EVIL
 Irony of the situation: good doers poor; wrongdoers  rich
 Pede claudo: “retribution will come slowly but surely” (551)
 “The wicked do not die in that way: God seems to take them
under his protection to use them as the instruments of his
vengeance.” (550)
 “a rightesous man is rewarded and a wicked one punished.” (247)

8. GOOD VS. EVIL
 God’s duty to punish the evil, and bless the good. However, with
Fernand, Villefort, and Danglars, they all appeared successful.
 Count also believes that it is his duty (to act as God’s agent) in order to serve the
appropriate justice to his betrayers: Fernand, Villefort, and Danglars. “I am the
hammer of God” “I am the angel of the Lord” (553)
 “I was as powerful as if God had allowed me to be born on the steps of a
throne.” (458)
 “Mankind will not be perfect until it can create and destroy like God. It can
already destroy: that’s half the battle.”

9.  Dantes wants to punish the evil doers, and reward the good. He is
willing to do anything in order to accomplish this goal of revenge on
his conspirators.
 Abbe Faria incites a sense of revenge in Dantes upon those
responsible for his imprisonment.

10. FATE, PROVIDENCE, DESTINY
 Fate decides the future, and is usually predetermined (fatalism).
 Loss of hope. Hope is reinvigorated after submission to God.
 Difficulty, gratitude, etc, characters look up towards the heavens.
 Various cultures: Parisian, Italian, & Oriental

11.  Devotion to destiny, seeking justice over his enemies would consume
the Count’s life.
 The Count of Monte Cristo convinces himself that his acts are
approved by God.
 Throughout the book, the Count’s faith in God and Christianity
increases. Some cases, he assumes the role of God, almost controlling fate
for vengeance, by using items like the elixir of
life, generosity, manipulation, etc.

12. TEN COMMANDMENTS
 You shall have no other god before God
 You shall not make images of God
 You shall no take the name of the Lord in vain
 Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
 Honor you father and mother
 You shall not murder
 You shall not commit adultery
 You shall not steal
 You shall not lie or bear false witness
 You shall not desire another man’s wives.

13. HEAVEN AND HELL

14.  In Edmond Dantes’s decline to the belly of the whale, represents
Dantes’s descent to the pits of Hell.
 His reemergence represents his rise to Heaven.
 Throughout the book, various characters look towards the Heavens as
a sign of gratitude towards God/Providence.
 Similar to light/dark imagery in that Heaven often represents
light, morning, and blessings. Whilst Hell represents the dark, evils, and
night.