How Did Dumas Influence The Count Of Monte Cristo

In Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, there are various influences on the book, from the literary influences to the biographical influences. Some of these influences are Dumas’ father, the French Romanticism Period, and the story of Pyramus and Thisbe from Greek Mythology. One of the largest influences on The Count of Monte Cristo was Dumas’ father. Dumas’ father was a general with Napoleon in the 1790s. “But when the general left the ranks for France, he was captured, imprisoned and poisoned by the enemy... Freed after an 1801 armistice, he was denied back pay and a military pension by Napoleon” (Foote-Greenwell, “The Life and Resurrection of Alexandre Dumas”). This is extremely similar to the background of Edmond Dantés. He is convicted on charges relating to conspiring with Napoleon. As spoken by Villefort regarding Dantés as a Bonapartist: “‘[Dantés] had made a secret trip to the Isle of Elba. The …show more content…
A key characteristic of Romanticism was “The exaltation of the senses and emotions over reason and intellect” (Columbia University Press, “Romanticism.”). This is also a prominent occurrence in The Count of Monte Cristo- the novel is based upon Edmond Dantés allowing his emotions, his feelings for vengeance, control him completely. An example of this is when Maximillian tells the Count that he is in love with Valentine: “Monte Cristo uttered cry that was like the roar of a wounded lion. ‘You love Valentine?’ he shouted. ‘You love that daughter of a cursed breed!’” (Dumas 402). In this instance, the rational thought, decided with reason and intellect, would be that it is not Maximillian’s fault – he does not know about what Villefort has done – and neither is Valentine necessarily a bad person, based solely on the fact that her father is. This is the Count simply acting off his emotions of vengeance, instead of basing his actions on