MERCEDES
Crime:
Mercedes’ crime was marrying Fernand Mondego instead of Edmond Dantes. A month after Dantes was arrested and taken to jail, she married. “She received with a joy which he mistook for love, but which was actually only happiness at no longer being alone in the world.”(90) They married in the same church Mercedes was going to marry Edmond. Soon after their marriage they moved to a Catalan village where Mercedes had a baby and continued her life without Edmond.
Punishment:
Mercedes’ punishment was the pain she suffered in her life with Mondego. When she married Fernand, she still missed and loved Edmond. One day she even fainted when she passed by the tavern where she’d celebrated her bethronal feast eighteen months before with the man she loved. Her pain grew as her life went on, and when she discovers that The Count of Monte Cristo is Dantes she realizes that she still loves him. A few years later when the Count of Morcerf, her husband is found to have a false identity and is declared guilty; her suffering became even worse. Mercedes’ pain and sorrow are evident throughout the book, specially in its last pages when she mentions to The Count of Monte Cristo that she lived fourteen years watching her life go by without a single joy or hope. Finally, the end of her punishment brings her a life full of misery and problems she has to live a moment of anguish when her son is almost killed for Fernand errors in the past and when she has to leave her luxurious house hoping for a more tranquil future.
Trying to find a crime that fitted Mercedes was very hard. Therefore, in the reader’s opinion her punishment was far more severe that was she deserved, she did what any woman might have done, that is marrying another man if the one she loved is possibly dead. It is believed that Mercedes was a good character in the novel; one can say that she was the victim through the story. It is true that although she committed an error not a crime her punishment was very harsh because it changed her life completely. Her change was so drastic that that her life almost reached destruction.
DANGLARS
Crime:
Baron Danglars committed his crime primarily because he was jealous of the positions Edmond Dantes had acquired while he worked at the Morrell and sons firm. Dantes manifested his jealousy as he denounced Dantes as a Bonapartist agent, writing a letter denouncing him of his false position and mailing it to the government. Danglars was very guilty in Dantes prosecution because was he who acted as the instigator and actually wrote the letter. His final crime was converting himself into a Baron and turning into millionaire working as a banker.
Punishment:
Danglars punishment was very painful because it was slow and silent. His sentence came to him many years after Dantes arrest to prison. Baron Danglars started to loose his fortune gradually; his first lost was when The Count of Monte Cristo passed a false report by a telegraph station which obliged him sell all his Spanish bonds. Obeying his wife advice he sold his bonds and lost more than one million francs. Another punishment which affected his honor more than his own finances was that his daughter Eugene escaped with a girlfriend, evading the marriage she was arranged with Andrea Calvatti her brother and murderer. Finally his impoverishment becomes critical when he is captured by Luigi Vampa and is obliged to pay high sums for his meals.
In the reader’s opinion Danglars punishment was very adequate for his crime, because the committed felony to acquire ambition which later on he gained converting into a Baron filled with money. After some years went by his ambition and fortune was attacked, destroying the baron’s greatest belonging. One can deduce that the Count of Monte Cristo made him suffer equally or even more than what Danglars made him suffer when Dantes was arrested.
FERNAND MONDEGO
Crime:
Fernand Mondegos committed a crime because he was jealous of Dantes who was Mercedes fiancée and eternal love. He manifested his jealousy by denouncing Edmond of being a Bonapartist agent. Fernand accompanied by Danglars wrote the denouncing letter in the tavern and sent it to be read in Dantes bethronal feast incriminating him in a Bonapartist plot. After Edmond Dantes was arrested Fernand joined the army and entered the service of Ali Pasha. In his service he was denounced of instructing Pasha’s troops, to force the castles of Yanina to surrender, to sell the Pashas wife and daughter into slavery and to sell Ali Pashas head on the end of a spear. Finally he proposes Mercedes to marry him taking advantage of Dantes situation and converts illegally into the Count of Morcerf.
Punishment:
Being a millionaire an anonymous letter is send to a French newspaper revealing the Count of Morcerf real identity. As soon as the chamber knows about this a commission of twelve members is appointed to investigate the case. Thanks to Haydees Ali Pashas daughter it is proven that the Count of Morcerf is Fernand Mondego and is declared guilty of felony, treason and dishonor. His final punishment is to commit suicide leaving behind a life full of joy and sorrow.
In the reader’s opinion Fernand Mondego or may I say the count of Morcerf punishment was not enough for the crime he committed against Dantes. One can deduce that the offense he committed made Dantes suffer a great deal because he was imprisoned unjustly and had to forget Mercedes and his old father. In the other hand his punishment was not very cruel and resulted in suicide which exempt him of suffering the penalties the Count was planning for him in life in order to take responsibility for his acts.
MONSIUER VILLEFORT
Crime:
Monsieur Villefort’s crime signified a lot for Edmond Dantes future. Villefort had nothing personal against Dantes, however, makes the conspiracy very successful because he incarcerates him as a very dangerous criminal in order to counter the reputation of his Bonapartist father. But his crime is very important because he throws Dantes, an innocent man, into the Chateau d’If. “You condemned me to a slow and hideous death, you killed my father and deprived me of love, freedom and fortune!” (403).
Punishment:
Villefort’s punishment began in Monte Cristo’s house in Auteuil. He and other gusts were invited to an Oriental reception where the Count took advantage of the situation and showed to all his guests specially to Villefort and Madame Danglars the abandoned bedroom in the house. His punishment was cruel because the count made them suffer as he was relating the story about the baby that had been found in the house. The count who was still seeking vengeance he installed in Madame Villefort the idea that poison was a very fast as simple murder weapon. Guided by Monte Cristo’s teachings, she poisoned all of Villefort family committed suicide and caused inside him a feeling of pain and sorrow so immense that led him to madness. “He had assumed the role of an implacable judge with his wife: he had sentenced her to death. Stricken with terror crushed by remorse, overwhelmed by the shame into which he had plunged her with the eloquence of his irreproachable virtue, she was perhaps at that very moment preparing to die” (400). His finall punishment was unexpected and took place at the Palace de Justice where Bennedetto’s case was taking place. As Monsieur Villefort was fulfilling his role as public prosecutor he was denounced of being Benedettos father. After hearing the news he entered in a state of stupefaction and felt uncomfortable.
In the reader’s opinion Villefort’s punishment was very harsh compared with the crime he committed against Dantes. It is true that Villefort could of have saved Edmond from prison, but it is also true that his punishment was very exaggerated. One can deduce that his sentence was cruel because not only did it destroy his life but the life of the rest of his family. His punishment was so inconsiderate, that he turned crazy after his family was murdered. In one’s opinion the court of Monte Cristo over exaggerated his actions by killing a hole family, he even killed a poor innocent life, like Edwards life was.
