I have to confess that I inadvertently bought an abridged version of this novel, but it's just as well because this was just the right amount of over the top emotional language and caricature-like villains. Any more would have become tiresome. However, it is a remarkably satisfying and enjoyable read because the three main baddies get what they deserve based on their character for the most part, but I also like that it brings up the question of the destructive nature of vengeance. In some ways Villefort and Danglars had already been suffering based on the wives they chose and the biggest tragedies were actually created by them rather than by the count who just exposed their lies. It is also interesting to read from the standpoint of the narrative of colonization. Did you know that Dumas was the son of a mulatto soldier in Napolean's army? His grandmother was Haitian. As far as influences upon him, we have his daring father's adventures told to him by his mother, God, Satan, and Cervantes and Shakespeare who were mentioned in the novel. In terms of the text, the count employs or owns a Nubian named Ali who is mute - seriously? He also owns a Greek slave girl who is really a princess. He frees her and they end up together in the end. All of the trading and the mastering of other places is also part of the story, which I sensed in his statement of cosmopolitanism: "The domains of kings are limited by natural barriers or changes of custom or language. My kingdom is as large as the world, for I am either Italian, French, HIndu, American of Spanish: I am a cosmopolite. I adopt all customs and I speak all languages." - an interesting mix of openness and superiority. It does make some sense because Dantes' almost mythic power comes from being made an outsider who had to be extremely tough and intelligent to survive his ordeal, but who was also blessed with the friendship of the Abbe Faria and the treasure he showed him the way to. Finally, from a feminist perspective, we have a very clear and sympathetic portrayal of how tough it is to get out of a marriage you don't want. They don't really have a choice if that is what their father decrees except in this novel one of them cuts her hair, dresses like a boy, and runs off with her girl cousin. The other goes through a Juliet-type trick to end up with the boy she loves. I admire these women - they aren't simple by any means.

Definitely ranked in my top 5 favorite books! Alexander Dumas is one of my favorite authors and he illustrated the power of hate, revenge, and love all together. And one of my favorite quotes was told in this brilliant novel. "There is neither happiness nor unhappiness in this world; there is only the comparison of one state with another. Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss. It is necessary to have wished for death in order to know how good it is to live.....the sum of all human wisdom will be contained in these two words: Wait and Hope." LOVE IT! The movie did not do it justice in the least, but I watched the making of, and apparently the director didn't really want to bring the book itself to the screen. One of the greatest pieces of literature in the world!