Examples Of Dante's Loyalty In The Count Of Monte Cristo

A Renaissance man is a man who is gifted in many subjects and fits the ideal of a man in society. In Alexandre Dumas’ novel The Count of Monte Cristo, we are introduced to a sailor named Edmond Dantes, who seems to have everything going his way. His success can be attributed to three of his traits; loyalty, compassion and intelligence.

Dantes’ loyalty is shown from his sea expedition he took on the Pharaon. Dantes, although still a young man, had fallen in love with a girl named Mercedes before he left and upon his return, he had not lost that love for her. Later while in prison, Dantes showed his loyalty again by choosing to stay in prison with his friend Faria while Faria was sick and dying instead of trying to escape. This trait of loyalty shapes the story because it shows Dantes’ as a compassionate person to his friends; however, it does cause some

Dantes shows his compassion in the beginning of the novel by worrying more about the captain who had died on the journey than trying to be paid by Monsieur Morrel right away. This trait affects the plot because Dantes compassion towards Faria, whom everyone thought was mad, has helped Dantes become smarter and learned about a potential treasure. However, through Faria’s knowledge, Dantes has learned about who betrayed him and now swears vengeance upon those people instead of compassion.

Intelligence is another very prominent trait shown by Dantes. Dantes first shows his intelligence by being promoted to the rank of ship captain at the young age of 19 and having earned the trust of Monsieur Morrel to know how to handle a ship. In prison, Dantes shows his intelligence again by rapidly learning and understanding all of Faria’s teachings and lessons. This intelligence helped Dantes escape the prison by climbing into the sack that Faria was to be “buried” in instead of having to use the other plan Faria and Dantes