Analyzing Count of Monte Cristo as a Gothic Novel

There are many ways in which a gothic novel may be recognized. For example, many motifs and symbols help in identifying whether the book is a gothic novel or not. The author, Alexandre Dumas, uses Edmond Dantès, the main character from The Count of Monte Cristo, to prove the book a gothic novel through Edmond's strong hatred, merciless revenge, and portrayal of rebirth. One of the many motifs found in The Count of Monte Cristo is hatred. The Count of Monte Cristo swore to ruin his three friends responsible for wasting fourteen years of his life as the narrator says "Then his eyes flashed with hatred as he thought of the three men to whom he owed his long and cruel captivity" (Dumas 85). Three of Edmond's best friends betrayed Edmond by classifying him as a country traitor which results in Edmond going into prison without a clue about what was happening. He made sure he would finish his promise to himself to punish those who betrayed him. As Jennifer Smith says in her article, "The Count of Monte Cristo" it is shown that the Count does not care about anything else other than his goal to punish "…and vengeance became his only goal." One time in his life the Count was a nice, forgiving man, but now he is a vengeful and only looking to get even. Although he had many other things to do, he took his time to carefully plan out and risk his life and time to get them back. The Count hated his best friends who betrayed him, so the Count made sure they would feel the pain he went through. Not only did he swear to not forgive, he swore to get revenge and make them feel the pain he felt in prison. The Count is so dedicated to his oath of revenge, he is willing to make his enemies face death "One! ...looking steadfastly at the corpse" (Dumas 344). Being a clever and intelligent man, the count was already prepared for an attack, but purposely lets Villefort be murdered by his friend. The count does not feel pity, but rather triumphant for successfully punishing Villefort