Edmond Dantes a successful, happy, young sailor was wrongfully imprisoned on September 15, 1815. He was sent there by four men, each of whom had a different reason to be hungry for his downfall. Caderousse was guilty because of his drunken stupidity, Fernand because of his lustful envy, Danglars because of his treacherous greed, and finally Villefort because of the terrible lengths he would go to in order to protect his name. When Dantes entered prison he was a nineteen-year-old boy with a kind and pure soul. After learning about the conspiracy to ruin his life, however, he became obsessed with getting vengeance. Upon his escape from the Chateau d'If, he set out on a journey to reward those who had been good to him and to set right the wrongs that had been done to him.
Dantes was initially successful at his attempt. The first person from his past whom he encountered was Monsieur Caderousse. He went to Caderousse's inn dressed as Abbe Faria and was told what had become of the three men most responsible for his imprisonment. Caderousse had no idea that the man he was talking to was Edmond Dantes. There was one person, however, that recognized him immediately. Mercedes, his former fiancé, had never forgotten Dantes or the young love that they once shared. One of the reasons that Mercedes had loved him so much was the great admiration she had for him. She considered Dantes a sweet, honest, fair, and forgiving