Another feature of 19th century post-Napoleonic society that Dumas illustrates is the humble origins of many of the most influential persons of Parisien society. It was completely possible that a political prisoner should be forgotten in prison, though political prisoners normally stayed for a year. These events however, do not particularly intrude upon the story.ĭumas' Count of Monte Cristo also covers French societal customs of the period. Historically one is carried through the closing Hundred days of Napoleon's Dynasty, the reigns of Louis XVIII, Charles X, and Louis Philipe, and the Revolution of July. The work covers the period of French History from 1814-1838. Historical and social values are still contained within the work, though they are reduced to the backdrop. Does this mean that The Count of Monte Cristo is not didactic in nature? Most likely the novel was created as a relief from the genre of the D'Artagnan romances, however, this is not to say that one cannot find historical events within the novel.
Dumas thus had much more freedom to create the imaginative plot and to develop the characters' role. History forms a mere backdrop to the plot. The Count of Monte Cristo is only loosely based in fact, and thus does not fit the category of the D'Artagnan romances. The plots of the D'Artagnan romances are thus restricted to actual historical events and the characters reflect actual historical personages. It was Dumas goal to teach the French people their historical heritage. In any case, The Count of Monte Cristo, also written with a team of collaborators, was written at the same period as these novels, which had a distinct didactic purpose. Their objective was to reconstruct French National history through a series of novels. These romances were written in conjunction with his collaborator Auguste Maquet starting in 1837. This was at the same time that Dumas embarked on his project including the D'Artagnan romances. He wrote the novel in 1844 and it was published in 18 fragments between the years 1844-46.
It is difficult to pinpoint the exact motive Dumas had in mind when he wrote The Count of Monte Cristo.
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