He is not Dumas for you: the true story of the book “The Count of Monte Cristo” from true history to embellished novel. Surely, many of you have read the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas called The Count of Monte Cristo. Someone did not reach the book version, preferring the cinema. However, most people are still familiar with the plot of the work.
And if I tell you that Dumas plagiarized and embellished a real-life story, passing it off as his brilliant novel? Interesting? Then sit back, we’ll get started.
Brief story
For those who still forgot the school course or even “smoked the Primer”, we offer a short story without any special spoilers.
A young sailor Dantes is imprisoned on a false denunciation. He is imprisoned for life on a false denunciation. His cellmate was Abbé Faria, who gave hope to the desperate young man.
In total, Dantes spent 14 years in prison, and after that he managed to escape. During the allotted time, the abbot taught the main character the exact sciences, taught history and culture. Therefore, an educated young man, one might say, even a secular one, “came free”. Therefore, it was easy for him to pass himself off as a noble lord.
Also, Abbe Faria, by logical deductions, showed Dantes the real culprits of his imprisonment in the fortress. Finally, before dying, the old man told the protagonist about the hidden treasure.
So Dantes was released as a different person – rich, educated and filled with hatred.
And now let’s talk about the real story, which, almost completely, Dumas took for his novel.
Monte Cristo is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Traveling through this region, Dumas heard a legend that untold riches of either the Templars or the Hospitallers were buried on a piece of land.
True story
The real state of affairs is not as noble and colorful as a fictional novel. The plot really remained practically unchanged – the author simply added certain details for brilliance and nobility.
Before us is Francois Picot. Who during the Napoleonic Wars worked as a simple shoemaker. He was not rich, but was content with what he had. Soon he wanted to get married, he had a bride who sincerely shared his aspirations. Unfortunately, in this story there was also the innkeeper Luppian, who also laid eyes on the girl.
Then he persuaded three of his friends to write a denunciation of Pico on charges of espionage against the Napoleonic army.
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The suspect was eventually jailed for 7 years. In the same cell with him was a prelate, who really gave him certain knowledge, and bequeathed a cache of money. The old man still died, but Pico was released after the overthrow of Napoleon.
Unlike the book count, the liberated young man was not noble and full of knowledge – we have before us a classic vengeful person, whose meaning of life was reduced to a struggle with offenders. However, he did not know them by sight until he received the inheritance of the prelate and did not find his old friend Allya.
He did not recognize his comrade in the overgrown and aged man, and told the whole truth in exchange for an expensive ring.
After learning everything, Pico went to an expensive restaurant, which was now owned by Luppian. The bride of the protagonist, after waiting for him for two years, married an innkeeper.
After that, the “unknown” stabbed one of the informers in his bed, and “someone” poisoned the second. The rich restaurant in which Luppian had invested all his money burned down, his daughter was dishonored, and his son went to prison.
The ex-fiancee of the protagonist committed suicide from grief, and after that Luppian was stabbed to death, like one of the informers.
If you thought that this was the end of the story, then you are wrong.
Allya enters the stage, having killed the buyer of an expensive ring, and fled, taking both the jewel and the money. At the same time, he realized that Pico did not die, but decided to take revenge on his offenders.
Soon, Allu lured his former friend to the basement, where he wanted to find out the location of the rest of the treasures. But, without receiving information from Pico, he killed him in a brutal way.
Allu himself fled after that to England, where he lived with sins for many years. Before his death, he decided to tell the whole truth to the priest. He carefully wrote everything down, and sent a message to France. There, the historian Jacques Peuchet received information, who published the story after finding it in the police archives.
Dumas just had to finish reading the story, change the characters and their fate a little, and write his famous novel.
It is important to understand that Alexandre Dumas did not make the story so bleak. Indeed, the Count of Monte Cristo took revenge only on notorious criminals, and everyone else received the right to forgiveness. Mercy helped the protagonist of the novel open his heart to a new feeling. Therefore, he was able to get a chance for happiness with the daughter of the Pasha of Janina.
Here is the real story. If you liked the article, be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments. If you have any suggestions for reviewing any of the works, feel free to write them in the form below. And I say goodbye to you. All the best!
