The Count of Monte Cristo

Short Summary

The novel begins with the handsome young sailor Edmond Dantes. He has just returned from a journey aboard the Pharaon. The Pharaon's shipowner, M. Morrel, rushes out to meet the ship. He finds that the captain has died en route, and Dantes has assumed the post with admirable skill. He thus plans to make Dantes officially the next captain of the ship.
Dantes future is thus promising. His father's financial situation as well as his own will be greatly ameliorated. In addition, Dantes has plans to marry the beautiful Mercedes who has awaited his return from sea with great anxiety and love.
Dantes will not get the chance to realize his bright future, however. His success has earned him three conspiring enemies. They write a letter falsely incriminating him in a Bonapartist plot (the royalists are currently in power). These three enemies are Danglars, Fernand Mondego, and Caderousse. Danglars will become captain of the Pharaon once Dantes is removed, Fernand aspires to win Mercedes' love, and Caderousse is a jealous neighbor of Dantes.
Perhaps the conspiracy would not have been so successful had not the denunciation fallen into the hands of the public prosecutor, Monsieur de Villefort. This man has nothing personal against Dantes, however, he has Dantes incarcerated as a most dangerous criminal. His policy against Bonapartists must be extremely vigilant in order to counter the reputation of his father. His father is a known Bonapartist, and Villefort is paranoid that this fact shall hurt his career among the ruling royalists. Thus, he throws Dantes, an innocent man, into the Chateau D'If.
Political regimes change, yet Dantes is forgotten. M. Morrel attempts to have him freed, yet to no avail. In prison, Dantes loses hope and decides to starve himself to death. Thankfully, the prisoner in the next cell was building a tunnel to escape. Miscalculations bring the Abbe Faria, to Dantes cell instead of freedom. The two become frien