Symbolism in the Count Of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by French author Alexandre Dumas completed 

in 1844. It is one of the author's most popular works, along with The Three Musketeers. The 

book is considered a literary classic today. I decided to write about the three important symbols 

in this novel: the potion, the waters, and the red silk purse.

Elixir of Life

Dantès’s potent potion seems to have the power both to kill and to bring to life, a power that

Dantès comes to believe in too strongly. His overestimation of the elixir’s power reflects his 

overestimation of his own power, his delusion that he is almost godlike, and his assertion that he 

has the right and capacity to act as the agent of Providence. It is significant that, when faced with 

Edward’s corpse, Dantès thinks first to use his elixir to bring the boy to life. Of course, the elixir 

is not powerful enough to bring the dead to life, just as Dantès himself is not capable of 

accomplishing divine feats. The power to grant life—like the power to carry out ultimate 

retribution and justice—lies solely in God’s hands. It is when Dantès acknowledges the limits of 

his elixir that he realizes his own limitations as a human being.

Chateau d’If, where Edmond Dantès was imprisoned.

When Edmond Dantès escapes from prison, he dives into the ocean, experiencing a second 

“baptism.” He has suffered a metaphorical death while in prison: the death of his innocent, 

loving self. Dantès emerges as a bitter and hateful man, bent on carrying out revenge on his 

enemies. He is washed in the waters that lead him to freedom, and his rebirth as a man 

transformed is complete. The sea continues to figure prominently in the novel even after this 

symbolic baptism. Being a citizen of no land, Dantès spends much of his time on the ocean, 

traveling the world in his ship. The sea offered Dantès, a skilled sailor, a perpetual escape and 

solitude.

Red Silk Purse

The red purse is the corporeal symbol of the linking between good deed and reward. It first

appeared when Monsieur Morrel used it in his attempt to save the life of Dantès’s father, Dantès 

later uses the red silk purse when he is saving Morrel’s life. Morrel recognizes the purse and 

deduces the connection between the good deed performed on his behalf and the good deed he 

once performed himself. Morrel concludes that Dantès must be his savior, guessing that he is 

working from beyond the grave.