Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo is a complex novel with many themes in it. Dumas uses biblical and mythical allusions to add a religious context to the novel and add depth and meaning to the characters. Dumas was well-versed in Greek and Roman mythology, and he first learned to read with the Holy Bible. Throughout the course of the novel, Dumas alludes to Greek and Roman myths, Christ, and biblical stories. These allusions add depth to his characters and a profound religious meaning to his novel.
Severson, Marilyn. Masterpieces of French Literature. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2004. Print.
This source gives a summary and brief analysis of The Count of Monte Cristo. Marilyn Severson looks at plot development, character analysis, narration, and many other things. What I found to be the most useful in this was the character analysis, particularly with Edmond Dantes/the Count of Monte Cristo. Her analysis points out how the count lost his humanity by becoming so obsessed, and later regrets that he thought himself God's equal. This would be helpful for me in looking at Christ figures in The Count of Monte Cristo as well as looking at whether or not the Count was actually an agent of Providence or not.
Marinetti, Amelita. "Death, Resurrection, and Fall in Dumas' Comte de Monte-Cristo." French Review. Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 260-269. Web.
This source inspired my new research topic! It talks about Dumas' biblical and mythological allusions in The Count of Monte Cristo, pointing out significant instances and talking about how they connect to ancient ideals. Absolutely perfect!
The Holy Bible, King James Edition London, 1611
This is a source I will use when citing the biblical allusions that Dumas' makes. Useful, helpful and necessary.
Stoneman, Richard. Greek mythology: an encyclopedia of myth and legend. London: 1991.
I will use several of the entries in this encyclopedia to reference the Greek and Roman mythological allusions in The Count of Monte Cristo.
What's next on my to do list is to start compiling instances of these allusions within the story. I'll need to spend some time in the library refreshing my knowledge of Greek and Roman mythology, and then I will need to start looking at biblical allusions in Lewis Carroll's Alice works.
I will have to do my own research on a few ideas that I had for you, but I will leave you with a simpler idea/question. How much do you want to focus on providence or the idea of it?
ReplyDeleteProbably not much. I want to focus my research on biblical and mythological allusions within the text and look at what they do for the text specifically. The theme of providence is interesting to me, but doesn't lend itself well to secondary sources, and I think this will be a much easier topic for me to handle.
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