In The Count of Monte Cristo, Dantès goes from a happy, successful sailor to a dark vengeance seeking man. Though Dantès is advised many times not to seek out vengeance by his close friends like the Abbé, his emotions get the best of him and he attempts to carry out his wicked plan. Throughout the whole Bible, God instructs us to not repay evil with evil, and to leave revenge to him. Furthermore, in this story itself, Dumas drops hints about his perspective on the matter as well. Lastly, my view on vengeance is that it is for God to avenge and not man. However, in the end, everyone’s perspective on vengeance will become clear.
Many times when people decide to avenge their enemies they are often unjust in their punishments because they let emotions get in the way. In The Count of Monte Cristo, Dantès is driven by the desire to make all of his enemies suffer the way he did, and worse. However, the way the Count is planning to go about this is quite contrary to what the Bible instructs. In Romans 12:17-21 it says, “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” As can be seen from this verse, the Lord clearly says that vengeance for him to take out only. Rather, he instructs us to repay evil with good, and to love our enemies. It even says that by loving our enemies you wil...
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...lical viewpoint, Dumas’ viewpoint and my viewpoint all seem to parallel. All the perspectives on this matter seem to point to the fact that taking vengeance on your enemies is a bad thing. The Lord wants us to leave the vengeance to him, Dumas is also is against vengeance as seen from his contextual points, and lastly I am against taking vengeance as well. Revenge is a can be extremely destructive and it is dangerous to carry out. When the Count wants to avenge his enemies for all the wrong things they had done to him, he can’t do it without accidentally harming his friends as well. His friends had become friends with his enemies and now attempting to carry out vengeance on his enemies would be quite the difficult job. Thus in the end you should not take avenge your enemies for whatever they have done to you. Myself, the Bible and Dumas all agree on this point.
God states that we treat each other with the love he gives to us as individuals; while us stating violent acts against love, fraud constituting a corruption and, greed becoming normal thing amongst people defines everything god had envisioned for mankind. Yet, while Inferno implies these moral arguments, it generally states very little about them. Dante discusses with each of the souls in the different circles of hell although it is not truly stated as to why they are specifically in that circle. Only because God justifies there sin belonged there. In the end, it declares that evil is evil, simply because it contradicts God’s will and justification, and since God is God, he thus does not need to be questioned about his morals. Dante’s journey of evil progressed as he winded down the depths of hell pitiless and was driven to make it to purgatory. Inferno is not the normal text that most people would read, then think about how it relates to todays morals; its intention is not to think about the evil discussed but, rather to emphasize the Christian beliefs that Dante followed through his journey.
“In theory it may seem all right to some, but when it comes to being made the instrument of the Lord's vengeance, I myself don't like it,” is what Robert Gould Shaw, the commander of the 54 Massachusetts Infantry, an all black regiment of soldiers in the American Civil War. Obviously, Edmond Dantes did not agree with this statement. This quote explains that although some people may see fit to serve vengeance on their own, others believe it is in the hands of God alone. Judgment Day comes to us all inevitably. We all pay for all evil and injustices of our life, yet sometimes there will be someone so viciously wronged, that he will return like a wrath of nature, with an unquenchable thirst for vengeance. Such a vendetta is the building block
Vengeance is the act of taking revenge for a past wrong. In the Crucible, Thomas Putnam and Abigail Williams both took advantage of circumstances to carry out vengeance against different people.
It is believed by many that it is human nature to deem themselves to be tantamount to God. Such is the case when one decides to take revenge against those who wrong him. Though vengeance seems like the perfect way to achieve justice, a sense of equity, in actuality it is merely an unsatisfactory hypocritical action. This is the definitive realization of the protagonist, Edmond Dantès, in Alexandre Dumas’ “The Count of Monte Cristo”. The protagonist comes to understand that after a lifetime of searching for justice, he really only yearns for justice from himself.
As seen through the documents and The Count of Monte Cristo, revenge is most often not the same as justice, but can take form in the idea of justice through the coined phrase “an eye for an eye.” Dumas’ excellent writing portrays the Count’s dealings with revenge, love, justice, and providence. He deals with each particular situation differently. Plato’s perfect and ideal revenge cannot be reached except through equal and fair punishment, as our idea of revenge and justice are just a shadow of the utopian revenge and justice. Revenge will most often never be the same as justice, as human nature and emotion get in the way of absolute justice.
In Dante’s Inferno, those who never repented for their sins are sent there after death. Like the old Latin proverb says, “The knowledge of sin is the beginning of salvation.” (“Latin Proverb Quotes” ThinkExist) The punishments in his Hell are decided by the law of retribution, which according to Webster’s Dictionary is the total effect of a person's actions and conduct during the successive phases of the person's existence, regarded as determining the person's destiny. (“Retribution” Merriam-Webster) Therefore, Dante creates a variety of reprimands for the three different types of sins: incontinence, violence, and fraudulence. These penalties can also be referred to as allegories because of their hidden moral meaning. The three best allegories in Dante’s Inferno describe the flatterers, fortune tellers, and suicides.
The relationship between justice and punishment has been an essential fabric of society for centuries. It’s important to note the significance of justice in this equation. Justice to Dante is whatever you do in this life will haunt you in the next one. Whatever sins you commit will be your punishment. The circles of hell Dante creates is a just punishment for sinners. Those who commit incontinent crimes, violent crimes, fraudulent crimes, and worse crime against the perfect city deserve to be in the inferno. This punishment is just and supports the claim that Dante presents an image of a just God.
Revenge is considered part of human nature because it is a survival instinct. Humans are inclined to commit acts of savagery because people are delicate beings. The Oxford English Dictionary defines revenge as, “the action of hurting or harming someone in return for an injury or wrong suffered.” Two good examples involve Montresor from the Cask of Amontillado and the unknown narrator from the Tell- Tale Heart. Montresor murders a fellow wine connoisseur because he insulted Montresor in a manner that could not be exonerated. The narrator of the Tell-Tale Heart enacts revenge by murdering an old man for provoking the narrator’s worst fears in the form of a “ vulture eye”. In both of these works by Edgar Allen Poe, the need for revenge consumed their internal fears and insecurities to perform those cruel acts. In the end though, both of the people discussed showed signs of remorse that in a way formed the character.
After finding out who wronged him, Dantes is determined to get justice, or in his case revenge. He believes that others must suffer as much as he did. In the novel, when Dantes is disguised as the count, he runs into
There is no doubt that when bad things happen to people, they want to reflect their misery on others whom they think caused it, which is exactly what happened with Edmond Dantes, a once innocent man who became consumed by hatred.
On one hand we have Beowulf who gets all these riches and everything he ever wanted for killing Grendel and he’s mother. (Lee, Alvin A) While Dante gets awarded with more knowledge and a better understanding of how hell is, but also to be able to tell all these Christian’s of what they shouldn’t do in order to end up in any of these circles of hell. (Davis, Charles T.) Also while Dante does this for the sake of all the people on earth even do it is believed that Beowulf does it for the people we can see that he is only doing this for
Dumas uses the archetype of the byronic hero to demonstrate that one’s suffering doesn’t give the right to seek revenge. A byronic hero is a protagonist that isn’t virtuous, but rather possesses many negative qualities. He is passionate about a particular issue and has intellectual capabilities that far surpass the average man. Often, a byronic hero is arrogant and self-centred. (Marinetti) In the novel, the byronic hero is portrayed by the character of the Count of Monte Cristo. The Count undertakes a quest to take revenge on those who have betrayed him. “He vowed that same implacable oath of revenge […] against Danglars, Fernand and Villefort.” (Dumas 212) The Count’s drive is the fact that he’ll get vengeance. He is so determi...
Seeing as this work was written by Dante, and the journey is taken by Dante, he has a unique opportunity to judge his fellow man and decide how they will be punished. He also gets to place his enemies in hell, forever besmirching their names for generations to remember. Perhaps unknowing to Dante, that is worse than any of the punishments that he placed his enemies in. The reality of The Inferno is unlikely and therefore these punishments are nothing but a fictiona...
In the progression of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, with the evolution of Edmond Dantès came an ending where justice was found. After spending 14 years in prison, Dantès’ escape brought him into the outside world to find that there were those whose lives flourished and those who suffered greatly. The very people that ensured his incarceration found themselves on top with their wealth and influence. Upon discovering this information he set out to find revenge and justice. For those that tried to help him, he sought and found ways to repay them for their humanity. On the other hand, those who had wronged him received much less hospitality and kindness for their actions. After all, they sent him to prison unjustly and Edmond pursued
Dante eventually makes it out of hell and travels to heaven, but he really was not deserving of it seeing as he committed multiple sins along the way. Dante did this to the sinners themselves but considering how strictly kept they are for everyone else assumably it would work the same for him. One occasion of his sinful behavior is while he is traveling through styx the circle of the wrathful in which he encounters one of the sinful (an old enemy) and says “Master it would suit my whim to see the wretch scrubbed down into the swill before we leave”(81). While amidst the wrathful Dante ironically, but viciously, lashes out, being wrathful himself. While he is bru...