Women medical workers of the Red Army, taken prisoner near Kiev, were collected for transfer to a prisoner of war camp, August 1941:
The dress code of many girls is semi-military and semi-civilian, which is typical for initial stage war, when the Red Army had difficulties providing women's uniform sets and uniform shoes in small sizes. On the left is a sad captive artillery lieutenant, perhaps the “stage commander.”
How many female soldiers of the Red Army ended up in German captivity is unknown. However, the Germans did not recognize women as military personnel and regarded them as partisans. Therefore, according to the German private Bruno Schneider, before sending his company to Russia, their commander, Oberleutnant Prinz, familiarized the soldiers with the order: “Shoot all women who serve in units of the Red Army.” (Yad Vashem Archives. M-33/1190, l. 110). Numerous facts indicate that this order was applied throughout the war.
- In August 1941, on the orders of Emil Knol, commander of the field gendarmerie of the 44th Infantry Division, a prisoner of war - a military doctor - was shot (Yad Vashem Archives. M-37/178, l. 17.).
- In Mglinsk Bryansk region in 1941, the Germans captured two girls from a medical unit and shot them (Yad Vashem Archives. M-33/482, l. 16.).
- After the defeat of the Red Army in Crimea in May 1942, in the fishing village "Mayak" not far from Kerch, Buryachenko was hiding in the house of a resident unknown girl V military uniform. On May 28, 1942, the Germans discovered her during a search. The girl resisted the Nazis, shouting: “Shoot, you bastards! I am dying for the Soviet people, for Stalin, and you, monsters, will die like a dog!” The girl was shot in the yard (Yad Vashem Archives. M-33/60, l. 38.).
- At the end of August 1942 in the village of Krymskaya Krasnodar region a group of sailors was shot, among them were several girls in military uniform (Yad Vashem Archive. M-33/303, l 115.).
- In the village of Starotitarovskaya, Krasnodar Territory, among the executed prisoners of war, the corpse of a girl in a Red Army uniform was discovered. She had a passport with her in the name of Tatyana Alexandrovna Mikhailova, 1923. Born in the village of Novo-Romanovka (Yad Vashem Archive. M-33/309, l. 51.).
- In the village of Vorontsovo-Dashkovskoye, Krasnodar Territory, in September 1942, captured military paramedics Glubokov and Yachmenev were brutally tortured (Yad Vashem Archives. M-33/295, l. 5.).
- On January 5, 1943, not far from the Severny farm, 8 Red Army soldiers were captured. Among them is a nurse named Lyuba. After prolonged torture and abuse, all those captured were shot (Yad Vashem Archives. M-33/302, l. 32.).
It seems that the “Hans” do not look evil... Although - who knows? In war, completely ordinary people often do such outrageous abominations that they would never do in “another life”... The girl is dressed in full set field uniform of the Red Army model 1935 - male, and in good "command" boots in size.
A similar photo, probably from the summer or early autumn of 1941. Convoy - a German non-commissioned officer, a female prisoner of war in a commander's cap, but without insignia:
Divisional intelligence translator P. Rafes recalls that in the village of Smagleevka, liberated in 1943, 10 km from Kantemirovka, residents told how in 1941 “a wounded female lieutenant was dragged naked onto the road, her face and hands were cut, her breasts were cut off... » (P. Rafes. Then they had not yet repented. From the Notes of a divisional intelligence translator. “Ogonyok.” Special issue. M., 2000, No. 70.)
Knowing what awaited them if captured, female soldiers, as a rule, fought to the last.
Captured women were often subjected to violence before their death. Soldier from the 11th tank division Hans Rudhof testifies that in the winter of 1942 “... Russian nurses were lying on the roads. They were shot and thrown onto the road. They lay naked... On these dead bodies... obscene inscriptions were written" (Yad Vashem Archives. M-33/1182, l. 94–95.).
In Rostov in July 1942, German motorcyclists burst into the yard in which nurses from the hospital were located. They were going to change into civilian clothes, but did not have time. So, in military uniform, they were dragged into a barn and raped. However, they didn’t kill (Vladislav Smirnov. Rostov Nightmare. - “Ogonyok”. M., 1998. No. 6.).
Women prisoners of war who ended up in the camps were also subjected to violence and abuse. Former prisoner of war K.A. Shenipov said that in the camp in Drohobych there was a beautiful captive girl named Luda. “Captain Stroyer, the camp commandant, tried to rape her, but she resisted, after which the German soldiers, called by the captain, tied Luda to a bed, and in this position Stroyer raped her and then shot her.” (Yad Vashem Archives. M-33/1182, l. 11.).
In Stalag 346 in Kremenchug at the beginning of 1942, the German camp doctor Orland gathered 50 female doctors, paramedics, and nurses, stripped them and “ordered our doctors to examine them from the genitals to see if they were suffering from venereal diseases. He conducted the external inspection himself. He chose 3 young girls from them and took them to “serve” him. German soldiers and officers came for the women examined by doctors. Few of these women escaped rape (Yad Vashem Archives. M-33/230, l. 38,53,94; M-37/1191, l. 26.).
Women soldiers of the Red Army who were captured while trying to escape the encirclement near Nevel, summer 1941:
Judging by their haggard faces, they had to endure a lot even before being captured.
Here the “Hans” are clearly mocking and posing - so that they themselves can quickly experience all the “joys” of captivity! And the unfortunate girl, who, it seems, has already had her fill of hard times at the front, has no illusions about her prospects in captivity...
In the right photograph (September 1941, again near Kyiv -?), on the contrary, the girls (one of whom even managed to keep a watch on her wrist in captivity; an unprecedented thing, watches are the optimal camp currency!) do not look desperate or exhausted. The captured Red Army soldiers are smiling... A staged photo, or did you really get a relatively humane camp commandant who ensured a tolerable existence?
Camp guards from among former prisoners of war and camp police were especially cynical about women prisoners of war. They raped their captives or forced them to cohabit with them under threat of death. In Stalag No. 337, not far from Baranovichi, about 400 women prisoners of war were kept in a specially fenced area with barbed wire. In December 1967, at a meeting of the military tribunal of the Belarusian Military District former boss camp guard A.M. Yarosh admitted that his subordinates raped prisoners in the women’s block (P. Sherman. ...And the earth was horrified. (About the atrocities of the German fascists on the territory of the city of Baranovichi and its environs June 27, 1941– July 8, 1944). Facts, documents, evidence. Baranovichi. 1990, pp. 8–9.).
Women prisoners were also kept in the Millerovo prisoner of war camp. The commandant of the women's barracks was a German woman from the Volga region. The fate of the girls languishing in this barracks was terrible: “The police often looked into this barracks. Every day, for half a liter, the commandant gave any girl her choice for two hours. The policeman could have taken her to his barracks. They lived two to a room. These two hours he could use her as a thing, abuse her, mock her, do whatever he wanted.
Once, during the evening roll call, the police chief himself came, they gave him a girl for the whole night, the German woman complained to him that these “bastards” are reluctant to go to your policemen. He advised with a grin: “And for those who don’t want to go, organize a “red fireman.” The girl was stripped naked, crucified, tied with ropes on the floor. Then they took red hot pepper big size, they turned it inside out and inserted it into the girl’s vagina. They left it in this position for up to half an hour. Screaming was forbidden. Many girls had their lips bitten - they were holding back a scream, and after such punishment they for a long time couldn't move.
The commandant, who was called a cannibal behind her back, enjoyed unlimited rights over captured girls and came up with other sophisticated bullying. For example, “self-punishment.” There is a special stake, which is made crosswise with a height of 60 centimeters. The girl must undress naked, insert a stake into the anus, hold on to the crosspiece with her hands, and place her feet on a stool and hold on like this for three minutes. Those who could not stand it had to repeat it all over again.
We learned about what was going on in the women's camp from the girls themselves, who came out of the barracks to sit on a bench for ten minutes. Also, the policemen boastfully talked about their exploits and the resourceful German woman.” (S. M. Fisher. Memoirs. Manuscript. Author’s archive.).
Women doctors of the Red Army who were captured in many prisoner of war camps (mainly in transit and transit camps) worked in camp hospitals:
There may be German here too field hospital V front line- in the background part of the body of a car equipped for transporting the wounded is visible, and one of the German soldiers The hand in the photo is bandaged.
Infirmary barracks of the prisoner of war camp in Krasnoarmeysk (probably October 1941):
In the foreground is a non-commissioned officer of the German field gendarmerie with a characteristic badge on his chest.
Women prisoners of war were held in many camps. According to eyewitnesses, they made an extremely pathetic impression. In conditions camp life It was especially difficult for them: they, like no one else, suffered from the lack of basic sanitary conditions.
K. Kromiadi, a member of the distribution commission, visited the Sedlice camp in the fall of 1941 work force, talked with captive women. One of them, a female military doctor, admitted: “... everything is bearable, except for the lack of linen and water, which does not allow us to change clothes or wash ourselves.” (K. Kromiadi. Soviet prisoners of war in Germany... p. 197.).
A group of female medical workers captured in the Kiev pocket in September 1941 was kept in Vladimir-Volynsk - Oflag camp No. 365 "Nord" (T. S. Pershina. Fascist genocide in Ukraine 1941–1944... p. 143.).
Nurses Olga Lenkovskaya and Taisiya Shubina were captured in October 1941 in the Vyazemsky encirclement. First, the women were kept in a camp in Gzhatsk, then in Vyazma. In March, as the Red Army approached, the Germans transferred captured women to Smolensk to Dulag No. 126. There were few captives in the camp. They were kept in a separate barracks, communication with men was prohibited. From April to July 1942, the Germans released all women with “the condition of free settlement in Smolensk” (Yad Vashem Archives. M-33/626, l. 50–52. M-33/627, l. 62–63.).
Crimea, summer 1942. Very young Red Army soldiers, just captured by the Wehrmacht, and among them is the same young girl soldier:
Most likely, she is not a doctor: her hands are clean, she did not bandage the wounded in a recent battle.
After the fall of Sevastopol in July 1942, about 300 female health workers were captured: doctors, nurses, and orderlies. (N. Lemeshchuk. Without bowing his head. (On the activities of the anti-fascist underground in Hitler’s camps) Kyiv, 1978, pp. 32–33.). First, they were sent to Slavuta, and in February 1943, having gathered about 600 women prisoners of war in the camp, they were loaded into wagons and taken to the West. In Rivne, everyone was lined up, and another search for Jews began. One of the prisoners, Kazachenko, walked around and showed: “this is a Jew, this is a commissar, this is a partisan.” Who was separated from general group, shot. Those who remained were loaded back into the wagons, men and women together. The prisoners themselves divided the carriage into two parts: in one - women, in the other - men. Recovered through a hole in the floor (G. Grigorieva. Conversation with the author, October 9, 1992.).
Along the way, the captured men were dropped off at different stations, and the women were brought to the city of Zoes on February 23, 1943. They lined them up and announced that they would work in military factories. Evgenia Lazarevna Klemm was also in the group of prisoners. Jewish. A history teacher at the Odessa Pedagogical Institute who pretended to be a Serbian. She enjoyed special authority among women prisoners of war. E.L. Klemm on behalf of everyone German stated: “We are prisoners of war and will not work in military factories.” In response, they started beating everyone, and then drove them into small hall, in which it was impossible to sit down or move due to the cramped conditions. They stood like that for almost a day. And then the disobedient ones were sent to Ravensbrück (G. Grigorieva. Conversation with the author, October 9, 1992. E. L. Klemm, shortly after returning from the camp, after endless calls to the state security authorities, where they sought her confession of treason, committed suicide). This women's camp was created in 1939. The first prisoners of Ravensbrück were prisoners from Germany, and then from European countries occupied by the Germans. All the prisoners had their heads shaved and dressed in striped (blue and gray striped) dresses and unlined jackets. Underwear- shirt and panties. There were no bras or belts. In October, they were given a pair of old stockings for six months, but not everyone was able to wear them until spring. Shoes, as in most concentration camps, are wooden lasts.
The barracks were divided into two parts, connected by a corridor: a day room, in which there were tables, stools and small wall cabinets, and a sleeping room - three-tier bunks with a narrow passage between them. One cotton blanket was given to two prisoners. In a separate room lived the blockhouse - the head of the barracks. In the corridor there was a washroom and toilet (G. S. Zabrodskaya. The will to win. In the collection “Witnesses for the Prosecution”. L. 1990, p. 158; Sh. Muller. Ravensbrück locksmith team. Memoirs of a prisoner No. 10787. M., 1985, p. 7.).
Stage Soviet women-prisoners of war arrived at Stalag 370, Simferopol (summer or early autumn 1942):
The prisoners carry all their meager belongings; under the hot Crimean sun, many of them tied their heads with scarves “like women” and took off their heavy boots.
Ibid., Stalag 370, Simferopol:
The prisoners worked mainly in the camp's sewing factories. Ravensbrück produced 80% of all uniforms for the SS troops, as well as camp clothing for both men and women. (Women of Ravensbrück. M., 1960, pp. 43, 50.).
The first Soviet women prisoners of war - 536 people - arrived at the camp on February 28, 1943. First, everyone was sent to a bathhouse, and then they were given camp striped clothes with a red triangle with the inscription: “SU” – Sowjet Union.
Even before the arrival of the Soviet women, the SS men spread a rumor throughout the camp that a gang of female killers would be brought from Russia. Therefore, they were placed in a special block, fenced with barbed wire.
Every day the prisoners got up at 4 am for verification, which sometimes lasted several hours. Then they worked for 12–13 hours in sewing workshops or in the camp infirmary.
Breakfast consisted of ersatz coffee, which women used mainly for washing their hair, since warm water did not have. For this purpose, coffee was collected and washed in turns. .
Women whose hair had survived began to use combs that they made themselves. Frenchwoman Micheline Morel recalls that “Russian girls, using factory machines, cut wooden planks or metal plates and polished them so that they became quite acceptable combs. For a wooden comb they gave half a portion of bread, for a metal comb they gave a whole portion.” (Voices. Memoirs of prisoners of Hitler’s camps. M., 1994, p. 164.).
For lunch, the prisoners received half a liter of gruel and 2–3 boiled potatoes. In the evening they received for five a small loaf of bread mixed with sawdust and again half a liter of gruel (G.S. Zabrodskaya. The will to win... p. 160.).
One of the prisoners, S. Müller, testifies in her memoirs about the impression that Soviet women made on the prisoners of Ravensbrück: “...on one Sunday in April we learned that Soviet prisoners refused to carry out some order, citing the fact that, according to According to the Geneva Convention of the Red Cross, they should be treated as prisoners of war. For the camp authorities this was unheard of insolence. For the entire first half of the day they were forced to march along Lagerstraße (the main “street” of the camp) and were deprived of lunch.
But the women from the Red Army bloc (that’s what we called the barracks where they lived) decided to turn this punishment into a demonstration of their strength. I remember someone shouted in our block: “Look, the Red Army is marching!” We ran out of the barracks and rushed to Lagerstraße. And what did we see?
It was unforgettable! Five hundred Soviet women, ten in a row, kept in alignment, walked as if in a parade, taking their steps. Their steps, like the beat of a drum, beat rhythmically along Lagerstraße. The entire column moved as one. Suddenly a woman on the right flank of the first row gave the command to start singing. She counted down: “One, two, three!” And they sang:
Get up, huge country,
Get up for mortal combat...
Then they started singing about Moscow.
The Nazis were puzzled: the punishment of humiliated prisoners of war by marching turned into a demonstration of their strength and inflexibility...
The SS failed to leave Soviet women without lunch. The political prisoners took care of food for them in advance.” (S. Müller. Ravensbrück locksmith team... pp. 51–52.).
Soviet women prisoners of war more than once amazed their enemies and fellow prisoners with their unity and spirit of resistance. One day, 12 Soviet girls were included in the list of prisoners intended to be sent to Majdanek, in gas chambers. When the SS men came to the barracks to pick up the women, their comrades refused to hand them over. The SS managed to find them. “The remaining 500 people lined up in groups of five and went to the commandant. The translator was E.L. Klemm. The commandant drove those who came into the block, threatening them with execution, and they began a hunger strike.” (Women of Ravensbrück... p.127.).
In February 1944, about 60 women prisoners of war from Ravensbrück were transferred to the concentration camp in Barth to the Heinkel aircraft plant. The girls refused to work there too. Then they were lined up in two rows and ordered to strip to their shirts and remove the wooden stocks. They stood in the cold for many hours, every hour the matron came and offered coffee and a bed to anyone who agreed to go to work. Then the three girls were thrown into a punishment cell. Two of them died from pneumonia (G. Vaneev. Heroines of the Sevastopol Fortress. Simferopol. 1965, pp. 82–83.).
Constant bullying, hard labor, and hunger led to suicide. In February 1945, the defender of Sevastopol, military doctor Zinaida Aridova, threw herself onto the wire (G.S. Zabrodskaya. The will to win... p. 187.).
And yet the prisoners believed in liberation, and this faith sounded in a song composed by an unknown author (N. Tsvetkova. 900 days in fascist dungeons. In the collection: In Fascist dungeons. Notes. Minsk. 1958, p. 84.):
Heads up, Russian girls!
Over your head, be brave!
We don't have long to endure
The nightingale will fly in the spring...
And it will open the doors to freedom for us,
Takes a striped dress off your shoulders
And heal deep wounds,
He will wipe the tears from his swollen eyes.
Heads up, Russian girls!
Be Russian everywhere, everywhere!
It won't be long to wait, it won't be long -
And we will be on Russian soil.
Former prisoner Germaine Tillon, in her memoirs, gave a unique description of the Russian women prisoners of war who ended up in Ravensbrück: “... their cohesion was explained by the fact that they went through army school even before captivity. They were young, strong, neat, honest, and also rather rude and uneducated. There were also intellectuals (doctors, teachers) among them - friendly and attentive. In addition, we liked their rebellion, their unwillingness to obey the Germans." (Voices, pp. 74–5.).
Women prisoners of war were also sent to other concentration camps. Auschwitz prisoner A. Lebedev recalls that paratroopers Ira Ivannikova, Zhenya Saricheva, Viktorina Nikitina, doctor Nina Kharlamova and nurse Klavdiya Sokolova were kept in the women's camp (A. Lebedev. Soldiers small war… With. 62.).
In January 1944, for refusing to sign an agreement to work in Germany and transfer to the category of civilian workers, more than 50 female prisoners of war from the camp in Chelm were sent to Majdanek. Among them were doctor Anna Nikiforova, military paramedics Efrosinya Tsepennikova and Tonya Leontyeva, infantry lieutenant Vera Matyutskaya (A. Nikiforova. This should not happen again. M., 1958, pp. 6–11.).
The navigator of the air regiment, Anna Egorova, whose plane was shot down over Poland, shell-shocked, with a burnt face, was captured and kept in the Kyustrinsky camp (N. Lemeshchuk. Without bowing his head... p. 27. In 1965, A. Egorova was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.).
Despite the death reigning in captivity, despite the fact that any relationship between male and female prisoners of war was prohibited, where they worked together, most often in camp infirmaries, love was sometimes born that bestows new life. As a rule, in such in rare cases German hospital management did not interfere with childbirth. After the birth of the child, the mother-prisoner of war was either transferred to the status of a civilian, released from the camp and released to the place of residence of her relatives in the occupied territory, or returned with the child to the camp.
Thus, from the documents of the Stalag camp infirmary No. 352 in Minsk, it is known that “nurse Sindeva Alexandra, who arrived at the First City Hospital for childbirth on 23.2.42, left with the child for the Rollbahn prisoner of war camp.” (Yad Vashem Archives. M-33/438 part II, l. 127.).
Probably one of latest photos Soviet women soldiers captured by Germans, 1943 or 1944:
Both were awarded medals, the girl on the left - “For courage” (dark edging on the block), the second one may also have “BZ”. There is an opinion that these are pilots, but it is unlikely: both have “clean” shoulder straps of privates.
In 1944, attitudes towards women prisoners of war became harsher. They are subjected to new tests. In accordance with general provisions on the verification and selection of Soviet prisoners of war, on March 6, 1944, the OKW issued a special order “On the treatment of Russian women prisoners of war.” This document stated that Soviet women held in prisoner-of-war camps should be subject to inspection by the local Gestapo office in the same way as all newly arriving Soviet prisoners of war. If, as a result of a police check, the political unreliability of female prisoners of war is revealed, they should be released from captivity and handed over to the police (A. Streim. Die Behandlung sowjetischer Kriegsgefangener... S. 153.).
Based on this order, the head of the Security Service and SD on April 11, 1944 issued an order to send unreliable female prisoners of war to the nearest concentration camp. After being delivered to the concentration camp, such women were subjected to so-called “special treatment” - liquidation. This is how Vera Panchenko-Pisanetskaya died - senior group seven hundred female prisoners of war who worked at a military factory in Gentin. The plant produced a lot of defective products, and during the investigation it turned out that Vera was in charge of the sabotage. In August 1944 she was sent to Ravensbrück and hanged there in the autumn of 1944 (A. Nikiforova. This should not happen again... p. 106.).
In the Stutthof concentration camp in 1944, 5 Russian senior officers were killed, including a female major. They were taken to the crematorium - the place of execution. First they brought the men and shot them one by one. Then - a woman. According to a Pole who worked in the crematorium and understood Russian, the SS man, who spoke Russian, mocked the woman, forcing her to follow his commands: “right, left, around...” After that, the SS man asked her: “Why did you do that? » I never found out what she did. She replied that she did it for the Motherland. After that, the SS man slapped him in the face and said: “This is for your homeland.” The Russian woman spat in his eyes and replied: “And this is for your homeland.” There was confusion. Two SS men ran up to the woman and began to push her alive into the furnace for burning the corpses. She resisted. Several more SS men ran up. The officer shouted: “Fuck her!” The oven door was open and the heat caused the woman's hair to catch fire. Despite the fact that the woman resisted vigorously, she was placed on a cart for burning corpses and pushed into the oven. All the prisoners who worked in the crematorium saw this.” (A. Streim. Die Behandlung sowjetischer Kriegsgefangener.... S. 153–154.). Unfortunately, the name of this heroine remains unknown.
Edmond Dantes, who replaced the captain of the ship "Pharaoh", arrives at the port of Marseille. His fiancée Mercedes and his elderly father are waiting for him there. The envious Danglars and Fernand Mondego conspire to slander Dantes. The royal prosecutor sends a new captain to the Chateau d'If.
There the main character meets Abbot Faria, who tells him about the countless treasures buried on the island of Monte Cristo. Dantes escapes from prison, finds a treasure, and after that begins to take revenge on his offenders. As a result of his actions, Villefort goes crazy, Fernand commits suicide, and the ruined Danglars is forced to flee France.
Read the summary of The Count of Monte Cristo Dumas
This novel tells the story that no evil deed will go unpunished. Marseilles. The ship Pharaoh arrives at the port. His captain died. The young man Edmond Dantes took command. He fulfilled the request of the old captain, stopped by the island of Elba and accepted a note from Napoleon. Now he must deliver it to Monsieur Noirtier.
Dantes is happy and successful. Waiting for him in Marseille new position, he will be the captain of the ship. There is money and, therefore, he can get married. His fiancee Mercedes and his elderly father are waiting for him.
Dantes suspects the accountant of the shipping company Danglars of fraud. He, together with Fernand Mondego, who is in love with Mercedes, draws up a denunciation. Edmond introduces himself as an agent of the Bonapartists who are planning a coup. With them is Caderousse, the envious neighbor of the new captain. He is against slander, but after getting drunk he falls asleep.
Edmond, arrested during the engagement, talks with the prosecutor. Villefort is ready to release the slandered captain, but learns that Dantes must deliver the letter to Noirtier, who is the father of the prosecutor. Then Villefort sentences young man to imprisonment in the Chateau d'If.
After spending several years in prison, Dantes meets Abbot Faria. The old man tells him about a treasure hidden on the island of Monte Cristo. They are preparing to escape. But the abbot dies. Then Dantes pretends to be a meter-long friend. Instead of the abbot, he is thrown into the sea, which serves as the grave of the prisoners of the Chateau d'If. There Edmond is picked up by smugglers. He learns that he has been imprisoned for 14 years.
Having found treasure on the island, Dantes becomes rich. He rewards those who helped him and begins an investigation. Disguised as a priest, he addresses Caderousse. Dantes allegedly left a diamond to be divided among the friends of the “deceased”. Caderousse, overwhelmed by greed, tells the truth. It also turns out that Mercedes married Fernand, who became rich during the war in the East and became Count de Morcerf. Danglars became a banker, with millions in his account.
Edmond saves his friend, the armorer Morrel, from ruin, and then sets off on a journey. After spending 9 years wandering, he returns to his homeland under the guise of the Count of Monte Cristo, a rich man. He becomes reacquainted with his offenders. He already has a revenge plan in his head. He is helped by the slave Gaide, whose father was betrayed and killed by Fernand, and Bertuccio, who saved and raised Villefort’s illegitimate son.
The Count and Hayde bring Fernand to clean water. The truth about his betrayal in Ioannina was revealed. He is disgraced. Mercedes and Albert, their son, leave him. In desperation, Count de Morcerf decides to shoot himself.
The second wife of the crown prosecutor is trying to poison his daughter from his first marriage so that the entire inheritance goes to their joint son. After Villefort reveals this plan, she kills herself and their child. The truth has come to light illegitimate son the prosecutor and Madame Danglars. Villefort, disgraced and having lost his entire family, goes crazy.
As a result of the machinations of the Count of Monte Cristo, the banker Danglars is practically ruined. He flees France, now all he can do is live out his years in poverty. Monte Cristo gives happiness to the innocent. He rescued Valentine de Villefort, the daughter of the royal prosecutor, and helped her reunite with her lover, Maximilian Morrel. The count himself sails away with Hayde, who has long been in love with him. Together they hope to find happiness.
Edmond Dantes from the ship "Pharaoh". During one of his voyages, he stopped at the island of Elba, where he met Napoleon Bonaparte and Marshal Bertrand (later said to be Murat), who instructs him to deliver a letter to Paris. With this, Edmond fulfills the last will of the captain of the Pharaoh, who died shortly before.
Upon arrival in Marseille, the owner of the ship Morrel wants to appoint Dantes as captain, and Edmond himself is going to marry the Catalan Mercedes from a neighboring fishing village.
However, the accountant Danglars is applying for the position of captain, and her cousin Fernand also wants to marry Mercedes. Both of them and Dantes' neighbor - the envious tailor Caderousse - met in a tavern, where Danglars hatched a plan to inform Edmond that he was a Bonapartist agent. He writes an anonymous letter to the prosecutor, but Caderousse is against slander. Therefore, Danglars pretends to throw out the denunciation, but gives a sign to Fernand to deliver the letter to the prosecutor. Fernand plays his part in the conspiracy with vivacity.
Edmond Dantes, after several years in prison, decides to commit suicide and begins throwing food out the window. And when he is almost dying, he suddenly hears that someone is digging near his cell. Dantes begins to dig towards him and meets Abbot Faria, an Italian learned monk who is considered crazy because he claims the existence of a certain treasure.
Jail break
Edmond Dantes and Abbot Faria prepare to escape together. But before escaping, Faria suffers a seizure resulting in partial paralysis. Dantes remains with the abbot. Every day they communicate, the abbot teaches him sciences and foreign languages. In addition, Faria reveals to him the secret of the treasure on the island of Montecristo.
After another seizure, the abbot dies. The castle guards sew the dead man into a bag, planning to bury him in the evening. Dantes carries the corpse to his cell and sews himself into a bag. Like a dead man, he is thrown into the sea, where he swims out to a neighboring island. In the morning he is picked up by local smugglers. Dantes made friends with his new comrades, and the captain praised him as a skilled sailor.
Montecristo Island is uninhabited and smugglers use it as a transit point. Dantes, by cunning, pretending to be sick, manages to stay on the island where he finds the treasure.
Return
Dantes, having become rich, did not forget those who did good to him.
He told his fellow smugglers that he had received an inheritance and generously rewarded them all. He gave a large boat to the sailor Jacopo, who saved him, and a fishing boat to the residents of the village where Mercedes lived.
Under the guise of the Count of Monte Cristo, Dantes enters high society. In addition, he sometimes transforms into Lord Wilmore, Abbot of Busoni. To sailors he is "Sinbad the Sailor".
The count does not kill like an ordinary murderer, he acts with cunning: as a result, Fernand commits suicide, Villefort loses his entire family and goes crazy, and Danglars with the remnants of his wealth is robbed by robbers and taken prisoner. The Count of Monte Cristo did not want the death of an innocent child (Villefort's son), so he stops taking revenge and releases Danglars, ruined but alive.
At the end of the novel, the Count and Hayde sail away on a ship, and on the island of Montecristo with its underground palace they leave their son Morrel with his beloved, Valentina de Villefort, daughter of the Count de Villefort.
Heroes of the novel
In the novel a large number of heroes, the main ones are described below.
- Edmond Dantes- main character. A sailor unjustly imprisoned. After escaping, he becomes rich, noble and famous, under the name Count of Monte Cristo.
- Abbot Faria- a fellow prisoner of Edmond Dantes, a learned monk who discovered the secret of the treasure on the island of Monte Cristo.
- Fernand Mondego- a relative of Mercedes who wants to marry her. Later becomes lieutenant general, Comte de Morcerf and peer of France.
- Mercedes- the bride of Edmond Dantes, who later became the wife of Fernand.
- Albert de Morcerf- son of Fernand and Mercedes.
- Danglars- accountant on the Pharaoh, gave the idea of denouncing Dantes, later becomes a baron and a wealthy banker.
- Hermine Danglars- Danglars’s wife, former mistress of the royal prosecutor de Villefort, who is fond of stock trading.
- Eugenie Danglars- the daughter of the Danglars couple, who dreams of becoming an independent artist.
- Gerard de Villefort- Assistant prosecutor of Marseille, later became royal prosecutor of Paris.
- Heloise de Villefort- the second wife of the royal prosecutor, ready to do anything for her son Edward.
- Noirtier de Villefort- father of the royal prosecutor, former Girondin and Napoleon senator, chairman of the Bonapartist club, later a paralytic.
- Valentina de Villefort(in the original - Valencienne) - Villefort's eldest daughter from his first marriage, a rich heiress, actually a nurse to her grandfather, the beloved of Maximillian Morrel.
- Edward de Villefort- the young son of the royal prosecutor from his second marriage, a spoiled and cruel child.
- Gaspard Caderousse- Dantes's neighbor, first a tailor, and later an innkeeper, became an accomplice to the murder, a fugitive from hard labor.
- Bertuccio- business manager of the Count of Monte Cristo, retired Corsican smuggler, adoptive father of Benedetto.
- Benedetto- escapee from hard labor, illegitimate son of the royal prosecutor and Baroness Danglars
- Pierre Morrel- Marseilles merchant, owner of the ship "Pharaoh", benefactor of Dantes.
- Maximilian Morrel- son of Pierre Morrel, officer, protégé of the Count of Monte Cristo.
- Doctor d'Avrigny- family doctor Vilforov, who was the first to suspect the terrible secret of this family.
- Franz d'Epinay- the groom imposed on Valentina de Villefort, friend of Albert de Morcerf, son of Baron d'Epinay, killed in a duel by Noirtier de Villefort.
- Lucien Debray- Secretary of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, current lover and trading partner of Baroness Danglars.
- Beauchamp- journalist, friend of Albert de Morcerf.
- Haide- the count's slave, the daughter of Ali-Tebelin, Pasha of Yanina, betrayed by Fernand.
- Luigi Vampa- a noble shepherd who became the leader of a gang of robbers in the vicinity of Rome.
- Jacopo- a sailor from a smuggler's ship who saved Dantes when he was drowning after escaping from the Chateau d'If.
Success of the novel
The success of the novel “Monte Cristo” surpassed all the writer’s previous works. At that time it was one of biggest successes any novel in France. Performances based on the novel are staged in theaters. Earnings allow Alexandre Dumas to buy a villa in addition to a house. He names the luxurious palace Monte Cristo, and he himself begins to lead a life worthy of his hero.
Hero prototype
One of the prototypes of the hero of the novel was a certain François Picot, who, following a denunciation-a joke from his friends, ended up in prison, where he spent about 7 years. In prison, he cared for a sick priest, who, before his death, told the secret of a hidden treasure. After his release, Francois Picot found out the reason for his misadventures and began to take revenge, killing all the informers except one. The last informer, Antoine Hallu, guessed everything and killed Francois Picot himself, after which he fled to England. In 1828, Antoine Hallu confessed before his death, and the priest wrote down the story, which soon became public.
Alexandre Dumas was interested in this story, but he did not like the trivial murderer. Therefore, the Count of Monte Cristo did not harm anyone with his own hands, but only directed misfortune to his enemies.
Negligence of the plot
As in most of Dumas's works, the text of the novel contains many negligence and inconsistent passages. For example, in the first chapter, Dantes assures Morrel that he has no complaints about Danglars as an accountant, he is ready to continue to serve with him. On the other hand, in prison, in a conversation with Faria, Dantes reports that he discovered some fraud in Danglars’ accounts. In the same conversation with Faria, Dantes clearly recalls that he noticed a pen, ink and paper on the table of the conspirators in the gazebo. But if you reread the scene in the gazebo, it becomes clear that Danglars demanded everything listed after Dantes left.
Another example: in Chapter XIII, Albert tells Franz that in college “he was very strong in Greek.” And later, while visiting the count, he admits to Monte Cristo that he does not understand a word of Greek. In both cases, there was absolutely no point in lying to Albert.
Also in prison, Dantes learns that the abbot's treasure amounts to two million crowns, which is equal to seventeen million francs. But at the end of the book he tells Maximillian about a hundred million dollar fortune. It can be assumed that Dantes increased his capital during this time, but it is very difficult to make a hundred million out of seventeen, even in ten years. And considering that in each country he bought himself a mansion (as in France) and spent approximately six million a year, such an increase in capital seems impossible. Although, perhaps, the abbot did not fully know about the size of the treasure
Drugs
“The Count of Monte Cristo” contains information about the effects of hashish - the main character of the novel is an expert and lover of this drug, rare in those years. The text mentions that he uses Egyptian dawamesk and homemade pills of hashish and opium mixed in equal parts (as a sleeping pill). The action of the dawamesk is described in detail in Chapter X of Volume II (“Sinbad the Sailor”): here the Count of Monte Cristo treats it to the young Baron Franz d’Epinay, through whom he hopes to enter the high society of Paris. After a while Franz feels “that a strange transformation is happening to him. All the fatigue that had accumulated during the day, all the anxiety caused by the events of the evening, disappeared, as in that first minute of rest, when you are still so awake that you feel the approach of sleep. His body acquired an ethereal lightness, his thoughts became inexpressibly clearer, his feelings became doubly sharper.”. He soon falls into an oneiric hallucinosis of romantic-erotic content, during which he gradually falls asleep.
The second volume of the novel was written by Alexandre Dumas in 1844. It reflected the author’s personal impressions from visits to the “Assassins Club”, where he had the opportunity to try dawamesque. According to contemporaries, Dumas ate this drug very willingly, and after using it he became extremely talkative. During the existence of the “Club” he wrote many famous works- in particular, all three novels about musketeers.
Sequels of the novel
Alexandre Dumas did not write sequels to the novel, however, many sequels are known, some of which were allegedly found in the writer’s archive after his death (or attributed to Dumas the son). But judging by the style of writing and description of events, neither the father nor the son of Dumas could write such works.
Film “The Son of Monte Cristo” (1940, USA)
Novel en:The Stars" Tennis Balls, written by Stephen Fry, uses motifs from the novel The Count of Monte Cristo.
On March 31 of this year, the German rock metal band Vanden Plas released the album "Christ 0", using a modernized version of the story of the Count of Monte Cristo.
Film adaptations
Many films have been made based on the novel.
- The Count of Monte Cristo - , USA, starring Robert Donat
- The Count of Monte Cristo - Italy-France, starring Jean Marais
- The Count of Monte Cristo - Italy-France, starring Louis Jourdan
- The Count of Monte Cristo - TV film, UK-Italy, starring Richard Chamberlain
- Prisoner of the Chateau d'If -, USSR-France, starring Viktor Avilov, Mikhail Boyarsky.
- The Count of Monte Cristo - series, Germany-France-Italy, starring Gerard Depardieu, Ornella Muti.
- The Count of Monte Cristo - USA-Great Britain-Ireland, starring James Caviezel.
- Favorsky -, television series, Russia, starring Ilya Shakunov, Alexander Lykov, Valery Degtyar, Andrey Zibrov, Nodar Mgaloblishvili, Tara Amirkhanova. (The plot of Dumas's novel is translated into modern times- USSR/Russia/Baltic States/Armenia period 1982-1999).
- “Count Krestovsky” (2005, Russian filmmakers shot a television series where the story of the Count of Monte Cristo in the USSR in the 1980s was played out)
- "MonteCristo" - Argentina, television series.
- “MonteCristo” -, Russia, television series.
- "Gankutsuou" - "The Count of Monte Cristo" (Ruler of the Cave) - is an anime film from Japan, also using motifs from the plot of the novel.
On February 27, 1815, the three-masted ship “Pharaoh” returned to Marseille from another voyage. Captain Leclerc was not destined to set foot on native land: He died of fever on the high seas. The young sailor Edmond Dantes took command, fulfilling the captain’s other last wish: the “pharaoh” enters the island of Elba, where Dantes passes the package received from the hands of Leclerc to Marshal Bertrand and meets with the disgraced emperor himself. Dantes is given a letter to be delivered to Paris to Mr. Noirtier, one of the conspirators preparing Napoleon's return to the throne.
The owner of the Pharaoh, Morrel, invites Dantes to officially take over as captain of the ship. The accountant of the Danglars shipping company, obsessed with envy, decides to remove Dantes. Together with a retired soldier and now a simple fisherman Fernand Mondego, who competes with Dantes for the right to marry the beautiful Mercedes, and the tailor Caderousse, who robbed Edmond's father during the voyage, Danglars composes an anonymous letter to the assistant prosecutor of Marcel de Villefort. The meaning of the denunciation: Dantes is a secret agent of the Bonapartists. During the interrogation, Dantes, without concealment, everything as it was, tells Villefort about his visit to Elba. There is no corpus delicti; Villefort is ready to release the prisoner, but after reading Marshal Bertrand’s letter, he realizes: his happiness and his very life depend on this game of chance. After all, the addressee, Mr. Noirtier, a dangerous conspirator, is his father! It’s not enough to burn the damned letter, you also have to get rid of Dantes, who might unwittingly publicize this whole story - and as a result, de Villefort will lose not only his place, but also the hand of his bride, Renée de Saint-Meran (she is the daughter of an old royalist; the views of Mr. Noirtier, his relationship with the groom is a secret for them). Dantes is sentenced to life imprisonment in the Chateau d'If, a political prison in the middle of the sea, not far from Marseille...
Five years pass. Dantes is close to despair, he decides to die by starvation. Suddenly, one evening, a dull grinding sound comes to his ears behind the wall. He is not alone here, someone is clearly digging a hole in the direction of his dungeon. Edmond begins to dig a counter tunnel. Many days of work are rewarded with the joy of meeting a fellow sufferer. Abbot Faria - that is the name of the prisoner from the next cell - spent four years longer in the Château d'If than Dantes. By digging his hole, he hoped to break through to the outer wall of the prison, jump into the sea and swim to freedom. Alas, he made a mistake in his calculations! Edmond consoles the abbot: there are now two of them, which means they can continue what they started with double energy. The abbot's strength is running out, and soon, when salvation is just around the corner, he becomes seriously ill. Before his death, he initiates Dantes into the secret of the countless treasure hidden by Cardinal Spada on the island of Monte Cristo three hundred years ago.
Having transferred the body of the abbot to his cell, Dantes hides in the bag in which the dead man was placed. In the morning, without noticing the substitution, he is thrown into the sea - this is how the inhabitants of the Chateau d'If have been buried since the founding of the prison. Edmond is saved! He is picked up by smugglers. One of them, Jacopo, becomes Dantes's faithful comrade. A few months later, Edmond finally reaches the island of Monte Cristo. hidden treasures Abbot Faria truly countless.
Behind long years In the absence of Dantes, significant changes also occurred in the fates of those who were responsible for his suffering; Fernand Mondego rose to the rank of general (now his name is Comte de Morcerf). Mercedes became his wife and bore him a son. Danglars is a rich banker. De Villefort - Crown Prosecutor. Caderousse said goodbye to the tailor's needle and scissors and runs a rural inn. ...God sends a strange guest to Caderousse. Abbot Busoni, who, according to him, confessed the dying Edmond Dantes, must fulfill the last will of the deceased. Dantes handed him a diamond, the money from the sale of which should be divided into five parts: equally - Mercedes, Danglars, Fernand, Caderousse and old Dantes. Caderousse is blinded by the shine of the diamond. He tells Abbot Busoni that Dantes was told by those whom he decided to benefit that Mercedes did not remain faithful to him. Yes, he, Caderousse, witnessed the writing of the denunciation - but what could he do! Danglars and Fernand would have killed him on the spot if he had mentioned the unseemly nature of their malice! As for the old man Dantes, he did not have enough strength to endure the blow of fate (in reality, Caderousse robbed him completely, and Edmond’s father died of hunger). He, he, Caderousse, is the only heir of poor Dantes! Abbot Busoni hands Caderousse a diamond and disappears the next morning...
At the same time, Lord Wilmore, an agent of the banking house Thomson and French, comes to the mayor of Marseille. He asks permission to review the investigation file of the Abbé Faria, who died in the If prison. He also has another assignment: to pay the debts of Mr. Morrel, the owner of a shipping company that is on the verge of collapse. last hope Morrel was on his flagship - the three-masted Pharaoh, but he - about evil rock! - dies in a shipwreck. Wilmore hands Morrell a promissory note for a six-figure sum and issues a deferment for three months. But what can you do in three months? On the day when the reprieve expires, Morrel's daughter receives a letter signed “Sinbad the Sailor” indicating the address where she will find the wallet intended for her illustrious father. In the wallet is a check for the amount owed by Morrel and a diamond the size of a walnut: Mademoiselle Morrel's dowry. Everything that happened is like a fairy tale: but this is not enough. The “Pharaoh” enters the port of Marseilles safe and sound with all sails! The city is a witness to this miracle. Lord Wilmore, aka Abbot Busoni, aka Count of Monte Cristo, aka Edmond Dantes, looks at the sailboat rising from the abyss with a smile: “Be happy, noble man! You deserve this happiness!.. And now - goodbye, philanthropy! Let the god of vengeance make way for me so that I can punish the villains!..” With documents from his investigative file, kept along with the case of Abbot Faria, Edmond leaves Marseille...
The young Parisian aristocrat Baron Franz d'Epinay, going to the carnival in Rome, intended to visit the legendary Elbe. However, he changes his route: the ship sails past the island of Monte Cristo, where, according to rumors, a man who calls himself Sinbad the Sailor lives in a fairy-tale palace. The owner of the island receives Franz with such cordiality and luxury, which, it seems, none of the most powerful inhabitants of the earth have ever dreamed of. In Rome, Franz unexpectedly meets Sinbad, living in the same hotel with him under the name of Count of Monte Cristo. Franz's friend Viscount Albert de Morcerf is captured by robbers from a gang terrifying on the inhabitants of Rome, Ataman Luigi Vampa. The Count of Monte Cristo saves Albert: “Ataman, you have violated our agreement, my friend’s friend is my friend.” Vampa is distraught and sternly reprimands his thugs: “We all owe our lives to the Count! How could you act so rashly!” Albert invites the Count to visit Paris and be his guest of honor.
In the capital (where the count has not appeared before), Albert introduces him to his friends, including Morrel’s son Maximillian. This acquaintance deeply excited the count - young Morrel was no less excited when he learned that the count was using the services of the banking house of Thomson and French, which saved the lives of their entire family.
The Count of Monte Cristo acquires several apartments in Paris and a house in Auteuil, at 28 Rue Fontaine, which previously belonged to the Marquis de Saint-Meran. The count's manager, Bertuccio, perceives their move to this house as an evil fate. Many years ago, he witnessed how de Villefort buried a newborn baby in the garden of his father-in-law's house - an illegitimate son from an unknown lady. Bertuccio hastened to dig up a box - the baby was still alive. Bertuccio's daughter-in-law raised a boy, whom they named Benedetto. The son of eminent parents took the wrong path and ended up in jail. But this is only one of two scary stories, hidden by Bertuccio from the count. In June 1829, he stopped at the Caderousse tavern - the day after Abbot Busoni had visited there (Bertuccio does not realize that the abbot, who rescued him a long time ago from hard labor, and the count are the same person). Abbot Caderousse sold the diamond to a reliable jeweler for 45 thousand francs, and that same night he was stabbed to death. Now Caderousse is where Bertuccio also happened to be: at hard labor. The Count is sure that this is not Last straw in the cup that Caderousse must drink; as for Benedetto - if he is alive - then he will serve as a weapon of God's punishment...
The city is filled with rumors about the mysterious count and his wealth. The Count opens an “unlimited loan” at the Danglars bank. Danglars questions the Count's capabilities: there are limits to everything in the world. The Count ironizes: “For you, maybe, but not for me.” - “No one has counted my cash register yet!” - Danglars is wounded. “In this case, I am the first one who will have to do this,” the count promises him. Monte Cristo becomes close not only with Danglars, who did not recognize poor Edmond in him, but also with the de Villefort family. The Count wins the favor of Madame de Villefort: the Count's servant Ali saved her and Villefort's son from marriage from an accident (Villefort also has a daughter from his first marriage - Valentina, bound by bonds of love with Maximillian Morrel, but forced by her relatives to marry Franz d' Epinet). It’s as if fate itself is opening wide the doors to the Count of Monte Cristo in the houses of his sworn enemies, informing him of their other victims. The pupil of Dantes-Monte Cristo, the daughter of Pasha Yanina, the wondrous beauty Gayde (there are rumors in Paris that she is the count's mistress) recognizes in the Opera the man who gave the Turks for two thousand purses of gold the fortress that defended the city where her father ruled, and Gayde herself at the age of twelve sold into slavery as a girl to the Turkish Sultan. This man's name was Fernand Mondego; now he is known as Comte de Morcerf, Lieutenant General, member of the House of Peers. Hayde was ransomed by Monte Cristo from the Sultan, the count vowed to take revenge on the one for whom her father died and she herself languished in captivity. He is not at all surprised that this scoundrel is Fernand: he who betrays once risks remaining a traitor to the end.
Luxurious lunch at the Monte Cristo house. The first blows prepared by the Count for his offenders. Villefort turns pale when the count informs all the guests that in the garden he found the skeleton of a baby buried alive under the previous owner. Danglars learns that, while playing on the stock exchange, he suffered losses in the amount of over a million francs (the count published in the newspaper false information about the coup in Spain, and Danglars hastened to get rid of the shares of the Madrid Bank). Villefort informs Madame Danglars that the count is apparently privy to their secret: the unfortunate child was their illegitimate son. “You buried my child alive! God, this is your revenge! - exclaims Madame Danglars. “No, revenge still awaits us, and the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo will have to carry it out!” Villefort undertakes to find out the whole truth about the count at all costs; but Abbot Busoni and Lord Wilmore, who find themselves in Paris, give him very contradictory information. The Count not only remains unrecognized by playing these two roles, but also confuses his tracks. A young man named Andrea Cavalcanti appears in Paris (one count, who showered him with generosity, knows that this is the escaped convict Benedetto). Immediately, Caderousse emerges from the ground, assuring Benedetto that he is his son, and luring money out of the young scoundrel under the threat of breaking the opening before him. brilliant career. Cavalcanti-Benedetto de Villefort is forced to obey: he has his eye on Danglars' daughter, a girl with a rich dowry. Isn’t it better, he suggests to Caderousse, to give the count a good shake than to steal from him the money with which the madman Monte Cristo is lending him? Caderousse climbs into the count's house - and comes face to face with Abbe Busoni. An old convict betrays a young one; He writes, under the dictation of the abbot, a letter to Danglars, explaining who his son-in-law actually is. Leaving the house of the Count of Monte Cristo, Caderousse runs into Benedetto's knife. Before he gives up the ghost, the abbot makes sure that he, Monte Cristo and Edmond Dantes are one person...
A hail of misfortunes rains down on de Villefort's head: one after another, his father-in-law and mother-in-law suddenly die, then the old footman who drank lemonade from a decanter in his father Noirtier's room. The doctor comes to the conclusion: they were all poisoned. The criminal lives in this house. All of Villefort's servants immediately ask for their resignation. The case receives wide publicity. And here comes a new blow: Noirtier upsets the wedding of Valentina and Franz d’Epinay (he promised this to his beloved granddaughter). Noirtier's secretary contains a document stating that in February 1815 he killed General de Quesnel, Baron d'Epinay, who did not want to join the Bonapartist conspiracy, in a fair fight.
Now it’s Fernand’s turn. There is a scandal in the House of Peers: newspapers published a report about his low behavior during the Turkish siege of the fortress of Ioannina. Gaide comes to the hearings in the Chamber and presents documents to the peers that confirm: all this is true, General de Morcerf’s position in society was bought at the price of betrayal. Albert de Morcerf challenges the count to a duel, standing up for his father, but after the whole truth about Fernand Mondego is revealed to him, he asks Dantes for forgiveness. Madame de Morcerf, who still loves him, also begs Edmond for this. The Count accepts Albert's apology; on the same day he and his mother leave Paris. Morcerf repeats his son's challenge, but after the Count of Monte Cristo reveals his true name to him, the dishonored general shoots a bullet in the forehead.
Danglars is on the verge of ruin. He has to pay all the new bills with which the count's proxies come to him. His last hope is that he will be able to make a decent match for his daughter: young Cavalcanti is Monte Cristo’s confidante, and the giver’s hand is unlikely to become scarce. Thunder among clear skies After signing the marriage contract, the words from Caderousse’s letter are heard: “Andrea Cavalcanti is an escaped convict!” Eugenie leaves Paris. Danglars no longer has either a daughter or money. He leaves a farewell note to his wife (“I’m letting you go the way I married you: with money, but without a good reputation”) and runs away. Andrea-Benedetto also runs, hoping to cross the border; but the gendarmes stop him. At the trial, he says: his father is prosecutor de Villefort!
The last, most terrible blow of fate in the heart of de Villefort: Valentina is poisoned. He has no more doubts: the murderer is his wife, who in such a terrible way obtained an inheritance for herself and her son (old Noirtier declared his granddaughter to be the only heir). De Villefort threatens his wife with the scaffold. In despair, Madame de Villefort takes poison and poisons the boy: “ good mother does not abandon the child for whose sake she became a criminal.” Villefort loses his mind; wandering through the garden of the Count of Monte Cristo's house, he digs graves in one place or another...
The act of retribution has been completed. Villefort is mad. Caderousse and Fernand are dead. Danglars was captured by robbers from Luigi Vampa's gang and spends his last money on bread and water: the thugs sell him a small piece of bread for a thousand francs, and in total he has less than fifty thousand in his pocket. The Count of Monte Cristo grants him life and freedom. Turning gray overnight, Danglars ekes out the existence of a beggar.
Evil is punished. But why did young Valentina de Villefort, who did not share the guilt of her father and stepmother, burn in his flame? Why should Maximillian Morrel, the son of the one who for many years in a row made attempts to rescue Dantes from prison, grieve for her all his life? Leaving Paris, the Count performs the miracle of Valentina's resurrection. Her death was staged by him in community with the old man Noirtier: the terrible poison was neutralized by a miraculous medicine - one of the generous gifts of Abbot Faria.
Returning to the island of Monte Cristo, having given happiness to Maximillian and Valentina, Edmond Dantes, the martyr of the Chateau d'If and the Parisian angel of vengeance, leaves a letter to the young people that sounds both like his confession and as a command to two pure hearts: “There is neither happiness nor happiness in the world.” misfortune. Everything is relative. Only one who has suffered immensely can experience bliss. One must feel the taste of death in order to taste life with pleasure. All wisdom is in two words: wait and hope!..”
Alexandre Dumas wrote the novel in 1845. The work was a stunning success with the public. The reason for creating the work was the story the writer heard about real island where the treasure cache is hidden. The narrative is divided into six parts. The main character of the novel, the Count of Monte Cristo, also known as Edmund Dantes, suffered undeservedly and wants to restore justice. We'll tell you summary.
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Part I. An insidious plan leads to imprisonment
The events of the novel “The Count of Monte Cristo” begin in Marseille. A ship whose commander died during the voyage enters the harbor. Command of the ship was taken by a young but promising sailor named Edmond Dantes.
The owner of the ship, Mr. Morrel, learns from the ship's accountant Danglars about the delay of the ship on the island of Elba.
The young man replies that he was carrying out the last order of the ship’s commander. Dantes undertakes to fulfill the emperor’s request - to deliver the letter to the conspirator Mr. Noirtier.
Monsieur Morrel officially appoints the promising young man as the new captain of the ship. Dantes goes home to see his old father and his beautiful bride Mercedes from the village of Catalans.
At this time, Danglars, jealous of the successful sailor, together with Caderousse, who was robbing the old man Dantes, conspire to denigrate an innocent young man. They are joined by Fernand Mondego, who wants to marry Mercedes. Danglars composes a message without an author, the letter ends up with the assistant prosecutor of Marseille, Gerard de Villefort.
Attention! Caderousse is old man Dantes' housemate.
Mercedes' groom is detained right during the celebration and taken to Mr. Villefort. The sailor admits to the prosecutor that he actually went to the Elbe, but this is not considered a crime. Fatal error Edmun Dantes mentioned a letter for Mr. Noirtier, who is Gerard's father. An ardent opponent of the emperor's power, the Marseilles prosecutor cannot sacrifice his career. The prosecutor burns the letter, and orders the detainee, as a witness, to be sent to the Chateau d'If, a political prison in the middle of the sea.
Gerard Villefort visits Paris, where he asks for an audience with the king, informs the monarch about the plans of the emperor, which he learned from a letter, for which he receives a promotion.
Five years have passed. The prison gnaws at Dantes, his reason fades, the guy decides to die of hunger. One evening Dantes hears a noise behind the wall. The desperate prisoner realizes that someone is undermining. The young man decides to dig and after a few weeks he meets a new friend. This is the abbot from the next cell named Faria. For a long time, the friends are preparing an escape; along the way, the abbot teaches Dantes the sciences. Faria is not young, his strength is fading, he did not live to see the fulfillment of his plans. Before death old man talks about wealth, buried on the island of Monte Cristo.
Plans change dramatically. Edmun overhears the jailers' conversation about Faria's burial, drags the body of the dead priest into his cell, and takes his place. Dantes did not take into account only one thing - the dead thrown off a cliff. Unsuspecting jailers throw the body into the water. Former prisoner successfully gets out and swims to a rock sticking out of the sea. Smugglers become the young man's rescuers.
Part II. Circumstances are in Dantes' favor
Edmun Dantes spends several months on the ship of his saviors, having won the trust of the commander. One day, a young man has the opportunity to get to the very island of Monte Cristo, which was mentioned by the late Abbot Faria.
The sly man fakes his own fall from a height and pretends to be mortally wounded in order to stay on the island. The ship leaves without him.
Edmun Dantes finds treasure. Soon the smugglers return, and the daredevil tells them that he is recovering.
In Livorno, Dantes purchases a ship and sets a course for Marseille. During the long period of absence of the hero, a lot has changed:
- the father of the future Count of Monte Cristo died;
- the bride Mercedes married Fernand, who changed his surname to de Morcerf and received the rank of general;
- the accountant Danglars became a banker;
- Villefort was promoted to royal prosecutor;
- Caderousse was now the owner of the inn.
Edmun visits Caderousse disguised as Abbot Busoni, shows him a diamond, the money from the sale of which must be distributed equally among mutual friends. An unsuspecting innkeeper reveals the secret of the conspiracy against young Dantes.
After visiting Caderousse, Edmun, introducing himself as Lord Wilmore, visits the mayor of Marseille with a request to familiarize himself with his business, as well as to cover the debts of Mr. Morrel, who has become bankrupt. Morrel wants to die, but a letter signed by Sinbad the Sailor brings the bankrupt owner of the company back to life. Morrel's family will bless the unknown savior.
Parisian nobleman Franz d'Epinay is going to Italy, along the way visiting the legendary island, whose owner calls himself Sinbad the Sailor. Later, in Rome, d'Epinay recognizes the owner of the island, who introduces himself by the name of the count Monte Cristo.
Important! Sinbad the Sailor, Abbot Busoni, Lord Wilmore, Count of Monte Cristo - all these characters are played by the main character of the work.
Viscount Albert de Morcerf, son of Fernand and Mercedes, travels with Franz. Albert is kidnapped by bandits, the Count rescues the young man. Morcerf invites the main character to France.
Part III. Hello Paris
The location is Paris. The Count of Monte Cristo arrives at the time appointed by Albert. The latter introduces him to his comrades, among whom is young Maximilian Morrel.
The main character acquires a house that previously belonged to the Marquis de Saint-Meran, the father-in-law of the royal prosecutor. The Count's manager, Bertuccio, reveals the secret of the house.
Bertuccio's brother was killed, and the royal prosecutor refused to help investigate the crime. Bertuccio vowed to kill Villefort.
A few months later, Bertuccio finds out that he is secretly visiting the house where his pregnant mistress lives. Bertuccio saw Gerard buried a living baby. The manager gave the child a second life - Bertuccio’s daughter-in-law took up raising the child.
Note! Benedetto (that was the name of the young man saved by Bertuccio) had a bad character and bad manners, which led him to hard labor.
Bertuccio shares another secret - Caderousse killed the jeweler, to whom he sold the diamond and shot his wife. The innkeeper was convicted.
Monte Cristo opens an unlimited loan with Danglars. The Count's servant Ali saves Villefort's wife from an accident, and, thanks to this, deserves the recognition of the entire family.
It turns out that Valentina, in love with Maximilian Morrel, is another bastard Crown Prosecutor. Valentina's family, with the exception of her grandfather, passionately desire to marry the girl to Franz d'Epinay.
The count's pupil, the charming beauty Hayde, came to France with him and was perceived by everyone as his mistress. One day Haide sees a man who betrayed by her people, and Gaide sold her. It was Fernand de Morcerf.
Part IV. The beginning of revenge
The hero, who became the Count of Monte Cristo, persistently prepares the ground for revenge: he invites his offenders to dinner party, where he publicly reports about the allegedly found corpse of a baby, which makes Villefort and Madame Danglars turn pale - after all, it’s theirs common child . Ms. Danglars' husband is suffering colossal losses due to false information.
A certain Andrea Cavalcanti, Benedetto in disguise, arrives in Paris. The guy wants to marry Danglars' daughter. But his plans are thwarted by Caderousse, who thirsts for his own benefit. Benedetto is intimidated and pays him money. The escaped convict wants rob the Count of Monte Cristo. In the former house of Saint-Meran, the innkeeper encounters the Abbe Busoni. Under dictation, Caderousse writes an incriminating letter for the banker about his future son-in-law.
Attention! Andrea Cavalcanti and Benedetto are one person.
De Morcerf organizes a ball where the hero, who has changed over so many years, meets Mercedes. The woman recognizes her former lover in the image of the Count of Monte Cristo, but does not show it.
Part V. Masks dropped
A series of deaths occur in de Villefort's house. The conclusion is obvious - the killer lives nearby. Events become public knowledge. The now paralyzed old man Noirtier breaks off the engagement of his granddaughter Valentina to the young d’Epinay.
Retribution overtakes Fernand - the newspaper publishes an article describing his dishonorable actions during his service. At meetings in the Chamber, which includes Morcerf, Gaide appears with evidence of the general’s crimes.
The offended Albert challenges his father, the culprit of his troubles, to a duel, and after learning the truth, he asks for his forgiveness. Albert and Mercedes leave Paris. Fernand finds out the real name of his avenger. The general could not stand it and shot himself.
Danglars suffers losses. There remains hope to arrange the marriage of her daughter with Cavalcanti. When the marriage contract was signed, the main character personally handed the letter written by Caderousse to the banker. Danglars' daughter flees, the financier is ruined. Benedetto also runs and is caught trying to cross the border. At the trial, the illegitimate son of the prosecutor reveals the truth about his relationship with Villefort.
Part VI. Denouement
Valentina is poisoned. It becomes known that the poisoner is Villefort's second wife, hoping to receive an inheritance. The prosecutor's wife poisons her child, then drinks the poison herself. The man's mind becomes cloudy.
All the characters in the novel get what they deserve. Caderousse and Fernand are dead, prosecutor Villefort is insane, Danglars ended up with the same robbers who once captured Albert de Morcerf.
Valentina's fatal illness turned out to be staged by Noirtier together with the count. Lovers Valentina and Maximilian are reunited, the Count of Monte Cristo sails away, leaving the island and treasures to the young couple.
Dumas's novel The Count of Monte Cristo - plot, content
Conclusion
The author of the novel “The Count of Monte Cristo” makes the reader think about goals life path. Whatever the circumstances, it is important not to let your inner strength, you can see this in the example of the main character.