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Astra,
But, I find one of the most interesting things about the Count as a character is, at the end, when he could have had Mercedes back - could have re-entered life as he had it before he was falsly imprisoned, only with wealth and status and the like - he found that he could not do it. He had spent so much time creating this new diabolical persona that it seemed that the person of Edmond Dantes truly had died in that cell, and the person reborn to the waves off the coast of Le Chateu d' If was well and truly a different man, one who could no longer live in the same world.
It's the saddest thing in the world - he spent a lifetime fighting for one thing, only to find out that he couldn't really have it any more. It was no longer truly available to him. He had something else, sure, but it was not the same.
I always wonder if this is a message of hope or of caution out of Dumas...is he saying that one should be careful that, when fighting for a cause, the cause is just and possible, or is he the opposite - giving a kind of "every cloud has a silver lining" speech? Either way, I find the Count to be one of the most amazing, intelligent, fantastic, and utterly pitiable literary creations I have ever read about. One of the reasons I like the story so much - it strikes a chord in me.
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