MTU Cork Library Catalogue

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The Count of Monte Cristo / Alexandre Dumas.

By: Dumas, Alexandre, 1802-1870.
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookSeries: Wordsworth classics: Publisher: Ware : Wordsworth Editions, 1997Description: 875 p. ; 23 cm.ISBN: 1853267333.Subject(s): Adventure stories | France -- History -- 19th century -- FictionDDC classification: 843.8
Contents:
Marseilles - the Arrival -- Father and Son -- The Catalans -- Conspiracy -- The marriage feast -- The deputy procurer du Roi -- The Examination -- The Chateau d'If -- The Evening of the Betrothal -- The King's Closet at the Tuileries -- The Corsican Ogre -- Father and Son -- The Hundred Days -- The Two Prisoners -- Number 34 and Number 27 -- A learned Italian -- The Abbe's Chamber -- The Treasure -- The Third attack -- The cemetery of the Chateau d'If -- The Island of Tiboulen -- The smugglers -- The Island of Monte Cristo -- The Secret Cave -- The unknown -- The Pont du Gard Inn -- The Story -- The Prison Register -- The House of Morrel & Son -- The fifth of September -- Italy: Sinbad the Sailor -- The Waking -- Roman Bandits -- The Collosseum -- La Mazzolata -- The Carnival at Rome -- The Catacombs of Saint Sebastian -- The Compact -- The Guests -- The Breakfast -- The Presentation -- Monsieur Bertuccio -- The House at Auteuil -- The Vendetta -- The rain of blood -- Unlimited Credit -- The Dappled Greys -- Ideology -- Haidee -- The Morrel Family -- Pyramus and Thishe -- Toxicology -- Robert le diable -- A flurry of Stocks -- Major Cavalcanti -- Andrea Cavalcanti -- In the Lucerne Patch -- M. Nortier de Villefort -- The Will -- The Telegraph -- How a gardener may get rid of the Dornice that eat his peaches -- Ghosts -- The dinner -- The beggar -- A conjugal Scene -- Matrimonial Projects -- At the office of the King's Attorney -- A Summer ball -- The inquiry -- The ball -- Bread and Salt -- Madame de Saint-Meran -- The Promise -- The Villefort family Vault -- A Signed Statement -- Progress of Cavalcanti the Younger -- Haidee -- We hear from Yanina -- The lemonade -- The Accusation -- The room of the retired baker -- The burglary -- The hand of God -- Beauchamp -- The journey -- The Trial -- The Challenge -- The insult -- A Noctural Interview -- The meeting -- Mother and Son -- The Suicide -- Valentine -- Maximilian's Avowal -- Father and Daughter -- The Contract -- The departure for Belgium -- The bell and bottle tavern -- The law -- The Apparition -- Locusts -- Valentine -- Maximilan -- Dangler's Signature -- The Cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise -- Dividing the Proceeds -- The Lions' Den -- The Judge -- The Assizes -- The Indicament -- The Expiation -- The Departure -- The Past -- Peppino -- Luigi Vampa's Bill of Fare -- The Pardon -- The fifth of October.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window Awards: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
General Lending MTU Bishopstown Library Lending 843.8 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00191733
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

With an Introduction and Notes by Keith Wren, University of Kent at Canterbury.

The story of Edmund Dantes, self-styled Count of Monte Cristo, is told with consummate skill. The victim of a miscarriage of justice, Dantes is fired by a desire for retribution and empowered by a stroke of providence. In his campaign of vengeance, he becomes an anonymous agent of fate.

The sensational narrative of intrigue, betrayal, escape, and triumphant revenge moves at a cracking pace. Dumas' novel presents a powerful conflict between good and evil embodied in an epic saga of rich diversity that is complicated by the hero's ultimate discomfort with the hubristic implication of his own actions.

Our edition is based on the most popular and enduring translation first published by Chapman and Hall in 1846. The name of the translator was never revealed.

Marseilles - the Arrival -- Father and Son -- The Catalans -- Conspiracy -- The marriage feast -- The deputy procurer du Roi -- The Examination -- The Chateau d'If -- The Evening of the Betrothal -- The King's Closet at the Tuileries -- The Corsican Ogre -- Father and Son -- The Hundred Days -- The Two Prisoners -- Number 34 and Number 27 -- A learned Italian -- The Abbe's Chamber -- The Treasure -- The Third attack -- The cemetery of the Chateau d'If -- The Island of Tiboulen -- The smugglers -- The Island of Monte Cristo -- The Secret Cave -- The unknown -- The Pont du Gard Inn -- The Story -- The Prison Register -- The House of Morrel & Son -- The fifth of September -- Italy: Sinbad the Sailor -- The Waking -- Roman Bandits -- The Collosseum -- La Mazzolata -- The Carnival at Rome -- The Catacombs of Saint Sebastian -- The Compact -- The Guests -- The Breakfast -- The Presentation -- Monsieur Bertuccio -- The House at Auteuil -- The Vendetta -- The rain of blood -- Unlimited Credit -- The Dappled Greys -- Ideology -- Haidee -- The Morrel Family -- Pyramus and Thishe -- Toxicology -- Robert le diable -- A flurry of Stocks -- Major Cavalcanti -- Andrea Cavalcanti -- In the Lucerne Patch -- M. Nortier de Villefort -- The Will -- The Telegraph -- How a gardener may get rid of the Dornice that eat his peaches -- Ghosts -- The dinner -- The beggar -- A conjugal Scene -- Matrimonial Projects -- At the office of the King's Attorney -- A Summer ball -- The inquiry -- The ball -- Bread and Salt -- Madame de Saint-Meran -- The Promise -- The Villefort family Vault -- A Signed Statement -- Progress of Cavalcanti the Younger -- Haidee -- We hear from Yanina -- The lemonade -- The Accusation -- The room of the retired baker -- The burglary -- The hand of God -- Beauchamp -- The journey -- The Trial -- The Challenge -- The insult -- A Noctural Interview -- The meeting -- Mother and Son -- The Suicide -- Valentine -- Maximilian's Avowal -- Father and Daughter -- The Contract -- The departure for Belgium -- The bell and bottle tavern -- The law -- The Apparition -- Locusts -- Valentine -- Maximilan -- Dangler's Signature -- The Cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise -- Dividing the Proceeds -- The Lions' Den -- The Judge -- The Assizes -- The Indicament -- The Expiation -- The Departure -- The Past -- Peppino -- Luigi Vampa's Bill of Fare -- The Pardon -- The fifth of October.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Introduction (p. ix)
  • Chronology of Alexandre Dumas's Life and Work (p. xvii)
  • Historical Context of The Count of Monte Cristo (p. xix)
  • I Marseilles--The Arrival (p. 1)
  • II Father and Son (p. 10)
  • III The Catalans (p. 15)
  • IV The Betrothal Feast (p. 23)
  • V The Deputy Procureur du Roi (p. 31)
  • VI The Examination (p. 36)
  • VII The Chateau d'If (p. 45)
  • VIII Villefort and Mercedes (p. 54)
  • IX The Little Cabinet of the Tuileries (p. 58)
  • X The Ogre (p. 64)
  • XI The Hundred Days (p. 68)
  • XII Numbers 34 and 27 (p. 72)
  • XIII An Italian Scholar (p. 83)
  • XIV The Treasure (p. 100)
  • XV The Third Attack (p. 112)
  • XVI The Cemetery of the Chateau d'If (p. 118)
  • XVII The Isle of Tiboulen (p. 122)
  • XVIII The Isle of Monte Cristo (p. 133)
  • XIX The Treasure Cave (p. 138)
  • XX The Stranger (p. 145)
  • XXI The Pont du Gard Inn (p. 148)
  • XXII Caderousse's Story (p. 154)
  • XXIII The Prison Register (p. 165)
  • XXIV Morrel and Son (p. 171)
  • XXV The Fifth of September (p. 183)
  • XXVI Roman Bandits (p. 192)
  • XXVII The Apparition (p. 198)
  • XXVIII The Carnival at Rome (p. 208)
  • XXIX The Catacombs of St Sebastian (p. 221)
  • XXX The Guests (p. 237)
  • XXXI The Presentation (p. 254)
  • XXXII Unlimited Credit (p. 263)
  • XXXIII The Pair of Dappled Greys (p. 271)
  • XXXIV Haydee (p. 279)
  • XXXV The Morrel Family (p. 284)
  • XXXVI Toxicology (p. 290)
  • XXXVII The Rise and Fall of Stocks (p. 300)
  • XXXVIII Pyramus and Thisbe (p. 308)
  • XXXIX M. Noirtier de Villefort (p. 316)
  • XL The Will (p. 323)
  • XLI The Telegraph (p. 331)
  • XLII The Dinner (p. 337)
  • XLIII A Conjugal Scene (p. 348)
  • XLIV Matrimonial Plans (p. 355)
  • XLV A Summer Ball (p. 361)
  • XLVI Mme de Saint-Meran (p. 377)
  • XLVII The Promise (p. 383)
  • XLVIII Minutes of the Proceedings (p. 402)
  • XLIX The Progress of Cavalcanti Junior (p. 419)
  • L Haydee's Story (p. 426)
  • LI The Report from Janina (p. 444)
  • LII The Lemonade (p. 452)
  • LIII The Accusation (p. 463)
  • LIV The Trial (p. 468)
  • LV The Challenge (p. 479)
  • LVI The Insult (p. 484)
  • LVII The Night (p. 491)
  • LVIII The Duel (p. 498)
  • LIX Revenge (p. 502)
  • LX Valentine (p. 512)
  • LXI The Secret Door (p. 525)
  • LXII The Apparition Again (p. 531)
  • LXIII The Serpent (p. 537)
  • LXIV Maximilian (p. 542)
  • LXV Danglars' Signature (p. 550)
  • LXVI Consolation (p. 557)
  • LXVII Separation (p. 568)
  • LXVIII The Judge (p. 582)
  • LXIX Expiation (p. 591)
  • LXX The Departure (p. 597)
  • LXXI The Fifth of October (p. 611)
  • Notes (p. 621)
  • Interpretive Notes (p. 637)
  • Critical Excerpts (p. 647)
  • Questions for Discussion (p. 661)
  • Suggestions for the Interested Reader (p. 663)

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

From Barbara Cooper's Introduction to The Man in the Iron Mask It is not at all surprising that Dumas, like Vigny, Hugo, and other writers of their day, would be drawn to the story of a masked prisoner held in isolation and accorded special consideration and respect by his jailors. As Victor H. Brombert demonstrated in his study The Romantic Prison: The French Tradition , the prison occupied a significant place in the Romantic imagination. On the one hand, it offered Romantic writers the opportunity to exploit some of the dark atmospherics and melodramatic villainy traditionally associated with the Gothic novels of Ann Radcliffe and others. On the other hand, it also provided them with a space in which to explore the inner being and the superior nature of an exceptional individual. Dumas's early novels, from Le Chevalier d'Harmental to Georges , already included prison episodes. So did The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After . But Dumas's most famous fictional prisoner prior to The Man in the Iron Mask was, of course, Edmond Dantès, better known as the count of Monte Cristo--a name Dantès adopted after his escape from the Château d'If. There are some superficial similarities between Dantès and the Mask. Both men are held in solitary confinement. Both are eventually visited in prison by priests and are finally able to leave their cells as a result of that encounter, although the circumstances of their flight are totally different. Far more important than these rather facile parallels is the fact that both men are innocent victims of arbitrary decisions designed to protect another individual's political and personal future. Those decisions lead not only to the prisoners' unjust incarceration, but also to the erasure of their identity (Dantès's name is replaced by a number so as to prevent others from locating him, and the Mask--whom we eventually learn is Louis XIV's twin brother, Philippe--is given the name Marchiali and is later [in chapter 52] forced to wear an iron mask).3 Beyond that, however, the stories Dumas tells about Dantès and the Mask are more different than they are alike. Dantès uses the wealth he acquires after his escape from prison to undertake an elaborate scheme of revenge against those who wronged him. Philippe is returned to prison after a very brief period of contact with those who are responsible for his fate and is subject to even greater isolation. The story of the fictitious masked prisoner might have been little more than another of the many interpolated episodes found in Dumas's Musketeers trilogy (for example, Milady's sequestration in and escape from her brother-in-law's castle in England) were it not so clearly an illustration of the political and historical struggles that are central to Bragelonne .4 Indeed, in this final volume of the trilogy generally, and in The Man in the Iron Mask in particular, the focus is not only on the eponymous Viscount Bragelonne, son of the Comte de la Fère (known in his Musketeer days as Athos), but also on the rise to power of King Louis XIV.5 Long subject to the tutelage of his mother, Anne of Austria (widow of Louis XIII of France), and of his prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin (successor to Cardinal Richelieu), young Louis has also had to overcome the efforts of a faction of rebellious French aristocrats known as La Fronde who wished to place his uncle Gaston d'Orléans on the throne. In his minority, then, the young king not only lacked control over his political destiny but also was subject to personal humiliation. He likewise had little influence over royal finances that were managed principally by Nicolas Fouquet, the surintendant (superintendent) of finances, who was named to that post with the support of Mazarin. Like many others in that era who either purchased their positions at court or were appointed as a result of patronage, the Surintendant ostensibly served at the pleasure of the King.6 But in fact, because he is responsible for filling the state's coffers and for funding the personal and political expenses of the Crown, the Surintendant wielded a great deal of power over the King's affairs. Indeed, as keeper of the King's purse, the Surintendant will play a key role in determiningg whether or not Louis can go to war with his enemies, support his allies, assert his personal authority, and bring the nobility to heel. Fouquet's power and wealth, and the shadow they cast over the King's authority, are most concretely represented here by the magnificent castle and elaborate gardens the Surintendant has had constructed at Vaux-le-Vicomte (located to the south and east of Paris).7 That estate far outshines any of the King's royal properties. (Louis would later order Versailles, not yet the elaborate palace familiar to thousands of visitors today, to be developed and decorated by some of the very same men Fouquet employed at Vaux.) Louis counts this ostentatious display of affluence and artistic patronage by a subject as yet another insult to his majesty, as Dumas clearly shows via repeated expressions of the King's ire before, during, and after his brief stay at Vaux. It is, moreover, at Vaux that the entirely fictional attempt to replace Louis with his long-hidden, unknown twin takes place. Though unaware of that plot--indeed, he ultimately helps to foil it--Fouquet is nonetheless implicated in the undertaking because it transpires under his roof.8 The King--seconded by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a man who is determined to undermine and then replace Fouquet-- will spend much of the rest of the novel seeking to punish the Surintendant for this and other acts of lèse-majesté (offense against the dignity of the sovereign of a state), including the fortification of the island of Belle-Isle-en-Mer off the Atlantic coast of France.9 Excerpted from The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up-Each volume includes the abridged story plus a generous amount of additional information, including an illustrated list of characters, an author biography, time lines, and an article about film adaptations. Students who are writing reports and readers who move on to the original novels will be well served by these extras. SAT vocabulary words are defined in footnotes, which also clarify plot details or offer historical context. Fortunately the font is small enough to be ignored easily, so these notes do not interrupt the flow of the story. The drawings are fluid and expressive, with skillful shading and dark tones that emphasize the stories' drama. The square, horizontal paneling is not especially inventive, but it makes the texts easy to follow. While these titles might not be as popular as superhero and manga comics, they are accessible introductions to the classics, and should make life easier for reluctant readers.-Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

After an idle youth, Alexandre Dumas went to Paris and spent some years writing. A volume of short stories and some farces were his only productions until 1927, when his play Henri III (1829) became a success and made him famous. It was as a storyteller rather than a playwright, however, that Dumas gained enduring success. Perhaps the most broadly popular of French romantic novelists, Dumas published some 1,200 volumes during his lifetime. These were not all written by him, however, but were the works of a body of collaborators known as "Dumas & Co." Some of his best works were plagiarized. For example, The Three Musketeers (1844) was taken from the Memoirs of Artagnan by an eighteenth-century writer, and The Count of Monte Cristo (1845) from Penchet's A Diamond and a Vengeance. At the end of his life, drained of money and sapped by his work, Dumas left Paris and went to live at his son's villa, where he remained until his death.

(Bowker Author Biography)

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