The patience of vengeance

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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, March 13th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Well, coming next on The World and Everything in It: a classic tale of betrayal and revenge.

The Count of Monte Cristo is one of literature’s most enduring revenge stories. Well now PBS brings a new adaptation to viewers in the form of an eight-episode miniseries.

Here's WORLD reviewer Steve Limkeman:

STEVE LIMKEMAN: Alexandre Dumas’ 19th-century novel The Count of Monte Cristo is one of history’s most popular. It’s been adapted dozens of times across stages, airwaves, and screens. 

PBS’ new 8-episode series is a fairly faithful representation of the classic tale of one man’s quest for justice in a world that has left him for dead.

DANTES: Bless me, father, for I have sinned. I fear I have forsaken God.

This adaptation begins boldly in media res, with viewers introduced to the Count of Monte Cristo with a torturous confession made by its titular character.

DANTES: I wish to avenge myself for a grave injury that befell me.

PRIEST: What was done to you, my son?

DANTES: I was robbed of 15 years of my life. The only woman I ever loved was taken from me in that time. And now, I want revenge.

Edmond Dantés is a young sailor, betrayed on the eve of his wedding and branded a political traitor, exiled in the middle of the night to the notorious French island prison, the Chateau d’If. There, he’d spend 15 years in misery.

When he returns to society, he’s the mysteriously wealthy Count of Monte Cristo, and he’s determined to seek revenge on those who stole the best years of his life.

DANTES: God cannot grant me justice in Providence, then surely I must achieve it by my own means.

PRIEST: Promise me in God's name and the name of His Son, that you will never do these things that you are contemplating. You must forgive, my son. For without forgiveness, you'll never find love again.

The PBS adaptation succeeds on many fronts. The production design is fantastic, from Dantès’ castle prison, to the treasure hunt on the island of Monte Cristo, to the illustrious opera house and mansions where the Count plots his vengeance. 

Jeremy Irons makes for an excellent, charismatic Abbé Faria. He lifts the despondent Dantès’ spirit and elevates his mind while he is imprisoned, teaching him to contemplate the glory of the treasure he may find upon his escape.

ABBE: Do you know, when we get out of here, we are going to be very rich men. And you will be living among other rich men. So, we're going to have to eat with very, very wealthy people. For that, you have to learn two things: you have to learn patience, 'cause these meals go on forever and ever and ever, and you're gonna have to learn table manners. So you put the napkin around your neck, and you tuck it into your shirt...

The chemistry between Dantès and his fiancée Mercédès suffers in comparison to the 2002 film adaptation. But the series makes up for it by asking all the right questions about who was responsible for Dantès’ fate, and who should suffer the consequences. 

The Count of Monte Cristo exercises incredible fortitude and patience, suffering the friendship of those who had cast him aside so that he might better lead his foes into the traps they have set for themselves with their various misdeeds.

Fans of Dumas’ novel will be disappointed in the show’s departure from a Christian conception of Providence. In the book, Monte Cristo sees himself as an avenging angel of God’s wrath, but one who also comes to realize the need to forgive others as he himself stands in need of forgiveness. 

In the show, Monte Cristo explicitly states that he does not believe in Providence in the religious sense, but rather in an impersonal force of destiny that “will ensure justice.”

VILLEFORT: And if it doesn't?

DANTES: Well then, mankind must force it to do so.

VILLEFORT: [Scoffs] You don’t believe God can take care of that?

DANTES: No.

When he’s questioned about how he could consider himself the instrument of such a force, he merely storms off without reply. True to form, there is no grace offered to any of the major perpetrators of injustice, and the finale’s vague nod toward the healing power of love is underwhelming.

DANTES: There was a priest, a wise old man. He said to me, "If you're planning revenge, dig your own grave first." He was right.

MERCEDES: Love can heal.

By contrast, the final words that Dumas penned for Monte Cristo reflect his hero’s ultimate submission to divine Providence. He writes, “Never forget that, until the day comes when God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these words: Wait and hope!”

I’m Steve Limkeman.

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