The Count of Monte Cristo

Edmond undergoes more than one symbolic death before he reinvents himself as Monte Cristo. He experiences a kind of social death when he is imprisoned in the Chateau d’If and nearly dies when he takes Faria’s place and is thrown into the sea, experiencing another near-drowning before the Genoese smugglers rescue him. Faria also appears to die once before his actual death when he experiences the seizure he treats with his red liquid.

As a “man who [has] come back from the next world” (178), Monte Cristo is depicted sometimes as a frightening revenant and sometimes as a Christ-like figure. To the objects of his vengeance, he is a kind of ghost, and more than one character notes the extreme coldness of his hands. Others, such as the members of the Morrel family, see him as a savior and protector.

Other characters who undergo death-like experiences and then return to life include the newborn Benedetto, dug up by Bertuccio after being buried alive; Villefort, whom Bertuccio believes he has killed and who narrowly survives; Noirtier, whose stroke has given him the appearance of a “frozen corpse” while he retains his intelligence and will; Valentine, for whom a funeral is actually held after Monte Cristo drugs her in order to rescue her from her stepmother; and Maximilien, who swallows what he believes to be a fatal poison before being reunited with Valentine.