Kind of annoyed at this point about adaptations that whitewash the Count of Monte Cristo not only because a huge bit of the Counts character and experiences are based on Dumas himself (who was black) but also because at every point when the Rich Assholes™️ are trying to guess the Counts nationality as if it matters, they assume he's Maltese, Egyptian, Arab, Turkish, Levantine, Indian, everything EXCEPT French. I rest my case that Edmond Dantés is NOT white.
What is the plot of The Count of Monte Cristo? I don't feel like reading the wiki
A guy named Ed is about to get a new Mercedes. People get jealous so they say he likes Napoleon in one of the years when liking Napoleon was punished and not celebrated.
Ed goes to prison and it sucks. Luckily, the guy in the next cell who has dug an escape tunnel and knows literally everything including the location of a fuckton of treasure teaches Ed everything he knows and then dies so Ed gets some serious Deus-Ex-Machina help, or in this case, Italian-Guy-Ex-Prison-Tunnel.
Ed uses his newfound wealth and smarts to call himself a Count (presumably from Monte Cristo) and get revenge on everyone. This has way fewer sword fights and way more economic machinations than the movie version.
If it's all too complex, just check this handy chart of character relationships that's seriously on the wiki page:
This blue regency gown was first seen on Helen McCrory as Valentina Villefort in The Count of Monte Cristo in 2002. It was later seen on Georgia King as Lady Amelia Heartwright in the 2013 film Austenland. In 2016 it was worn by Emma Greenwell as Caroline Bingley in a deleted scene from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. In 2020 the costume was seen again on Tamsin Greig as Anne Trenchard in Belgravia. Most recently it appeared on Eliza Capel as Princess Sophia in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story in 2023.
normalize Edmond Dantès being weird. like. we've had enough adaptations where he's cool and suave, it's time for us to embrace the side of him that's just a strange freak that makes everyone uncomfortable but is still part of the local nobility so they have to hang out with him.