The Hundred Days explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Betrayal and Deception

  Villefort betrays Morrel's trust by composing a false petition that exaggerates Dantès' Bonapartist role, then preserves it to ensure Dantès remains imprisoned.

• Fate and Providence

  Danglars views Dantès' continued imprisonment as 'a decree of Providence,' while Dantès himself is forgotten by earth and heaven, suggesting a cruel twist of fate.

• Class and Social Mobility

  Villefort delays his marriage to Mademoiselle de Saint-Méran to align with the shifting political regime, illustrating how ambition dictates social alliances.

• Love and Loss

  Mercédès mourns Dantès' disappearance and tends to his dying father, while Fernand's hope of winning her is kindled by her gratitude.

Characters to notice

• Edmond Dantès

  Remains imprisoned in the Château d'If, forgotten after the Hundred Days and Waterloo.

• Gérard de Villefort

  Retains his position under Napoleon thanks to his father Noirtier, but delays his marriage. He deliberately preserves a compromising petition against Dantès to ensure his silence.

• Policar Morrel

  The honest shipowner repeatedly petitions for Dantès' release but is placated by Villefort's promises. After Waterloo, he ceases his efforts to avoid self-compromise.

• Baron Danglars

  Fearing Dantès' return and vengeance, he quits the sea and enters the service of a Spanish merchant, leaving Marseilles for Madrid.

• Fernand Mondego

  Enlists in the army during the last conscription, hoping that Dantès' absence will allow him to win Mercédès. He contemplates killing Dantès but ultimately does not commit suicide.

• Mercédès

  Left alone, she mourns Dantès' disappearance and tends to old Dantès in his final illness. She shows gratitude to Fernand, calling him 'brother,' which gives him hope.

• Old Dantès

  Dies in Mercédès' arms five months after his son's arrest, having lost all hope after Napoleon's downfall. Morrel pays for his funeral.

• Noirtier de Villefort

  All-powerful at Napoleon's court, he protects Villefort from dismissal despite the latter's royalist past.

Key passages

• “Villefort, therefore, gained nothing save the king’s gratitude (which was rather likely to injure him at the present time) and the cross of the Legion of Honor, which he had the prudence not to wear, although M. de Blacas had duly forwarded the brevet.”

  Villefort received only the king's thanks and a Legion of Honor medal, which he wisely chose not to display, as it could have harmed him under the new regime.

  Highlights Villefort's political caution and the precariousness of royal favor during the Hundred Days.

• “All Villefort’s influence barely enabled him to stifle the secret Dantès had so nearly divulged.”

  Villefort used all his power to suppress the truth that Dantès had almost revealed.

  Emphasizes Villefort's ongoing effort to conceal his role in Dantès' imprisonment.

• “Villefort thus forestalled any danger of an inquiry, which, however improbable it might be, if it did take place would leave him defenceless.”

  By dictating the petition, Villefort prevented any future investigation that could expose his guilt.

  Shows Villefort's preemptive manipulation to protect himself.

• “And so Dantès, after the Hundred Days and after Waterloo, remained in his dungeon, forgotten of earth and heaven.”

  After both Napoleon's brief return and his final defeat, Dantès was left in prison, completely abandoned by the world and by fate.

  Poignant summary of Dantès' isolation and the theme of forgotten justice.