The Count of Monte Cristo · Chapter
XIV: The Two Prisoners explained
Dantès marks time in his dungeon, counting days and months after the inspector's visit, but no release comes.
What happens
Dantès marks time in his dungeon, counting days and months after the inspector's visit, but no release comes. A year later, the inspector-general returns and visits Dantès, who pleads for a trial. The inspector is moved but noncommittal, noting that Villefort has been transferred. He then proceeds to visit the Abbé Faria, a mad prisoner who claims to possess a vast treasure.
Themes in this chapter
Fate and Providence
Dantès' prolonged imprisonment and the inspector's visit seem governed by chance and the indifference of fate, as his hopes are repeatedly dashed.
Identity and Transformation
Dantès is reduced to a number (34) and his identity is erased; his plea for recognition and a trial reflects his struggle to reclaim his humanity.
Characters to notice
- Edmond Dantès
Now designated as number 34, Dantès has been imprisoned for seventeen months. He pleads with the inspector for a trial, showing humility and desperation.
- Abbé Faria
The mad prisoner in the adjacent dungeon, known for his delusion of possessing a vast treasure. He has been imprisoned since 1811 and is described as amusingly mad.
- Gérard de Villefort
Mentioned as the magistrate who arrested Dantès; he is no longer in Marseilles but has been transferred to Toulouse.
Key passages
“This horrible place contained fifty cells; their inhabitants were designated by the numbers of their cell, and the unhappy young man was no longer called Edmond Dantès—he was now number 34.”
The prison had fifty cells, and prisoners were known only by their cell numbers; Edmond Dantès became simply number 34.
Highlights the dehumanization of Dantès in the prison system.
“I want to know what crime I have committed—to be tried; and if I am guilty, to be shot; if innocent, to be set at liberty.”
Dantès demands to know his crime, to face a trial, and to receive either execution if guilty or freedom if innocent.
Shows Dantès' desperate plea for justice and clarity.