The Count of Monte Cristo

On the day of his wedding to Mercédès, Edmond Dantès, first mate of the Pharaon, is falsely accused of treason, arrested, and imprisoned without trial in the Château d'If, a grim island fortress off Marseille. A fellow prisoner, Abbé Faria, correctly deduces that his jealous rival Fernand Mondego, envious crewmate Danglars, and double-dealing magistrate De Villefort turned him in. Faria inspires his escape and guides him to a fortune in treasure. As the powerful and mysterious Count of Monte Cristo (Italy), he arrives from the Orient to enter the fashionable Parisian world of the 1830s and avenge himself on the men who conspired to destroy him.

The main character Edmond Dantès was a merchant sailor before his imprisonment. (Illustration by Pierre-Gustave Staal)

In 1815, Edmond Dantès, a young merchant sailor who has recently been granted the succession of his captain Leclère, returns to Marseille to marry his spaniard fiancée Mercédès. Leclère, a supporter of the exiled Napoleon, found himself dying at sea and charged Dantès to deliver two objects: a package to General Bertrand (exiled with Napoleon on Elba), and a letter from Elba to an unknown man in Paris. On the eve of Dantès' wedding to Mercédès, Fernand Mondego (Mercédès' cousin and a rival for her affections) is given advice by Dantès' colleague Danglars (who is jealous of Dantès' rapid rise to captain) to send an anonymous note accusing Dantès of being a Bonapartist traitor. Caderousse (Dantès' cowardly and selfish neighbor) is drunk while the two conspirators set the trap for Dantès and stays quiet as Dantès is arrested, then sentenced. Villefort, the deputy crown prosecutor in Marseille, destroys the letter from Elba when he discovers that it is addressed to his own father, Noirtier (who is a Bonapartist), since if this letter came into official hands, it would destroy his ambitions and reputation as a staunch Royalist. To silence Dantès, he condemns him without trial to life imprisonment.

After six years of imprisonment in the Château d'If, Dantès is on the verge of suicide when he befriends the Abbé Faria ("The Mad Priest"), an Italian fellow prisoner who had dug an escape tunnel that ended up in Dantès' cell. Over the next eight years, Faria gives Dantès an extensive education in language, culture, mathematics, chemistry, medicine, and science. Knowing himself to be close to death, Faria tells Dantès the location of a treasure on the small island of Monte Cristo. When Faria dies, Dantès takes his place in the burial sack. When the guards throw the sack into the sea, Dantès breaks through and swims to a nearby island. He is rescued by a smuggling ship that passes Monte Cristo. Fearing the members of the ship will find him and his treasure, he used the excuse of hunting sheep while he actually went to hunt the treasure. To stay on the island (to furthermore find his treasure for he has not found it yet), Dantès pretends he has a broken back. Six days later, the smuggling ship comes back for him and he boards it carrying with him only a few diamonds which are carefully hidden. In port, Dantès trades these diamonds for a yacht and then starts sail to Monte Cristo again to claim the rest of his treasure. After recovering the treasure, Dantès returns to Marseille. He later purchases the island of Monte Cristo and the title of Count from the Tuscan government.

Actor James O'Neill as the Abbé Busoni

Traveling as the Abbé Busoni, Dantès meets Caderousse, now living in poverty, who regrets not intervening and possibly saving Dantès from prison. He gives Caderousse a diamond that can be either a chance to redeem himself or a trap that will lead to his ruin. Learning that his old employer Morrel is on the verge of bankruptcy, Dantès buys Morrel's debts and gives Morrel three months to fulfill his obligations. At the end of the three months and with no way to repay his debts, Morrel is about to commit suicide when he learns that his debts have been mysteriously paid and that one of his lost ships has returned with a full cargo, secretly rebuilt and laden by Dantès.

Reappearing as the rich Count of Monte Cristo, Dantès begins his revenge on the three men responsible for his unjust imprisonment: Fernand, now Count de Morcerf and Mercédès' husband; Danglars, now a baron and a wealthy banker; and Villefort, now procureur du roi (prosecutor for the king). The Count appears first in Rome, where he becomes acquainted with the Baron Franz d'Épinay, and Viscount Albert de Morcerf, the son of Mercédès and Fernand. Dantès arranges for the young Morcerf to be captured by the bandit Luigi Vampa and then seemingly rescues him from Vampa's gang. Albert, feeling a debt of gratitude to the Count for his rescue, agrees to introduce the Count into Parisian society. The Count then moves to Paris and dazzles Danglars with his wealth, persuading him to extend him a credit of six million francs. The Count manipulates the bond market and quickly destroys a large portion of Danglars' fortune. The rest of it begins to rapidly disappear through mysterious bankruptcies, suspensions of payment, and more bad luck in the Stock Exchange.

Villefort had once conducted an affair with Madame Danglars. She became pregnant and delivered the child in the house that the Count has now purchased. To cover up the affair, Villefort told Madame Danglars that the infant was stillborn, smothered the child, and thinking him to be dead, buried him in the garden. While Villefort was burying the child, he was stabbed by the smuggler Bertuccio, who unearthed the child and resuscitated him. Bertuccio's sister-in-law brought the child up, giving him the name "Benedetto". Benedetto takes up a life of crime as he grows into adolescence. He robs his adoptive mother (Bertuccio's sister-in-law) and ends up killing her, then runs away. Bertuccio later becomes the Count's servant and informs him of this history.

Benedetto is sentenced to the galleys with Caderousse, who had sold the diamond but killed both his wife and the buyer out of greed. After Benedetto and Caderousse are freed by Dantès, using the alias "Lord Wilmore," the Count induces Benedetto to take the identity of "Viscount Andrea Cavalcanti" and introduces him into Parisian society. Andrea ingratiates himself to Danglars, who betroths his daughter Eugénie to Andrea (not knowing they are half-siblings) after cancelling her engagement to Albert. Meanwhile, Caderousse blackmails Andrea, threatening to reveal his past if he doesn't share his new-found wealth. Cornered by "Abbé Busoni" while attempting to rob the Count's house, Caderousse begs to be given another chance. Dantès forces him to write a letter to Danglars exposing Cavalcanti as an impostor and allows Caderousse to leave the house. The moment Caderousse leaves the estate, he is stabbed by Andrea. Caderousse dictates a deathbed statement identifying his killer, and the Count reveals his true identity to Caderousse moments before he dies.

Years before, Ali Pasha of Janina had been betrayed to the Turks by Fernand. After Ali's death, Fernand sold Ali's wife Vasiliki and his daughter Haydée into slavery. While Vasiliki died shortly thereafter, Dantès purchased Haydée. The Count manipulates Danglars into researching the event, which is published in a newspaper. As a result, Fernand is investigated by his peers and disgraced. When Albert blames the Count for his father's downfall and challenges him to a duel, Mercédès, having already recognized Monte Cristo as Dantès, goes to the Count and begs him to spare her son. During this interview, she learns the truth of his arrest and imprisonment but still convinces the Count not to kill her son. Realizing that Edmond now intends to let Albert kill him, she reveals the truth to Albert, which causes Albert to make a public apology to the Count. Albert and Mercédès disown Fernand and leave his house. Fernand is confronted with Dantès' true identity and shoots himself. Albert and Mercédès renounce their titles and wealth and depart to begin new lives.

Valentine, Villefort's daughter by his late first wife, stands to inherit the fortune of her grandfather (Noirtier) and of her mother's parents (the Saint-Mérans), while Villefort's second wife Héloïse seeks the fortune for her son Édouard. The Count is aware of Héloïse's intentions and introduces her to the technique of poison. Héloïse fatally poisons the Saint-Mérans, so that Valentine inherits their fortune. Valentine is briefly disinherited by Noirtier in an attempt to prevent Valentine's impending marriage with Franz d'Épinay, whom she does not love; however, the marriage is cancelled when d'Épinay learns that his father (believed assassinated by Bonapartists) was actually killed by Noirtier in a fair duel. After a failed attempt on Noirtier's life which leaves Noirtier's servant Barrois dead, Héloïse targets Valentine so that Édouard will get the fortune. However, Valentine is the prime suspect in her father's eyes in the deaths of the Saint-Mérans and Barrois. On learning that Morrel's son Maximilien is in love with Valentine, the Count saves her by making it appear as though Héloïse's plan to poison Valentine has succeeded and that Valentine is dead. Villefort learns from Noirtier that Héloïse is the real murderer and confronts her, giving her the choice of a public execution or committing suicide.

Fleeing after Caderousse's letter exposes him, Andrea is arrested and returned to Paris, where Villefort prosecutes him. While in prison awaiting trial, Andrea is visited by Bertuccio, who tells him the truth about his father. At his trial, Andrea reveals that he is Villefort's son and was rescued after Villefort buried him alive. Villefort admits his guilt and flees the court. He rushes home to stop his wife's suicide but is too late; she has poisoned her son as well. Dantès confronts Villefort, revealing his true identity, but this drives Villefort insane. Dantès tries but fails to resuscitate Édouard, causing him to question if he has gone too far.

After the Count's manipulation of the bond market, Danglars is left with a destroyed reputation and 5,000,000 francs he has been holding in deposit for hospitals. The Count demands this sum to fulfil their credit agreement, and Danglars embezzles the hospital fund. Abandoning his wife, Danglars flees to Italy with the Count's receipt and 50,000 francs. While leaving Rome, he is kidnapped by the Count's agent Luigi Vampa and is imprisoned. Forced to pay exorbitant prices for food and nearly starved to death, Danglars signs away his ill-gotten gains. Dantès anonymously returns the stolen money to the hospitals. Danglars finally repents his crimes, and a softened Dantès forgives him and allows him to leave with his freedom and 50,000 francs.

Maximilien Morrel, believing Valentine to be dead, contemplates suicide after her funeral. Dantès reveals his true identity and explains that he rescued Morrel's father from bankruptcy years earlier; he then tells Maximilien to reconsider his suicide, and Maximilien is saved.

On the island of Monte Cristo, Dantès presents Valentine to Maximilien and reveals the true sequence of events. Having found peace, Dantès now leaves the newly reunited couple part of his fortune on the island and departs for an unknown destination to find comfort and a new life with Haydée, who has declared her love for him. The reader is left with a final thought: "all human wisdom is contained in these two words, 'Wait and Hope'".

Character relationships in The Count of Monte Cristo

The first appearance of The Count of Monte Cristo in English was the first part of a serialization by W. Francis Ainsworth in volume VII of Ainsworth's Magazine published in 1845, although this was an abridged summary of the first part of the novel only and was entitled The Prisoner of If. Ainsworth translated the remaining chapters of the novel, again in abridged form, and issued these in volumes VIII and IX of the magazine in 1845 and 1846 respectively.[9] Another abridged serialization appeared in The London Journal between 1846 and 1847.

The first single volume translation in English was an abridged edition with woodcuts published by Geo Pierce in January 1846 entitled The Prisoner of If or The Revenge of Monte Christo.[9]

In April 1846, volume three of the Parlour Novelist, Belfast, Ireland: Simms and M'Intyre, London: W S Orr and Company, featured the first part of an unabridged translation of the novel by Emma Hardy. The remaining two parts would be issued as the Count of Monte Christo volumes I and II in volumes 8 and 9 of the Parlour Novelist respectively.[9]

The most common English translation is an anonymous one originally published in 1846 by Chapman and Hall. This was originally released in ten weekly installments from March 1846 with six pages of letterpress and two illustrations by M Valentin.[10] The translation was released in book form with all twenty illustrations in two volumes in May 1846, a month after the release of the first part of the above-mentioned translation by Emma Hardy.[9] The translation follows the revised French edition of 1846, with the correct spelling of "Cristo" and the extra chapter The House on the Allées de Meilhan.

Most English editions of the novel follow the anonymous translation. In 1889, two of the major American publishers Little Brown and T.Y. Crowell updated the translation, correcting mistakes and revising the text to reflect the original serialized version. This resulted in the removal of the chapter The House on the Allées de Meilhan, with the text restored to the end of the chapter called The Departure.[11][12]

In 1955, Collins published an updated version of the anonymous translation which cut several passages, including a whole chapter entitled The Past, and renamed others.[13] This abridgment was republished by many Collins imprints and other publishers including the Modern Library, Vintage, and the 1998 Oxford World's Classics edition (later editions restored the text). In 2008 Oxford released a revised edition with translation by David Coward. The 2009 Everyman's Library edition reprints the original anonymous English translation that first appeared in 1846, with revisions by Peter Washington and an introduction by Umberto Eco.

In 1996, Penguin Classics published a new translation by Robin Buss. Buss' translation updated the language, making the text more accessible to modern readers, and restored content that was modified in the 1846 translation because of Victorian English social restrictions (for example, references to Eugénie's lesbian traits and behavior) to reflect Dumas' original version.

In addition to the above, there have also been many abridged translations such as an 1892 edition published by F.M. Lupton, translated by Henry L. Williams (this translation was also released by M.J. Ivers in 1892 with Williams using the pseudonym of Professor William Thiese).[9] A more recent abridgment is the translation by Lowell Bair for Bantam Classics in 1956.

Many abridged translations omit the Count's enthusiasm for hashish. When serving a hashish jam to the young Frenchman Franz d'Épinay, the Count (calling himself Sinbad the Sailor), calls it, "nothing less than the ambrosia which Hebe served at the table of Jupiter." When he arrives in Paris, the Count brandishes an emerald box in which he carries small green pills compounded of hashish and opium which he uses for sleeplessness. (Source: Chapters 31, 32, 38, 40, 53 & 77 in the 117-chapter unabridged Pocket Books edition.) Dumas was a member of the Club des Hashischins.

In June 2017, Manga Classics, an imprint of UDON Entertainment, published The Count of Monte Cristo as a faithfully adapted Manga edition of the classic novel.[14]

The first Japanese translation by Kuroiwa Shūroku was entitled "Shigai Shiden Gankutsu-ou" (史外史伝巌窟王, "a historical story from outside history, the King of the Cavern"), and serialized from 1901–1902 in the Yorozu Chouhou newspaper, and released in book form in four volumes by publisher Aoki Suusandou in 1905. Though later translations use the title "Monte Cristo-haku" (モンテ・クリスト伯, the Count of Monte Cristo), the "Gankutsu-ou" title remains highly associated with the novel and is often used as an alternative. As of March 2016, all movie adaptations of the novel brought to Japan used the title "Gankutsu-ou", with the exception of the 2002 film, which has it as a subtitle (with the title itself simply being "Monte Cristo").

The novel is popular in Japan, and has spawned numerous adaptations, the most notable of which are the novels Meiji Gankutsu-ou by Taijirou Murasame and Shin Gankutsu-ou by Kaitarō Hasegawa. Its influence can also be seen in how one of the first prominent cases of miscarriage of justice in Japan, in which an innocent man was charged with murder and imprisoned for half a century, is known in Japanese as the "Yoshida Gankutsu-ou incident" (吉田岩窟王事件).

A manga adaptation of the novel, titled Monte Cristo Hakushaku (jap. モンテ・クリスト, 伯爵) and made by Ena Moriyama, was published in November 2015.

The first translation into Chinese was published in 1907. The novel had been a personal favorite of Jiang Qing, and the 1978 translation became one of the first mass-popularized foreign novels in Mainland China after end of the Cultural Revolution. Since then, there have been another 22 Chinese translations.

During the life of Thomas-Alexandre Dumas:

• 1793: Thomas-Alexandre Dumas is promoted to the rank of general in the army of the First French Republic.
• 1794: He disapproves of the revolutionary terror in Western France.
• 1795–1797: He becomes famous and fights under Napoleon.
• 1802: Black officers are dismissed from the army. The Empire re-establishes slavery.
• 1802: Birth of his son, Alexandre Dumas père.
• 1806: Thomas-Alexandre Dumas dies, still bitter about the injustice of the Empire.

During the life of Alexandre Dumas:

• 1832: The only son of Napoleon I dies.
• 1836: Alexandre Dumas is famous as a writer by this time (age 34).
• 1836: First putsch by Louis Napoleon, aged 28, fails.
• 1840: A law is passed to bring the ashes of Napoleon I to France.
• 1840: Second putsch of Louis Napoleon. He is imprisoned for life and becomes known as the candidate for the imperial succession.
• 1841: Dumas lives in Florence and becomes acquainted with King Jérôme and his son, Napoléon.
• 1841–1844: The story is conceived and written.
• 1844–1846: The story is published in parts in a Parisian magazine.
• 1846: The novel is published in full and becomes a European bestseller.
• 1846: Louis Napoleon escapes from his prison.
• 1848: French Second Republic. Louis Napoleon is elected its first president but Dumas does not vote for him.
• 1857: Dumas publishes État civil du Comte de Monte-Cristo

Hobart Bosworth (right) in The Count of Monte Cristo (1908)

Edmond Dantès (James O'Neill) loosens a stone before making his escape from the Château d'If in The Count of Monte Cristo (1913)

• 1908: The Count of Monte Cristo, a silent film starring Hobart Bosworth
• 1913: The Count of Monte Cristo, a silent film starring James O'Neill
• 1918: The Count of Monte Cristo, a silent-film serial starring Léon Mathot
• 1922: Monte Cristo, directed by Emmett J. Flynn
• 1929: Monte Cristo, restored silent epic directed by Henri Fescourt
• 1934: The Count of Monte Cristo, directed by Rowland V. Lee
• 1940: The Son of Monte Cristo, directed by Rowland V. Lee
• 1942: The Count of Monte Cristo (Spanish: El Conde de Montecristo), a Mexican version directed by Chano Urueta and starred by Arturo de Córdova
• 1946: The Return of Monte Cristo, directed by Henry Levin
• 1950: The Prince of Revenge (أمير الانتقام), Egyptian Movie directed by Henry Barkat, Starring Anwar Wagdi
• 1953:The Count of Monte Cristo (Spanish: El Conde de Montecristo), directed by León Klimovsky and starred by Jorge Mistral
• 1954: The Count of Monte Cristo, starring Jean Marais
• 1958: Vanjikottai Valiban (வஞ்சிக்கோட்டை வாலிபன்), Tamil film adaptation and its Hindi remake Raaj Tilak
• 1961: Le comte de Monte Cristo, starring Louis Jourdan, directed by Claude Autant-Lara
• 1964: The Crafty One (أمير الدهاء), Egyptian Movie directed by Henry Barkat, Starring Farid Shawqi
• 1968: Sous le signe de Monte Cristo, French movie starring Paul Barge, Claude Jade and Anny Duperey, directed by André Hunebelle, and set in 1947
• 1976: The Circle of Revenge (دائرة الانتقام), Egyptian Movie directed by Samir Seif, Starring Nour El-Sherif
• 1975: The Count of Monte Cristo, starring Richard Chamberlain, directed by David Greene
• 1982: Padayottam, a Malayalam Film adaption set in Kerala context, directed by Jijo Punnoose starring Prem Nazir, Mammootty and Mohanlal
• 1986: Veta, Telugu film adaptation
• 1999: Forever Mine, film starring Joseph Fiennes, Ray Liotta and Gretchen Mol, loosely but clearly based upon The Count of Monte Cristo, directed/written by Paul Schrader
• 2002: The Count of Monte Cristo, directed by Kevin Reynolds and starring Jim Caviezel, Dagmara Domińczyk, Richard Harris and Guy Pearce
• 2006: Vingança, telenovela directed by Rodrigo Riccó and Paulo Rosa, SIC Portugal

• TBA: David S. Goyer will direct a film adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo[23]

• 1956: The Count of Monte Cristo, TV series based on further adventures of Edmond Dantès after the end of the novel
• 1964: The Count of Monte Cristo, BBC television serial starring Alan Badel and Natasha Parry
• 1966: Il conte di Montecristo, RAI Italian television serial directed by Edmo Fenoglio. starring Andrea Giordana
• 1973: The Count of Monte Cristo UK/Italian animated series, produced by Halas and Batchelor and RAI Italy
• 1977: The Great Vendetta (大報復), Hong Kong television serial starring Adam Cheng, in which the background of the story is changed to Southern China during the Republican Era
• 1979: Nihon Gankutsuou (日本巌窟王), Japanese television serial set in Edo period, starring Masao Kusakari
• 1979: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (1979 miniseries), French TV series starring Jacques Weber
• 1984: La Dueña a 1984 Venezuelan telenovela with a female version of Edmond Dantès
• 1988: Uznik Zamka If (litt. The Prisoner of Castle If ), Soviet miniseries starring Viktor Avilov (Count of Monte Cristo) and Aleksei Petrenko (Abbé Faria), with music and songs of Alexander Gradsky
• 1998: The Count of Monte Cristo, television miniseries starring Gérard Depardieu
• 2006: Montecristo, Argentine telenovela starring Pablo Echarri and Paola Krum
• 2010: Ezel, a Turkey-Turkish television series which is an adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo
• 2011 : Un amore e una vendetta (English: Love and Vendetta) an Italian television series loosely based on the book
• 2011: Revenge, a television series billed as an adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo
• 2012: Antsanoty, an Armenia-Armenian television series which is an adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo
• 2013: La Patrona, a loose Mexican remake of 1984 telenovela La Dueña
• 2016: Goodbye Mr. Black, a TV series loosely based on The Count of Monte Cristo"
• 2016: Once Upon a Time's sixth season features the Count as a character, portrayed by Craig Horner. Several characters and plot elements from the story are also alluded to[24]
• 2016: Yago, Mexican telenovela starring Iván Sánchez and Gabriela de la Garza
• 2018: The Count of Monte-Cristo: Gorgeous Revenge (モンテ・クリスト伯 -華麗なる復讐- Monte Kurisuto Haku: Karei Naru Fukushu),[25] Japanese TV series starring Dean Fujioka
• 2018: Wes, a Sri Lankan-Sinhala television series which is an adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo and an influence of Ezel television series

• 1973: The Count of Monte Cristo, animated short produced by Hanna-Barbera
• 1994: Garfield and Friends episode "The Discount of Monte Cristo", a retelling of the story using the characters from U.S. Acres as the cast. Aloysius Pig, voiced by comedian Kevin Meaney, tries to cut the cost of the story, even though the characters are using their imaginations
• 2004: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (巌窟王　Gankutsuoo, literally The King of the Cave), Japanese animation adaptation. Produced by Gonzo, directed by Mahiro Maeda
• 2007: The first section of The Simpsons Episode, Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times has an adaption for the Count of Monte Cristo but it is entitled The Count Of Monte Fatso

• 1853: A Mão do finado, Alfredo Hogan
• 1881: The Son of Monte Cristo, Jules Lermina (1839–1915). This novel was divided in the English translation into two books: The Wife of Monte Cristo and The Son of Monte Cristo). Both were published in English in New York, 1884, translated by Jacob Arbabanell (1852–1922). Lermina also penned Le Trésor de Monte-Cristo [The Treasure of Monte-Cristo] (1885)
• 1884: Edmond Dantès: The Sequel to Alexander Dumas' Celebrated Novel The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmund Flagg (1815–1890). Published in English by T.B. Peterson and Brothers in 1886 (no translator credited)
• 1884: Monte-Cristo's Daughter sequel to Alexander Dumas' great novel, the "Count of Monte-Cristo," and Conclusion of "Edmond Dantès", Edmund Flagg. Published in English by T.B. Peterson and Brothers in 1886 (no translator credited)
• 1869: The Countess of Monte Cristo, Jean Charles Du Boys (1836-1873). Published in English by T.B. Peterson and Brothers in 1871 (no translator credited)
• 1887: Monte Cristo and his wife, presumably by Jacob Ralph Abarbanell
• 1902: Countess of Monte Cristo, by Abarbanell

Premiere of Dumas' Monte Cristo at Théâtre Historique (1848)

Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet wrote a set of four plays that collectively told the story of The Count of Monte Cristo: Monte Cristo Part I (1848); Monte Cristo Part II (1848); Le Comte de Morcerf (1851) and Villefort (1851). The first two plays were first performed at Dumas' own Théâtre Historique in February 1848, with the performance spread over two nights, each with a long duration (the first evening ran from 18:00 until 00:00). The play was also unsuccessfully performed at Drury Lane in London later that year where rioting erupted in protest at French companies performing in England.

The adaptation differs from the novel in many respects: several characters, such as Luigi Vampa, are excluded; whereas the novel includes many different plot threads that are brought together at the conclusion, the third and fourth plays deal only with the fate of Mondego and Villefort respectively (Danglars' fate is not featured at all); the play is the first to feature Dantès shouting "the world is mine!", an iconic line that would be used in many future adaptations.

Poster for a 1900 production of Charles Fechter's adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, starring James O'Neill

Two English adaptations of the novel were published in 1868. The first, by Hailes Lacy, differs only slightly from Dumas' version with the main change being that Fernand Mondego is killed in a duel with the Count rather than committing suicide. Much more radical was the version by Charles Fechter, a notable French-Anglo actor. The play faithfully follows the first part of the novel, omits the Rome section and makes several sweeping changes to the third part, among the most significant being that Albert is actually the son of Dantès. The fates of the three main antagonists are also altered: Villefort, whose fate is dealt with quite early on in the play, kills himself after being foiled by the Count trying to kill Noirtier (Villefort's half brother in this version); Mondego kills himself after being confronted by Mercedes; Danglars is killed by the Count in a duel. The ending sees Dantès and Mercedes reunited and the character of Haydee is not featured at all. The play was first performed at the Adelphi in London in October 1868. The original duration was five hours, resulting in Fechter abridging the play, which, despite negative reviews, had a respectable sixteen-week run. Fechter moved to the United States in 1869 and Monte Cristo was chosen for the inaugural play at the opening of the Globe Theatre, Boston in 1870. Fechter last performed the role in 1878.

In 1883, John Stetson, manager of the Booth Theatre and The Globe Theatre, wanted to revive the play and asked James O'Neill (the father of playwright Eugene O'Neill) to perform the lead role. O'Neill, who had never seen Fechter perform, made the role his own and the play became a commercial, if not an artistic success. O'Neill made several abridgments to the play and eventually bought it from Stetson. A motion picture based on Fechter's play, with O'Neill in the title role, was released in 1913 but was not a huge success. O'Neill died in 1920, two years before a more successful motion picture, produced by Fox and partially based on Fechter's version, was released. O'Neill came to despise the role of Monte Cristo, which he performed more than 6000 times, feeling that his typecasting had prevented him from pursuing more artistically rewarding roles. This discontent later became a plot point in Eugene O'Neill's semi-autobiographical play Long Day's Journey Into Night.

The Count of Monte Cristo is a musical based on the novel, with influences from the 2002 film adaptation of the book. The music is written by Frank Wildhorn and the lyrics and book are by Jack Murphy. It debuted in Switzerland in 2009.[26]

Newspaper advertisement for The Campbell Playhouse presentation of "The Count of Monte Cristo" (October 1, 1939)

• 1938: The Mercury Theatre on the Air with Orson Welles (Dantés), Ray Collins (Abbé Faria), George Coulouris (Monsieur Morrel), Edgar Barrier (de Villefort), Eustace Wyatt (Caderousse), Paul Stewart (Paul Dantés) Sidney Smith (Mondego), Richard Wilson (the Officer), Virginia Welles (Mercédès); radio broadcast 29 August 1938[27]^:345
• 1939: The Campbell Playhouse with Orson Welles (Dantés), Ray Collins (Caderousse), Everett Sloane (Abbé Faria), Frank Readick (Villefort), George Coulouris (Danglars), Edgar Barrier (Mondego), Richard Wilson (a Jailer), Agnes Moorehead (Mercédès); radio broadcast 1 October 1939[27]^:354
• 1939: Robert Montgomery on the Lux Radio Theater (radio)
• 1947–52: The Count of Monte Cristo radio program starring Carleton Young
• 1960s: Paul Daneman for Tale Spinners For Children series (LP) UAC 11044
• 1961: Louis Jourdan for Caedmon Records (LP)
• 1964: Per Edström director (radio series in Sweden)[28]
• 1987: Andrew Sachs on BBC Radio 4 (later BBC Radio 7 and BBC Radio 4 Extra) adapted by Barry Campbell and directed by Graham Gould, with Alan Wheatley as L'Abbe Faria, Nigel Anthony as de Villefort, Geoffrey Matthews as Danglars and Melinda Walker as Mercedes
• 1989: Richard Matthews for Penguin Random House (ISBN 978-141-591-221-8)
• 2005: John Lee for Blackstone Audio
• 2010: Bill Homewood for Naxos Audiobooks (ISBN 978-962-634-134-6)
• 2012: Iain Glen on BBC Radio 4 adapted by Sebastian Baczkiewicz and directed by Jeremy Mortimer and Sasha Yevtushenko, with Richard Johnson as Faria, Jane Lapotaire as the aged Haydee, Toby Jones as Danglars, Zubin Varla as Fernand, Paul Rhys as Villefort and Josette Simon as Mercedes[29]
• 2017: The Count of Monte Cristo musical adaption by Berry & Butler[30]

• 1996: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (Chinese: 基督山恩仇記; pinyin: Jīdū Shān En Chóu Jì; lit.: 'Monte Christo'), an unauthorized Chinese-language Nintendo Famicom game produced by ESC Co. Ltd. (mostly known as Waixing Technology).
• 2014: Count of Monte-Cristo phone app (in English and Romanian). A puzzle game that comes with a level editor.
• 2016: In Fate/Grand Order, Edmond Dantès was available for summoning as an Avenger-class servant. Type-Moon also produced an accompanying drama CD about Monte Cristo and various people from his past including Haydée and Abbe Faria.