I recently finished re-reading "The Count of Monte Cristo," the first time in a loooong time I had read that book, and something occurred to me ... is Edmund insane?
I don't mean like Charles Manson insane, totally whacked out of his head, but something more akin to Hamlet, or maybe Batman.
Knowing there are at least a couple of Dumas fans that peruse this blog, I officialy open this topic for discussion. Any thoughts, anyone?
2 comments:
I don't think so. Neither do I think the Batman is. Edmund is driven by cold rage, pure revenge that has moved beyond emotional and become his core, the fire that drives his mind and body. Without it he would cease to exist, could not exist.
I think his precise, logically strategic thoughts are indication of a surgical concentration couched within the utmost regard to survival of the fittest and determination to accept no other self-description than the fittest.
To someone outside, observing, knowing the results, probable or otherwise, both Batman and Dantes are of course insane. To anyone within that world, their world, they may seem both insane and not. To anyone living with them, their lives - there isn't a shred of insanity present.
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On an aside, did you read the one-book "The Count of Monte Cristo" or the multi-volume book?
I read the one-very-long-book "The Count of Monte Cristo."
I go back and forth about Edmund. Insane? Maybe not, medically or legally speaking, but I don't think he's "all right in the head."
Much like Batman, or any other number of driven, darker heroes or anti-heroes.
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