"The long and terrible ordeal to which Dantès is subjected in “The Count of Monte Cristo”—years of indescribable suffering and wounds that will never fully heal—is an allegory of the human temptation to self-justice. Dantès does indeed execute justice himself; he builds his plans on resentment and carries out his revenge. Yet, in the end, he realizes that his moral and spiritual situation has only worsened. Revenge does not repair the injustice, and not even the ruin or death of his enemies can undo the pain he has endured. He comes then to understand, in the most extreme way, that serenity is not simply the arithmetic sum of material satisfaction and personal vindication, but a completely different way of seeing the world, oneself, and other human beings."
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Marco Respinti, "How the Tai Ji Men Case Perfectly Illustrates “The Count of Monte Cristo”", Bitter Winter (December 16, 2025)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Count_of_Monte_Cristo
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The Count of Monte Cristo
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