On August 28 , 1844 , a Paris newspaper calledLes Journal des Débats , orThe Journal of Debates , debuted the first part of a rip - roar new tale about a man wrongfully incriminate of treason and fox into poky with no tribulation . It was Alexandre Dumas’sThe Count of Monte Cristo , and it would go on to become one of the most beloved adventure novels of all sentence .
Today’sGoogle Doodlepays homage to that anniversary with a slideshow of illustrations that picture the novel ’s protagonist , Edmond Dantès , embarking on his journey of finding riches and exacting revenge . The pictures do n’t give too much away , but the unofficial legislative act of limitation on " spoiler alerts " for thisbookprobably expired sometime in the 20th century anyway .
While Dumas ’s tale is definitely a classic , the inhalation behind it is n’t quite as well - known . The author set out the approximation from the real - life story of Pierre Picaud , a shoemaker cabal against by a few man trying to steal his fiancée . Like Dantès , Picaud was falsely incarcerated on charges of treachery , became the benefactive role of a big fortune , and sought vengeance on the man who tried to ruin his life ( though it ’s possible Picaud ’s story has been embellished over the yr ) .
There are also some remarkable similarities betweenThe Count of Monte Cristoand the life of Dumas ’s own father , Thomas - Alexandre Dumas . bear in mod - twenty-four hour period Haiti to an enslaved Black mother and a white Gallic Father of the Church , the elder Dumas afterward navigate to France and chop-chop climbed the military rank , becoming a full general in Napoleon ’s forces . According toVox , Napoleon began to resent General Dumas ’s popularity , and he did n’t bargain for his freedom when Dumas was imprisoned during a engagement in Naples in 1799 . His wife helped secure his release after about two years , but his health was failing him , and he died of stomach cancer in 1806 . His family never received his pension or the unpaid wages he was entitled to .
Knowing that tragic history , The Count of Monte Cristoreads almost like a tribute to Alexandre Dumas ’s father — a tale in which the hero is able-bodied to campaign back against injustice and lay claim the legacy he deserved .
[ h / tVox ]
