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How To Write A Tale Of Heroes And Villains By Theodore Dumas Essay

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Roguish heroes and swashbuckling saviors are often the ideal protagonists in many adventure novels and movies. Perhaps no better example of these shining figures are the Three Musketeers, brought forth in Alexandre Dumas’ acclaimed French novel. Encouraging the pursuit of justice, the reader is usually able to steadily root for the hero to serve justice and save the day or damsel in distress. However, in certain instances, the line between hero and villain, wrong and right, justice and revenge, may be blurred. In yet another acclaimed novel by Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo, these ideas are combined with fast paced action and a gripping, emotional narrative in a way that produces a novel unlike any other. Edmond Dantes, the …show more content…

By creating an astute level of complexity, yet making all things clear and understandable, Dumas succeeds in creating a captivating narrative. Switching between events and characters illuminates the far-reaching implications of actions and adds layers of complexity of conflicts and character relations; noting that “Fernand, on the other hand, could not understand anything. Dantes was absent and that was all he cared about” (Dumas 56), Dumas utilizes the complexity of actions and narrative breaks about other simultaneous events in great effect to add to the complexity and clarity of the novel as a whole. The literary success of Dumas further extends into the antics and emotions of the characters themselves. By providing views into many characters’ distinct thoughts and emotions, Dumas elicits a sense of realism and emotional gravity from the conflicts that occur. Instances of realistic emotion, such as the “full vent to the sighs and sobs which had so long been repressed by the presence of her son” (495) by Mercedes exemplify the high toll of the tragedies on the characters. These and other similar moments of pure emotion and thoughts by more than simply the protagonist add to the overall aesthetic and realism of the

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