I love The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. I have read the unabridged version more than once, and my most recent reread was in 2023. At that time, I wrote a couple of brief essays which I posted on Tumblr, one of which was about a canonically queer character and the other discussed a character who is often left out of the various adaptations. I present for you these essays with expansion and alteration, because I keep returning to them as pieces of writing and because I don't want them to be limited to those original posts.

I'd like to thank longtime Patron Case Aiken, who receives a monthly shoutout, as well as new patrons DivineJasper and Sasha Khan.

(Quotes are from Robin Buss’ English translation of Alexandre Dumas’ work.)

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Full Essay Text

Canonical Queerness in The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Edmond No Longer -- The Importance of Haydée in The Count of Monte Cristo