Some Thoughts On Mercédès Herrera

She Loved And Lost Edmond, And Faced His Contempt For A Betrayal She Never Chose

Hello!!!

This is Joyie and welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet where I talk all things books!

Have you been reading anything this week? I’ve only managed to read a few pages of The Count Of Monte Cristo.

I'm not even halfway through Monte Cristo, but this is my second time reading the book. So, I already know the story.

The first time I read it, I was focused entirely on Edmond, because not only is he the main character, he’s an extremely fascinating main character. But a few weeks ago, I watched a movie adaptation of the book, which I actually enjoyed a lot. But I noted that in the movie, Mercédès belonged from an aristocratic family, which, as far as I remembered, was not the case in the book. So, this time as I started my re-read, I was paying extra attention to Mercédès.

Spoiler alert!!!

When we start the story, Mercédès is a young girl of seventeen, orphaned and extremely poor, and in her own words, living on charity.

I think this element of her character is very important because it clearly shows that for someone in her position, a marriage is the only way out if she wants to survive. And she even considers the other option, that is, killing herself. But she can't go through with that because of her religious beliefs.

Edmond is hurt when he finds out that Mercédès got married after his imprisonment, and of course despises her because of that. He sees her as someone who is not loyal and has betrayed him by choosing to get married to another man.

The first time I read the book, it pissed me off. I love Edmond, but I absolutely can't stand the social construct that a widowed woman must spend the rest of life mourning her late spouse, whereas the energy is never the same towards men who lose their wives. I’ve seen someone dear to me choosing to get married years after her husband’s passing and people were saying this meant she never loved her first husband. Like, he's… literally dead???

So, of course when I read the book, I was like, Edmond, she thought you were dead. So, she chose to get married to someone else. She had every right to make that choice.

But now that I'm reading the book again, with special focus on Mercédès, it was hardly a choice?

It's just, so sad. Mercédès genuinely loved Edmond and was about to start a life with him, then she just lost him, not even understanding why, she unsuccessfully tried to save him, and took care of his ailing father till his death. Then finally, assuming him dead, she married Fernand. Then years later, she saw Edmond come back, full of contempt for her ‘betrayal’, and found out Fernand’s role in Edmond’s imprisonment. Like Edmond, she too, had years of her life taken away through cunning deception. And worse, she loved and married and had a child with the very man who deceived her.

In the end she’s able to get a closure with Edmond, but I just feel like she got sidelined. Her ending feels so sad and empty to me, it’s almost like she got punished for crimes she didn’t even commit.

What about you? Have you read The Count Of Monte Cristo? What do you think of Mercédès? I'd love to know!!!

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That’s it for today, I'll be back in your inbox next week.

Until then,

Joyie 🌻