The Count of Monte Cristo Chapter 19 Summary

The Third Attack

Faria dies after urging Dantès to seek the Spada treasure; Dantès hides the body and listens as guards declare the abbé mad and prepare burial.

In a cramped cell Edmond Dantès and the Abbé Faria hunch over a rough map as Faria excitedly describes the vast fortune hidden on the island of Monte Cristo and all the good it could buy. Dantès listens, face darkening with the oath of vengeance, and their hopes are crushed when they learn the sea-side gallery has been rebuilt and the escape route sealed by massive stones.
In a cramped cell Edmond Dantès and the Abbé Faria hunch over a rough map as Faria excitedly describes the vast fortune hidden on the island of Monte Cristo and all the good it could buy. Dantès listens, face darkening with the oath of vengeance, and their hopes are crushed when they learn the sea-side gallery has been rebuilt and the escape route sealed by massive stones.

Summary

Edmond Dantès and Abbé Faria continue their days together in the Château d'If, exchanging instruction, consolation, and plans for the Spada treasure at Monte Cristo. Faria, who has long obsessed over the treasure and taught Dantès languages and sciences, grows increasingly frail: he is paralyzed in one arm and one leg and accepts that he will never enjoy the fortune himself. He binds Dantès to the treasure by making him memorize the crucial letter and the plan for locating the deposit, while destroying a duplicate so the secret cannot be revealed if one copy is captured.

One night Dantès hears Faria calling and rushes through the secret passage to find the old man seized by a deadly convulsion. Faria resigns himself and urges Edmond to live, to use the knowledge and the planned treasure for a future life; in his last words he cries, "Monte Cristo, forget not Monte Cristo!" Dantès tries desperately to revive him with the restorative draught but eventually must pour the remainder in vain. At dawn Dantès listens from his hidden gallery as the governor, doctor, and jailers enter, examine Faria's body, and jeer about his madness and imagined treasure. The doctor orders the irons heated to test the corpse, and the burning of the heel confirms death to them. The abbé's learning and humanity are dismissed as monomania; the men prepare burial without ritual. After they remove the corpse Dantès emerges briefly to confirm the cell is empty—he is left alone with the knowledge Faria entrusted him and the imperative to seek Monte Cristo.

Key events

  1. Faria teaches Dantès and compels him to memorize the treasure letter; destroys the duplicate.
  2. A crippled but lucid Faria grows ever more focused on saving Edmond's future.
  3. Faria suffers a fatal convulsion; he implores Edmond to remember Monte Cristo.
  4. Dantès attempts to revive Faria with the restorative draught but fails.
  5. Guards, governor, and doctor inspect the body, dismiss Faria as mad, and decide on burial.
  6. The burial preparations (including heating irons and burning the heel) convince the officials Faria is dead.
  7. After the cell is cleared, Dantès emerges from the tunnel alone, holding Faria's secret.

Chapter 19 in pictures

Edmond Dantès speaks with sorrowful resignation, declaring that his true treasure is Abbé Faria's companionship and the knowledge Faria has imparted, not the gold beneath Monte Cristo. Days pass quickly as they share lessons and conversation; Faria, now paralyzed in an arm and a leg, obsessively plots an escape for Dantès and forces him to memorize the treasure map before destroying the second portion.
Edmond Dantès speaks with sorrowful resignation, declaring that his true treasure is Abbé Faria's companionship and the knowledge Faria has imparted, not the gold beneath Monte Cristo. Days pass quickly as they share lessons and conversation; Faria, now paralyzed in an arm and a leg, obsessively plots an escape for Dantès and forces him to memorize the treasure map before destroying the second portion.
At night Edmond, roused by a plaintive cry, drags up the hidden stone and slips through the secret passage into Faria’s dungeon. By the wavering lamp he finds the pale, agony-stricken Abbé Faria clinging to the bedstead, his features contorted as he murmurs Edmond’s name.
At night Edmond, roused by a plaintive cry, drags up the hidden stone and slips through the secret passage into Faria’s dungeon. By the wavering lamp he finds the pale, agony-stricken Abbé Faria clinging to the bedstead, his features contorted as he murmurs Edmond’s name.
Abbé Faria, pale and trembling, speaks with resigned clarity while Edmond Dantès, frantic and grief-stricken, rushes to the door crying for help. Faria gently restrains him, produces a phial of red liquid, and urges calm counsel about making Dantès' captivity supportable or his escape possible as the old man's body yields to deadly chills.
Abbé Faria, pale and trembling, speaks with resigned clarity while Edmond Dantès, frantic and grief-stricken, rushes to the door crying for help. Faria gently restrains him, produces a phial of red liquid, and urges calm counsel about making Dantès' captivity supportable or his escape possible as the old man's body yields to deadly chills.
In the dim, damp prison cell, Edmond Dantès crouches over the dying Abbé Faria, cradling him on a narrow cot as the old man's breath falters. Faria, eyes bloodshot and voice thin, speaks his last words about the hidden Spada treasure and blesses Edmond before sinking into final stillness.
In the dim, damp prison cell, Edmond Dantès crouches over the dying Abbé Faria, cradling him on a narrow cot as the old man's breath falters. Faria, eyes bloodshot and voice thin, speaks his last words about the hidden Spada treasure and blesses Edmond before sinking into final stillness.
In a stone dungeon at dawn, Edmond Dantès props a trembling lamp above the bed where Abbé Faria lies contorted, lips frothing and eyes wide in a final convulsion. After pouring the last draught between the old man's teeth and watching a terrifying, electrical shudder that ebbs into stillness, Dantès leans over the body as pale morning light pales the lamp and the weight of sudden, absolute solitude closes in.
In a stone dungeon at dawn, Edmond Dantès props a trembling lamp above the bed where Abbé Faria lies contorted, lips frothing and eyes wide in a final convulsion. After pouring the last draught between the old man's teeth and watching a terrifying, electrical shudder that ebbs into stillness, Dantès leans over the body as pale morning light pales the lamp and the weight of sudden, absolute solitude closes in.

Analysis

This chapter performs several crucial functions: it severs Edmond’s immediate tie to the older mentor while transferring moral responsibility and the treasure's secret to him alone. Faria's death is the pivotal moment that converts their shared intellectual and emotional bond into a solitary mission for Dantès. Thematically, the chapter juxtaposes enlightenment and monomania—Faria embodies reason, learning, and generosity even as others interpret his obsession as madness. The officials' crude dismissal and ridicule of Faria highlight institutional blindness to private knowledge and moral depth, signaling the novel's recurring distrust of appearances and authority.

Structurally the episode accelerates the plot: the repeated references to Monte Cristo crystallize Dantès’ future course and foreshadow his release and quest. The secret passage and the memorized letter function as narrative devices that preserve the treasure-knowledge while increasing tension—one must now await Dantès’ actions alone. Symbolically, the restorative draught, Faria’s convulsions, and the grotesque burning of the heel emphasize life, death, and the state's mechanistic control over prisoners. The chapter's close, with Dantès listening hidden as the officials mock and prepare the burial, underscores isolation, betrayal by authority, and the weight of a secret that transforms grief into resolve. The narrator’s intimate access to Dantès’ sensations creates immediacy and compels reader sympathy, making Faria’s death both personal tragedy and a turning point for the hero's psychological development.

Important quotes

“The treasure of the Spadas exists.”

Abbe FariaFaria, in his dying moments, reaffirms the reality of the treasure and urges Dantès to seek Monte Cristo.

“Monte Cristo, forget not Monte Cristo!”

Abbe FariaFaria's final, repeated injunction to Edmond as he dies, sealing the mission Dantès must carry forward.

Characters in Chapter 19

All chapter summaries ›Characters ›

Read The Count of Monte Cristo illustrated

Every scene in these notes comes from the Book2Life reader, where the full public-domain text is illustrated as you read, with character portraits and narration. Free in your browser and on iPhone.

Read The Count of Monte Cristo free

Download Book2Life on the App Store