Chapters 5-8 can be found here.
These next few chapters are light on Edmond Dantes. Following his illegal incarceration on the island of Chateau d’If, the narrative focuses on Villefort’s efforts to protect his good name, while also moving with the tide. If the king is in power, he wants to remain in His Grace’s good grace. If Bonaparte took over, Villefort would then use his own father’s influence to stay out of harm’s way. There’s a lot of politics and French military history in these five chapters, and they set the scene for what comes later in the novel.
Louis XVIII, King of France, is returned to his rightful place following Napoleon Bonaparte’s exile to Elba. But what he’s about to find out from Villefort, who has urgently requested a meeting with the king, will shake him to his core. Napoleon has escaped from captivity just as the two men meet. Villefort uses the information he got from Dantes, an innocent man, to win favour with the king, who awards him with the Legion of Honour. The chief of police isn’t impressed, and finds himself soon out of a job. Villefort knows that he can play both sides.
Meanwhile, Villefort’s father, Noirtier, visits his son, aware that he’s wanted in connection with the assassination of a royalist general. Noirtier changes his appearance, telling Villefort that Napoleon is once again emperor-in-waiting. He has a huge following in France regardless of his exile.
The Hundred Days War soon follows. Louis XVIII is deposed, Napoleon has control over France, and calamity ensues. The Battle of Waterloo seals Napoleon’s fate once more. But before all of this, M. Morrel seeks to have Dantes released from prison. While Napoleon is in power, the ship-owner asks Villefort to intercede with the emperor on Dantes’ behalf. Villefort, the coward that he is, shrugs him off with vague promises. The other co-conspirators deal with the changing political landscape in their own way. Fernand still hopes to win Mercedes’ hand, but joins Napoleon’s forces. Danglars leaves for Madrid. Caderousse remains where he is, ruined and ruled by jealousy, drinking away like nothing else matters in life. Dantes’ poor father dies destitute and in misery. M. Morrel pays for his funeral.
And so ends what is, for me, the first part of the novel. Dumas has placed his characters all across France and Spain. The scene is set for Dantes’ impending escape and plans for revenge.
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