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| “ | The combination of Paris and me is hardly a recipe for fidelity, is it? But since my attempts at discretion have evidently failed, there seems little point in keeping up pretenses. It's actually quite... liberating. Wouldn't you say? | „ |
| ~ Fernand Mondego to his wife, Mercedes. |
Fernand Mondego is the main antagonist in Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo.
He is Edmond Dantés' rival for the affections of a woman named Mercedes. He conspires to have Dantés unjustly imprisoned, leading to his return as the Count of Monte Cristo.
In the 2002 film, he was portrayed by Guy Pearce, who also played Leonard Shelby in Memento, Kendall Duncan in Bedtime Stories, Peter Weyland in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, Charlie Rakes in Lawless, Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3, The Reverend in Brimstone, Ebenezer Scrooge in the 2019 A Christmas Carol miniseries, Emil Harting in Bloodshot and Thomas Clay in Tom Clancy's Without Remorse.
Biography[]
Novel[]
In the novel, Mondego is Mercedes' cousin and harbors unrequited feelings for her. Jealous of Dantes for winning her heart, he hatches a plan to have Dantes imprisoned. He learns that Dantes' captain, Leclaire, has given him a letter to deliver to a wealthy man named Noirtier - who, unbeknownst to Dantes, is an ally of the exiled Napoleon Bonaparte. Mondego conspires with Dantes' shipmate Danglars, who covets Dantes' position as Leclaire's heir apparent, to send a note accusing Dantes of treason to Noirtier's son Villefort, a local magistrate. Wanting to keep his father's Bonapartist sympathies secret, Villefort destroys the original letter and charges Dantes with treason. Dantes is convicted and imprisoned in the Chateau d'If.
During Dantes' imprisonment, Mondego marries Mercedes, has a son with her named Albert, and becomes a celebrated general in the French Army. He is given the title of Count de Morcerf in recognition of his successes on the battlefield. Several years later, Mondego meets the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo—unaware that he is none other than Dantes, who had escaped from prison and reinvented himself as a wealthy nobleman to get revenge on the men who destroyed his life.
Dantes learns that, years before, Mondego had betrayed the Ottoman ruler Ali Pasha to the Turks and sold Pasha's wife and daughter into slavery. Dantes leaks the story to the press, and the resulting scandal ruins Mondego's reputation. Mondego is brought before trial for his crimes, and Mercedes and Albert disown him upon learning what he had done to Dantes. Completely alone and facing imprisonment, Mondego commits suicide by shooting himself.
Film[]
Mondego is an aristocrat and Dantes' childhood friend in the film adaptation. A spoiled, narcissistic bully, Mondego considers Dantes, who is poor, his natural inferior. He nevertheless lusts after Dantes' fiancee, Mercedes, and resents Dantes for being happier with nothing than he is with everything. As in the novel, he conspires with Danglars and Villefort to frame Dantes for treason and marries Mercedes once his rival is imprisoned. (In a departure from the novel, he also murders Villefort's father.) He has a son with Mercedes named Albert but is unaware that the boy is actually Dantes' offspring and that Mercedes only married him to provide security for her unborn child.
By the time Dantes escapes from prison, Mondego has inherited his father's estate and become one of the wealthiest men in France, however, over time he squanders his family fortune on gambling and women and becomes openly unfaithful to Mercedes. Dantes inserts himself into the unwitting Mondego's life as the Count of Monte Cristo by staging Albert's kidnapping and rescue. He then engineers the arrests and confessions of Danglars and Villefort, which directly implicate Mondego in conspiracy and murder.
As Mondego tries to flee, Dantes reveals his true identity to his former friend and prepares to kill him. However, upon learning that Albert is his son, Dantes relents and spares Mondego's life. Mondego is overcome with rage and jealousy and engages Dantes in a duel. Dantes, who is the superior swordsman, stabs Mondego in the heart, killing him.
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Fernand Mondego on the Pure Evil Wiki