Le Carnaval de Rome dans "Le Comte de Monte-Cristo" d’Alexandre Dumas: la vision romantique d’un rite pittoresque aux allégories multiples

Abstract

This article aims to decipher the appropriation by Dumasian literature of a major event in the Roman calendar: Carnival, for which The Count of Monte Cristo offers two overlapping readings. On the one hand, the work describes a historical rite that singularly echoes the Manichean patterns of a popular novel. On the other hand, its metaphorical significance lends mythical resonances to the eponymous protagonist. By feeding on the values of Carnival to validate his change of identity and status, he reveals social hypocrisies and asserts his superiority over his opponent.