DickK
30th November 2003, 12:48 PM
Having recently watched Gerard Depardieu's splendid 6 hour marathon of Dumas' work on DVD, I thought I'd read the book. I'm now stuck on Chapter 1, line 1, which reads, "On the 24th of February, 1810, the look-out at Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the three-master, the Pharaon from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples."
It is revealed a few lines further on, that the Pharaon had docked at Elba a few days earlier, and given Dantes the opportunity to see Napoleon and thereby hook the plot into play. But Napoleon didn't arrive at Elba until 1814, did he? In 1810 the French were still engaged in the Peninsula War. It's not about the emperor having an 1810 holiday either, the whole plot hinges on a letter from Napoleon to one of his agents on the Bourbon controlled mainland and Dantes' imprisonment for aiding the delivery of said letter (although he is ignorant of the contents and the danger thereof).
I've checked this on-line too, it's not a misprint, and now I'm going mad. Can anyone help me resolve this dilemma? Have I misread the opening?
It is revealed a few lines further on, that the Pharaon had docked at Elba a few days earlier, and given Dantes the opportunity to see Napoleon and thereby hook the plot into play. But Napoleon didn't arrive at Elba until 1814, did he? In 1810 the French were still engaged in the Peninsula War. It's not about the emperor having an 1810 holiday either, the whole plot hinges on a letter from Napoleon to one of his agents on the Bourbon controlled mainland and Dantes' imprisonment for aiding the delivery of said letter (although he is ignorant of the contents and the danger thereof).
I've checked this on-line too, it's not a misprint, and now I'm going mad. Can anyone help me resolve this dilemma? Have I misread the opening?