"The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas. What was/were the ongoing theme(s) of this novel? Explain and support your answer.

The theme of The Count of Monte Cristo is one of vengeance and forgiveness, power and powerlessness. When Dantes is unfairly given a life-prison sentence by his enemies (Villefort, Danglars, and Fernand), he spends every waking moment planning his revenge. As soon as Dantes miraculously escapes and returns to the world with riches, he sees it as a sign that God has opened for him the door of revenge. No longer does the reader recognize …

…Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss." Throughout this whole time, he has found out that it is not his place to kill or punish others, for the innocent may get in the view of his path, and even though he tries to avoid it from destroying innocent people, vengeance, in itself, is an indestructible, powerful force that should not be in the hands or hearts of humanity.