"There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more." (Chapter 73) Only a person who has been very miserable can experience the wonder of being very happy. Alexander Dumas conveys this kind of feeling in his novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, in many of the characters. There is a big contrast between two types of characters in the novel. The cruel characters tend to be the ones who are unhappy and dislike their life, not because of the way they are, but because of what they don't have. The kind characters in the novel are content with what they have and live life to the fullest in that. Dumas shows how many things can bring about this feeling of unhappiness. First of all, jealous and envy play a big part in unhappiness. Also, he shows that love and isolation are big factors in living a happy life. .
In the novel, Dumas shows unhappiness to be the most consistent quality that separates the good and evil characters. The sympathetic characters, such as Dantes in the beginning of the novel, are able to evaluate their situations and feel satisfaction with their life. The other kind of unsympathetic characters, like Caderousse ignore the blessings that they have in their lives and concentrate on the things that others have that makes them feel jealous. These feelings are mainly what caused Dantes" enemies to betray him. His enemies, regardless of their great state of wealth and blessing, become very unsatisfied with Dantes" better position. Caderousse can take every situation, no matter how good and great it is, and find something negative about it. Dumas shows this several times in the novel. Caderousse very much could have been satisfied. He was healthy, smart, and pretty well off. But even when he receives the diamond, he cannot see this situation as able to make him satisfied and happy. The opposite to Caderousse, however, has to be Julie and Emmanuel Herbaut.