Carnival colors give way to iron reality. Amid preparation and spectacle, death stands fully exposed.

In this passage of The Count of Monte Cristo, the Count provides Franz and Albert with Carnival costumes chosen for their practicality, but Franz scarcely hears him. His attention is seized by the Piazza del Popolo and the grim apparatus at its center. For the first time in his life, Franz beholds a guillotine—the Roman mandaïa—its curved blade gleaming in open daylight.

The scene grows more disturbing as the executioner’s assistants casually eat and drink atop the very plank meant for the condemned. Ordinary gestures unfold beside an instrument of death, and the contrast overwhelms Franz. Below, soldiers form rigid lines between the church and the scaffold, enclosing a wide, empty space where ceremony, punishment, and public gaze are about to converge.

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The Countdown of Monte Cristo is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel — every day, for four years. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Count of Monte Cristo.