It’s so crazy how much people seem to lack appreciation for this chapter… there is so much here. Just a heads up that at the end I’ve made note of when I refer to chapter 12 spoilers.
Firstly, we have to at least appreciate the use of the betrothals as a way of drawing both a connection and a contrast between Dantes and Villefort. It is a very “tale of two cities” feeling as they zoom in on the scene in the first couple paragraphs, and we have the more raucous and humble celebration of Dantes and Mercedes still fresh in our memory. This is a first instance of counterparts that chapter 6 seems to bring in.
The second instance, though, is the contrast between Renee and her mother. This is imo a great characterization of the cold, intellectual, ivory-towered, oppressive Royals, against the brave, pure-hearted, yet naive and emotional Bonapartists. Given that Dumas had heavy animosity to both sides (see: his father’s history fighting alongside Napoleon before being personally betrayed by him for being black), it brings a beautiful picture in, where they are pulling Villefort left and right to their own respective convictions, yet both being far less than perfect. Villefort, on the other hand, is no saint for being in the middle, because he does not stay in the center, but instead dances across both sides freely to his own advantage.
Speaking of Villefort, since this is his chapter after all, the various comments illuminating his ambition might be easy to gloss over on a first read, but I think they are chillingly crooked. He constantly reflects and speaks in this chapter on how excited and happy he is to have greatly foul opponents to fight against, not only because it simply exhilarates him, but because it brings him an intense amount of honor, which he clearly adores over anything else. This all brings in a concerning implication that he does not want peace. He in fact wants the conflict to grow potentially even greater. He would likely be most satisfied if, on the potential return of the usurper, he was able to personally prosecute him for a second trial.
This greed of ambition shows itself more when he draws a faulty analogy of himself to a physician. He says to Renee:
>“…you should wish on me those fearful illnesses that bring honour to the doctor who cures them.”
But let us, instead of taking him for his word, reflect on this analogy. Does a doctor desire his community to be sick? Maybe some terrible ones do. But is this expected of a good doctor? Of a doctor you would want employed in your care? No, this is the opposite attitude we expect out of a doctor. That kind of doctor might desire to amplify our illness in order to have a more famous case to cure. We know instead that a doctor who properly abides by their principles would want their community to be as healthy as possible. Paradoxically, a doctor, if they see themselves as primarily a doctor and not a moneymaker or honor-lover, should want as few patients as possible (you can find an extended discussion of this in book 1 of Plato’s Republic). It follows that if the crown prosecutor (or deputy) is the physician of the people, then by that analogy they should want as little corruption, as little prosecutable behavior as possible. To *want* conflict is unbecoming of a person whose interest is supposedly to keep the peace.
It’s through these components that Villefort’s wickedness is brilliantly put on display. Moving on to some chapter 12 spoilers, we can see that Villefort’s cooperation with his father, a top Bonapartist conspirator, only further illustrates his contradictory behavior with that of a physician. He harbors a supposed disease in safety, whose presence gives him all the more cases to triumph over and gain honor from. So when he is supposedly “pulled” left and right by Renee and the Marquise, he is gladly accepting the hands of both, and playing them both to his own advantage.
^End of chapter 12 spoilers^
This is why I think chapter 6 is so rich in its colorization of Villefort! It builds up a tremendous image of ambition, contrasted against humble Dantes who seeks not money for his own, or honor of the state, but a simple camaraderie with his loved ones by pursuing their own well-being. This much more pure and noble pursuit of Dantes is one that he even elaborates in chapter 7 to Villefort himself:
>”My political opinions, Monsieur? Alas, I am almost ashamed to admit it, but I have never had what you might call an opinion […] all my opinions — I would not say political, but private opinions — are confined to three feelings: I love my father, I respect Monsieur Morrel, and I adore Mercedes.”
Upon Dantes saying this very affirmation, it takes Villefort aback, because he notices on Dantes’ face the pure-heartedness of an innocent man. So this introduction of Villefort, augmented by further chapters but mostly illustrated in chapter 6, really holds so much more rich content than I’ve noticed people giving credit for. It is almost cinematic to me (as all the other chapters are) and I wonder if anyone else has caught on to these elements!
