ANALYSIS OF
“THE DA VINCI
CODE” BY DAN
BROWN
WHAT WILL THIS PROJECT CONSIST IN?
 Overall information about the book
 Information about the author
 A summary of the book
 An analysis of the characters
 Critics’ opinion about the book
 My opinion on the book
AN OVERVIEW ABOUT THE BOOK AND THE AUTHOR
The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is Brown's second novel to include
the character Robert Langdon: the first was his 2000 novel Angels & Demons. The Da Vinci Code follows
"symbologist" Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu after a murder in the Louvre Museum in
Paris causes them to become involved in a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the
possibility of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene having had a child together.
AN OVERVIEW ABOUT THE BOOK AND THE AUTHOR
The novel explores an alternative religious history, whose central plot point is that the Merovingian kings
of France were descended from the bloodline of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene, ideas derived from
Clive Prince's The Templar Revelation (1997) and books by Margaret Starbird. The book also refers to The
Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (1982) though Dan Brown has stated that it was not used as research
material.
AN OVERVIEW ABOUT THE BOOK AND THE AUTHOR
The Da Vinci Code provoked a popular interest in speculation concerning the Holy Grail legend and Mary
Magdalene's role in the history of Christianity. The book has, however, been extensively denounced by
many Christian denominations as an attack on the Catholic Church, and consistently criticized for its
historical and scientific inaccuracies. The novel nonetheless became a massive worldwide bestseller that
sold 80 million copies as of 2009 and has been translated into 44 languages. In November 2004, Random
House published a Special Illustrated Edition with 160 illustrations. In 2006, a film adaptation was
released by Columbia Pictures.
THE AUTHOR: DAN BROWN
Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his thriller novels,
including the Robert Langdon novels Angels & Demons (2000), The Da Vinci Code (2003), The Lost
Symbol (2009), Inferno (2013) and Origin (2017). His novels are treasure hunts that usually take place
over a period of 24 hours. They feature recurring themes of cryptography, art, and conspiracy theories.
His books have been translated into 57 languages and, as of 2012, have sold over 200 million copies.
Three of them, Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, and Inferno, have been adapted into films.
THE AUTHOR: DAN BROWN
The Robert Langdon novels are deeply engaged with Christian themes and historical fact, and have
generated controversy as a result. Brown states on his website that his books are not anti-Christian and
he is on a "constant spiritual journey" himself. He claims that his book The Da Vinci Code is simply "an
entertaining story that promotes spiritual discussion and debate" and suggests that the book may be
used "as a positive catalyst for introspection and exploration of our faith."
THE AUTHOR: DAN BROWN
The works of Dan Brown can be divided into two categories:
Stand-alone novels
Robert Langdon series
 Digital Fortress (1998)
 Angels & Demons (2000)
 Deception Point (2001)
 The Da Vinci Code (2003)
 Wild Symphony (2020), illustrated children's
 The Lost Symbol (2009)
book
 Inferno (2013)
 Origin (2017)[60]
A SHORT SUMMARY ABOUT THE BOOK
The story tells the investigation started by symbolist Robert Langdon and a good-looking cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, around
the murder of a Museum Louvre's curator. In fact, the unfortunate murdered man was Sophie's grandfather, and the corpse
was found with a series of symbols and codes, like a pentagram and a Fibonacci number sequence. But police detective
Fache will begin to chase Langdon, who escapes after receiving a warning about the captain's real intentions. Sophie has
with her a kind of key with dots and number 24 engraved on it, which opens to her and Langdon a big complex investigation
that involves a supposedly heretic theory: Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene were, in fact, a couple who produced a
daughter named Sara. A millenarian sect called The Priory of Sion has kept for centuries the secret of that matter. A
masochist and kind of psychopath albino monk, Sibilas, an Opus Dei member, will chase Langdon and Sophie as well, in
order to impede that they solve the mystery of Christ and Mary Magdalene, and also the real meaning and location of the
Holy Grail. A passionate British researcher, will help Langdon in his quest, revealing to them several symbolisms in Da Vinci's
master work The Last Supper, traveling to mythical places in the U.K., such as The Church Temple, where it is believed that a
group of Templars Knights are buried, and Sir Isaac Newton's tomb at Westminster Abbey, where are located some of the
main keys to solve the Holy Grail's mystery.
THE CHARACTERS OF THE BOOK
 Robert Langdon
 André Vernet
 Jacques Saunière
 Leigh Teabing
 Sophie Neveu
 Rémy Legaludec
 Bezu Fache
 Jérôme Collet
 Silas
 Marie Chauvel Saint-Clair
 Manuel Aringarosa
 Pamela Gettum
 Sister Sandrine
CRITICS’ OPINION ABOUT THE BOOK
The book generated criticism when it was first published for inaccurate description of core aspects of
Christianity and descriptions of European art, history, and architecture. The book has received mostly
negative reviews from Catholic and other Christian communities.
Many critics took issue with the level of research Brown did when writing the story. The New York Times
writer Laura Miller characterized the novel as "based on a notorious hoax", "rank nonsense", and
"bogus", saying the book is heavily based on the fabrications of Pierre Plantard, who is asserted to have
created the Priory of Sion in 1956.
CRITICS’ OPINION ABOUT THE BOOK
Critics accuse Brown of distorting and fabricating history. For example, Marcia Ford wrote:
“Regardless of whether you agree with Brown's conclusions, it's clear that his history is largely fanciful,
which means he and his publisher have violated a long-held if unspoken agreement with the reader:
Fiction that purports to present historical facts should be researched as carefully as a nonfiction book
would be.”
CRITICS’ OPINION ABOUT THE BOOK
Richard Abanes wrote:
“The most flagrant aspect... is not that Dan Brown disagrees with Christianity but that he utterly warps it
in order to disagree with it... to the point of completely rewriting a vast number of historical events. And
making the matter worse has been Brown's willingness to pass off his distortions as 'facts' with which
innumerable scholars and historians agree.”
CRITICS’ OPINION ABOUT THE BOOK
Janet Maslin of The New York Times said that one word "concisely conveys the kind of extreme
enthusiasm with which this riddle-filled, code-breaking, exhilaratingly brainy thriller can be
recommended. That word is wow. The author is Dan Brown (a name you will want to remember). In this
gleefully erudite suspense novel, Mr. Brown takes the format he has been developing through three
earlier novels and fine-tunes it to blockbuster perfection."
MY OPINION ABOUT THE BOOK
The Code of Da Vinci is truly a wonderful in my honest opinion. The story is unique, as it combines real
facts with an imaginary world. Having read the first book of the series, “Angels and Demons”, I can say
that this book really continues the history of our main character, Robert Langdon, and makes it more and
more interesting. He seems like the main character of a fiction, out of the world history, but he is
described and does things just like a normal human does. I definitely recommend reading this book, if
you haven’t done so already.