The Three Musketeers Published 1844 I ABOUT THE AUTHOR Alexandre Dumas was born on July 24, 1802,

in Villers-Cotterts, a small village in France. His grandfather was a nobleman, the Marquis de la Pailleterie, and his grandmother was a black slave, Marie-Cessette Dumas. After quarreling with the marquis, Alexandre's father renounced the family and enlisted in the army as Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, using his mother's name. In a remarkable career, Thomas-Alexandre rose from the rank of lieutenant to general under Napoleon in less than two years. His boldness in battle prompted the enemy to nickname him 'the Black Devil.' While serving in the army, Thomas-Alexandre married Marie-Louise-Elizabeth Labouret, the daughter of a prominent hotel proprietor, and the couple had one child, Alexandre. In 1806, when young Alexandre was four years old, Thomas-Alexandre was killed. Just as Thomas-Alexandre had argued with the marquis, Alexandre argued with his mother about her wish for him to be educated as a priest. Rather than accepting her plans for sending him to the seminary, Alexandre ran away from home. Educating himself, Dumas began writing plays and in 1829 produced his first literary success, Henri III. He soon established himself as the most popular playwright in Paris, often producing plays in collaboration with other writers. His plays helped change the public's taste in drama from formal tragedies based on Greek drama to highly romantic works that reflected the rapidly changing modern society. Although Dumas was best known in his own time for drama, he is best known now for his novels. Dumas's romantic plays were influenced by Sir Walter Scott's novels, and when Dumas was 40 years old he decided to try writing fiction of his own. His first novel, The Three Musketeers, was a great success and was shortly followed by the immensely popular Count of Monte Cristo. Dumas capitalized on the success of the first novel by writing two sequels to it: Twenty Years After and The Vicomte de Bragelonne (the last third of which has been published as The Man in the Iron Mask.) His plays and novels made Dumas a rich man. He built a fabulous mansion, called Monte Cristo, and traveled a great deal, writing many books about his adventures. Eventually, his generosity and extravagant lifestyle drained his fortune. One of his two sons, also named Alexandre Dumas and a novelist in his own right, looked after him in his last years. Dumas died in Puys, France, on December 5, 1870, of a stroke. II OVERVIEW The Three Musketeers is a historical romance, filled with adventure. Its brave and gallant heroes are generous to those who need help, chivalrous to women, and above all loyal to each other as their famous motto proclaims: 'All for one, one for all.' Their adventures may sometimes appear far-fetched, but the musketeers believe in their own abilities so strongly and carry off their deeds with such style that the reader has little difficulty in believing them capable of all that they do. The individual characters are easily distinguishable, but they are not profoundly developed, for fast-paced and suspenseful action is more important to Dumas's storytelling than is character. Dumas clearly differentiates good and evil characters, although the novel's treatment of good and evil is not as straightforward as it might first appear. The society of the period differs considerably from today's, and the novel provides an interesting look at 17th-century social hierarchy, religion, and relationships between men and women. III SETTING

The story is set in 17th-century France. Dumas's portrait of the time, which was already two centuries past when he wrote about it, is unquestionably idealized. The novel is intended to play on the reader's sense of nostalgia with a look back to a more romantic and picturesque time when men were gallant and chivalrous. Dumas constructs his tale around three historical events of the time: the affair of the queen's diamonds, the siege of La Rochelle, and the assassination of the Duke of Buckingham, each of which dominates approximately one third of the novel. Many of most famous and powerful people of the time appear in the novel as characters: King Louis XIII; his wife, Anne of Austria; his priest, Cardinal Richelieu; and Charles I's prime minister of England, the Duke of Buckingham. Dumas intertwines the lives and actions of his fictional heroes with those of these important historical figures, depicting the latter as genuinely human characters with a complex variety of motives, abilities, and faults. Many translations of the novel retain a smattering of French phrases and titles of address that add to the French atmosphere. IV THEMES AND CHARACTERS The Three Musketeers focuses on d'Artagnan, who is the hero of the book, and his three friends: the musketeers Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. D'Artagnan's great ambition in life is to become a musketeer, a member of the elite group of King Louis XIII's personal bodyguards. His three friends embody the best qualities of the corps. A rivalry that exists between the king's musketeers and Cardinal Richelieu's guards grows into the musketeers' active resistance to the cardinal himself, and to his servants. Athos, Porthos, and Aramis appear to have little in common. Athos obviously belongs to the nobility. Silence, melancholy, and an aversion to women are his distinguishing attributes. He is a brilliant, honorable, virtuous man who hides a mysterious secret in his past. Porthos is his opposite: loud, coarse, vain, and ostentatious, his gifts lie in his enormous size and strength. He constantly boasts of his prowess with beautiful and highly placed women, but here, as with other aspects of his life, he exaggerates his good fortune. Aramis is handsome, charming, and elegant. His extreme discretion about his affairs makes him a mysterious figure. Although Aramis professes a vocation for the priesthood and seems pious, d'Artagnan discovers that he is the lover of one of the most highly placed ladies of the court and is involved in various intrigues. All three of the musketeers are spirited and gallant adventurers who share the traits of bravery and loyalty; they are united by their courage and a sense of common purpose. D'Artagnan himself is a worthy companion of such men. Exceptionally proud and intelligent, he comes to Paris as a young man to earn his fortune. He brings with him no resources except his wits and his skill with a sword. He is both courageous and passionate, but these qualities are equally balanced by prudence. He is neither as well born nor as morally scrupulous as Athos; he is not as well bred as Aramis but admires the latter's elegance and manners. D'Artagnan's own cleverness exceeds that of Aramis, with whom he shares a talent for intrigue. D'Artagnan's poverty sharpens his pride so that he possesses a vanity almost equal to that of Porthos. He also has a healthy amount of ambition and some greed mixed into his character. But above all d'Artagnan has the energy, passion, and enthusiasm of youth, traits that make him a likable character despite his faults. The novel focuses on two political factions in France: one headed by the king and the other by the cardinal. The musketeers serve their captain, Monsieur de Trville, a perfect gentleman and courtier to King Louis XIII. Dumas depicts Louis as a weak and unintelligent ruler. Cardinal Richelieu's character is the exact opposite: he is shrewd and forceful, a penetrating judge of character. The power of the government really rests with him, and he possesses a vision of France's role and destiny. He commands both the respect and the hatred of the musketeers.

Although not an evil man, Richelieu accomplishes his aims and rules efficiently by employing methods not quite in keeping with his position as a cardinal of the Catholic church. The musketeers' mortal enemies are two of the cardinal's favorite servants and spies: the Count de Rochefort and Milady de Winter. Rochefort appears sporadically throughout the novel, but the truly evil person is Milady, who uses her beauty as a tool to seduce and destroy men and women. From the first moment d'Artagnan sees her at the beginning of the novel she fascinates him, and his fate becomes inextricably bound to hers. Milady's deeds become progressively more villainous. She steals the diamond studs from the Duke of Buckingham, forcing the musketeers to journey to England to save the queen's reputation. She is responsible for the abduction of Constance Bonacieux, d'Artagnan's mistress. She is revealed as Athos's former wife, who ruined him when he discovered that she had been branded as a thief. She tries twice to murder d'Artagnan, and she seduces a young man and persuades him to assassinate the Duke of Buckingham. As her final crime, she poisons Constance Bonacieux. There is no doubt that she deserves her ultimate fate, although her trial by the musketeers and subsequent execution pose serious questions about the musketeers' ethical conduct. The characters and actions of the musketeers express the overall themes of the book: the idealism of youth, the growth of maturity, the importance of loyalty and friendship, and the need for bravery in the struggle of good against evil. This struggle is summed up in the contrast between the two rivals for d'Artagnan's affections: the treacherous Milady and the good Constance Bonacieux. V LITERARY QUALITIES The Three Musketeers draws on the literary conventions of the three genres to which it belongs: the romantic, the Gothic, and the historical novel. As a romantic novel, its main interest lies in action rather than character: love, adventure, and combat form the basis of all the episodes of the story. The period seems exotic because of its remoteness, and so possesses a nostalgic attractiveness. The characters appear heroic and larger than life, and the musketeers accomplish almost impossible deeds. At times the trappings are almost Gothic: damsels need to be rescued and won, enigmatic and inscrutable strangers come and go mysteriously, and the characters live under the threat of being arrested and locked in a dungeon. The influence of the historical novel helps to balance these romantic and Gothic elements, and to add realism to the text. Although Dumas's picture of the 17th century is unquestionably idealized, he vividly captures the spirit of the age and presents a picture that feels authentic. The use of historical people as characters who interact with the fictional characters also lends plausibility to the musketeers' heroic deeds. The basic frame of the story draws on a traditional fairy tale motif. The reader can easily recognize d'Artagnan at the outset of the tale as the idealistic poor boy setting off to seek fame and fortune. With the aid of his comrades he overcomes the dangers and obstacles that beset him. By the end of the novel he has attained renown and the rank of lieutenant in the band of musketeers. But success has its price. He has suffered, lost some of his idealism, and become a sadder and wiser man. VI SOCIAL SENSITIVITY Because The Three Musketeers takes place in the 17th century and was written in the 1840s, the standards and customs of the society pictured differ considerably from those of today. Modern readers, particularly American readers, may not always understand the social relationships of a

complexly hierarchical society. The main characters almost all come from the upper classes and assume their superiority on the social scale quite unconsciously. The terms 'gentleman' and 'lady' had different connotations then than they do now, and they were applied only to nobility. Attitudes toward religion and the church differed then, too. France was an almost wholly Catholic country in which the Protestants were persecuted. The church was one of the few careers open to the younger sons of the nobility and had far more secular influence than it does now. Thus, Aramis's attraction toward it is based on more than just natural piety, and Richelieu's position as a cardinal is a logical stepping stone to his political career as the prime minister for King Louis XIII. By modern standards, The Three Musketeers undoubtedly appears sexist: the main characters are men, and the women often seem passive and usually have to be rescued. Milady, the one woman who takes an active role, is a villain who hardly serves as an appropriate role model. The treatment of sexual relations in the narrative depends a good deal upon whether or not the reader has an abridged edition of the novel. In the unabridged edition, it is clear that d'Artagnan's relationships with Milady and her maid Kitty are not celibate. Abridged editions touch only obliquely on the sexual aspects of the love affairs. D'Artagnan's conduct in these two affairs is neither admirable nor gentlemanly, especially given that he is supposedly in love with the missing Constance Bonacieux at the same time. His behavior provokes the narrator to comment that d'Artagnan's lack of scruples springs mostly from two of his dominant characteristics, pride and ambition, but also from the looser morals of the era. Admitting that d'Artagnan is a flawed young man, the narrator tries to present him in the best light possible. The novel also contains a great deal of violence because of the conventions of the romantic tradition into which it fits. Duels and battles occur regularly and usually end with casualties. But the violence is not sadistic; the musketeers and even most of their adversaries observe rules of fair play. The distant historical setting also tones down the impact of the fighting. The execution of Milady at the climax of the novel raises major ethical questions. Although she has committed many monstrous crimes and unquestionably deserves to be punished, the fact that the musketeers privately try and execute her is deeply disturbing. Horrific as her crimes have been, her terror during the trial and on the way to her execution is also horrificto the point that readers can feel some sympathy with d'Artagnan when he is moved by Milady's pleas for mercy. VII TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 1. The title of the book is The Three Musketeers, but the story seems to be mostly about d'Artagnan, who does not become a musketeer until late in the story. What point is Dumas making with the title? 2. Which of the three musketeers is your favorite? Why? 3. Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and d'Artagnan each keep a servant. How does each servant suit his master? 4. When he arrives in Paris, d'Artagnan unintentionally picks a fight with each of the three musketeers. What do the reasons for each quarrel tell you about the personality of each of the musketeers? 5. D'Artagnan's duel with Athos is interrupted by the cardinal's guards, who have a long-standing rivalry with the musketeers. Why does d'Artagnan side with the musketeers when the guards challenge them? This episode sets up the antagonism between the cardinal and the musketeers that runs through the rest of the book. Why do the musketeers oppose the cardinal? 6. D'Artagnan takes revenge on Milady partly because of her role in kidnapping the woman he loves, Constance Bonacieux, and partly because she has pretended to love him. He avenges these

wrongs by doing what she has done to him: he pretends to be the man she loves, the Count de Wardes, and in this guise he insults her by telling her that he is not serious about her. Later he reveals his deception to her, thus increasing her hatred of him. Do you think d'Artagnan is justified in what he does? 7. One of the many deceptions in the novel is that d'Artagnan pretends to love Kitty in order to get at Milady. Why are deceptions essential to develop plot? In the context of romantic literature, is deception the same as dishonesty? 8. The book concludes with Constance Bonacieux's death, Milady's execution, d'Artagnan's promotion to lieutenant, and the breakup of the four musketeers. Is this an appropriate ending to the story? Why or why not? VIII IDEAS FOR REPORTS AND PAPERS 1. How does d'Artagnan's character change from the beginning of the novel to the end? What episodes reveal these changes? 2. At the beginning of The Three Musketeers, neither d'Artagnan nor the reader knows who Milady is, but she becomes the main villain of the story. Trace Milady's development as the villain. When and how does Dumas reveal her as an evil character? 3. D'Artagnan falls in love with Constance Bonacieux, who is the heroine of the novel, but later he also becomes infatuated with Milady, who is the villain. Contrast the two women and the relationships d'Artagnan develops with them. How can he be attracted to both when they differ so completely? 4. The Three Musketeers is a historical novel, which means that it contains events that actually happened and uses as characters people who actually lived. The most accurate historical events in The Three Musketeers are the siege of La Rochelle and the assassination of the Duke of Buckingham, but the affair of the queen's diamond studs has some historical basis too. King Louis XIII, Anne of Austria, and Cardinal Richelieu were all real people. What is the effect of using historical events and people in a fictional story? Do they simply form the background of this novel, or do they play a more essential role in the plot? 5. Find some books in the library that tell you more about one of the historical events or characters, and compare Dumas's portrait with what the other writers say. What differences do you find? What has Dumas changed or left out? Why do you think he made changes, and what effect do they have on the story? IX RELATED TITLES AND ADAPTATIONS Because of the huge success of The Three Musketeers, Dumas wrote two sequels to it. Both of them are set much later than the original novel and show the effects age has on the musketeers and the friendship they share. The events of Twenty Years After occur, as the title suggests, two decades after the events of the first book. France is suffering from political turmoil, and the musketeers, now in their 40s, find themselves in opposite factions. Their differences threaten their former friendship and loyalty; even after resolving not to let politics destroy their unity, they often end up working against each other. They are no longer the invincible foursome of their youth. Readers who know little about French political history will probably find much of the book hard to follow, for the events are much more complex than those of The Three Musketeers. The portion of Twenty Years After that lovers of the original novel will probably enjoy most concerns the musketeers' adventure in England, where they try to rescue Charles I from execution but are foiled by Mordaunt, the son of Milady. The second sequel, The Vicomte de Bragelonne, is a massive, three-volume tome that is twice as long as the first two books put together. It is difficult to find in full length, but the last third has

been published under the title The Man in the Iron Mask and is more readily available. It starts approximately ten years after the previous sequel, with the musketeers in their 50s, and follows their fortunes up through their deaths. Since its earliest days, Hollywood has adapted Dumas's stories to film, and much of the popular image of The Three Musketeers derives from film and television productions. These vary in quality and often use only the most basic elements of the novel's plot, but they are good fun, filled with swashbuckling adventure, and enjoyable for viewers of all ages. Of the various motion-picture versions, the two most important are the 1948 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production and the 1973 British production. The first of these features a screenplay by Robert Ardrey that emphasizes action and swordplay, and provides a happy ending. Gene Kelly, playing d'Artagnan, turns swordfights into ballet. The movie also features Lana Turner as Milady, June Allyson as Constance Bonacieux, Van Heflin as Athos, Gig Young as Porthos, Robert Coote as Aramis, and Vincent Price as Cardinal Richelieu. Although much of the story has been cut out, this version of the novel, taken as it is, is highly entertaining. The second important motion-picture adaptation of the novel was made into two films, filmed simultaneously in 1973 but released separately: The Three Musketeers, released in 1974 and The Four Musketeers, released in 1975. Some of the events have been changed (Constance is strangled, not poisoned, for instance), but all the major plot elements are reproduced. George MacDonald Fraser's screenplay emphasizes the romance of the novel, and it includes much humor and fine wordplay. Director Richard Lester creates a minor masterpiece of rich images and earthy action. The movie features Michael York as d'Artagnan, Oliver Reed as Athos, Richard Chamberlain as Aramis, Frank Finlay as Porthos, Faye Dunaway as Milady, Raquel Welch as Constance, Charlton Heston as Cardinal Richelieu, and Christopher Lee as Rochefort. This superb version of Dumas's novel received an 'R' rating when first released because of its bawdy humor and its violence. Parents may wish to preview these movies before letting their children see them, but most teen-agers will find them entertaining.