Alexandre
Dumas and the Epic Romance of the Musketeers
For whatever
questions may have been raised about Alexandre Dumas' prolific
writing (hundreds of books and plays in his lifetime), it can
safely be said that the famous Dumas was the one who brought the
exploits of our hero into homes over 300 years later. As we know
them now, five books comprise the epic story. Originally these
were only three, with Le Victome de Bragelonne, Louise
de la Valliere, and The Man in the Iron Mask being
published in a single volume. For obvious reasons, the publishers
decided to divide up this titan into 3 still formidable volumes.
As I have said
previously, The Musketeers really got their start when Dumas read the first volume of the
Memoirs of Monsieur D'Artagnan written by Gatien de
Courtilz de Sandras (ironically, it is also said that he had never
read past the first volume). Reading the beginning of these
memoirs shows that Dumas almost duplicated the beginning/opening
of the work. More than 100 years after the death of
D'Artagnan and the Memoires of de Sandras, Dumas had decided to
bring new fire into the stories. He also borrowed a couple details
from the Memoires M. le Comte de Rochefort, notably the
branding of M'Lady. Dumas admits to having been
influenced by the very real memoirs of D'Artagnan but also
mentions a non-existent copy of the Memoirs of the Count de la
Fere. It There never was such a set of memoirs and Dumas delighted in
re-creating history as he saw fit. Yet, I believe that is what
fiction is all about.
Of course, some
mention must also be made of Dumas' somewhat 'shady reputation'
when it came to his writing career - some of it somewhat based in
truth. While he had been accused of outright plagiarism, it was
more likely that Dumas may have occasionally been overly fond of
'collaboration,' aka taking ideas from a contemporary or other
individual and rewriting it to his tastes. Our own beloved 'Three
Musketeers' was, indeed, so much a rewritten version of a certain
Auguste Maquet's work (right down to handily provided historical
detail) that Maquet later sued Dumas (for the royalties though -
not for plagiarism, since they had been a collaboration, after
all). To be fair, Maquet had not chosen to sue for plagiarism,
since the history-lover and aspiring writer had agreed to work
with Dumas - but it is said that certain scenes in the earliest
chapters were almost identical. Dumas had a knack for adding
energy to the characters, as well as taking the expansion of the
book to an art (hence why taking a look at the Musketeer series
alone can be quite intimidating!).
The Books
Although I probably
have 2-5 versions of each book, the best reading copy I can
suggest are the Oxford World's Classics editions since they have
helpful and educational footnote references as you read along.
- Three
Musketeers, The
- Twenty Years
After
- Vicomte de
Bragelonne, Le
- Louise de la
Valliere
- Man in the Iron
Mask, The
There are also two
other books that have been sometimes included in the Musketeer
romances but are still shrouded under valid suspicions of
semi-forgery, D'Artagnan the King Maker and the less
suspect, Son of Porthos
How accurate are
they? Since they are based on the already highly-polished Memoirs
by de Sandras, one can hardly write their 17th century literature
paper on Dumas' tomes. Yet, there is nothing worse than someone
who wants to spoil a good story by picking apart the
technicalities. I have included historical information for the
mere interest in the topic- NOT to ruin a great story or to
criticize anyone's research. Where would the legends of
King Arthur and Robin Hood be if we went merely on historical
fact? I have accrued my own personal collections of facts in the
FACTS section of my Musketeer page for more information on the
TRUE characters.