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Informationen zum Autor Alexander Dumas (1802-1870), author of more than ninety plays and many novels, was well known in Parisian society and was a contemporary of Victor Hugo. After the success of The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas dumped his entire fortune into his own Chateau de Monte Cristo-and was then forced to flee to Belgium to escape his creditors. He died penniless but optimistic. Klappentext D'Artagnan and his musketeer comrades--Porthos, Athos and Aramis--fight to foil the schemes of the brilliant, dangerous Cardinal Richelieu. The Three Musketeers INTRODUCTION The Three Musketeers: ROMANCE OF THE FRENCH IDEAL The Three Musketeers well represents the literary skills of Alexandre Dumas. It is one of those rare novels that seems to be perfectly at home in three different time periods—in 1628, when the novel is set; in the mid-nineteenth century, when it was written in 1844; and today, where it remains as an engrossing work of fiction and a constant temptation for moviemakers. The Three Musketeers has received more affection than respect over the years. Alexandre Dumas was one of those tremendously productive authors who could regularly write for long hours at a time and complete works as quickly as his many fans could devour them. Literary critics have therefore sometimes assumed that The Three Musketeers—because it was written quickly, with a collaborator, and for profit—is too popular for its own good and can’t be considered a literary masterpiece. It is a fine adventure story for young boys, they claim, without much to offer adults looking for something more substantial. However, those readers and critics who see The Three Musketeers as just romantic adventures full of swashbuckling sword fights perhaps overlook what it represents. During a time of great turmoil and upheaval in France, at the end of a long period when the foundations of French politics and society were questioned, The Three Musketeers stood as a profoundly idealistic novel. It showed its original readers everything they thought was grand about being French: honor and chivalry; loyalty to friends; an adventurous spirit; a taste for elegance; and of course passion for good food, wine, and beautiful lovers. Today, two hundred years later, these values still strike a universal chord. The Life and Work of Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas ranks among the most widely read novelists of Romantic literature and may be the most beloved writer France has ever produced. His adventure stories depict the heroic triumph of human strength and endurance, a legacy he was born into. Dumas’s father, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, was born in Santo Domingo (now Haiti) in 1762 to a black slave and her owner, the Marquis de la Pailleterie, a Frenchman who had come to the Caribbean to seek his fortune as a sugar planter. The marquis sold Thomas and three siblings, but purchased him back when he was fourteen years old and brought him to France. Once there, Thomas severed ties with his father, took his mother’s name, and joined the army. By thirty-one, he was a general serving under Napoleon Bonaparte. The bravery he exhibited and the injustices he suffered were worthy of one of his son’s plot lines. However, he had a falling-out with Napoleon, who refused to pay his pension, and died at the age of forty-four, leaving his widow and two children virtually penniless. Alexandre Dumas was born in Villers-Cotterêts, France, on July 24, 1802. His early education was provided by family, neighbors, and the local priest, but in 1812, Alexandre’s mother was granted a license to sell tobacco, which gave her enough money to send him to a private school. At the age of thirteen, Dumas felt ...
