The Three Musketeers
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''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical
adventure novel Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of romance fiction. History In the Introduction to the ''Encycloped ...
written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the
swashbuckler A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, guile and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, daring, ...
genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight for justice. Set between 1625 and 1628, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan (a character based on
Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan Charles de Batz de Castelmore (), also known as d'Artagnan and later Count d'Artagnan ( 1611 – 25 June 1673), was a French Musketeer who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard. He died at the siege of Maastricht in the Fra ...
) after he leaves home to travel to Paris, hoping to join the Musketeers of the Guard. Although d'Artagnan is not able to join this elite corps immediately, he is befriended by three of the most formidable musketeers of the age – Athos,
Porthos Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), '' Twenty Years After'' (1845), and '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the othe ...
and
Aramis René d'Herblay, alias Aramis, is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), '' Twenty Years After'' (1845), and '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers, A ...
, "the three musketeers" or "the three inseparables" – and becomes involved in affairs of state and at court. ''The Three Musketeers'' is primarily a historical and adventure novel. However, Dumas frequently portrays various injustices, abuses and absurdities of the Ancien Régime, giving the novel an additional political significance at the time of its publication, a time when the debate in France between republicans and
monarchists Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...
was still fierce. The story was first serialised from March to July 1844, during the
July Monarchy The July Monarchy (french: Monarchie de Juillet), officially the Kingdom of France (french: Royaume de France), was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 F ...
, four years before the French Revolution of 1848 established the Second Republic. The story of d'Artagnan is continued in ''
Twenty Years After ''Twenty Years After'' (french: Vingt ans après) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized from January to August 1845. A book of ''The d'Artagnan Romances'', it is a sequel to ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) and precedes the 1847–1850 no ...
'' and '' The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later''.


Origin

Dumas presents his novel as one of a series of recovered manuscripts, turning the origins of his romance into a little drama of its own. In the preface, he tells of being inspired by a scene in ''Mémoires de Monsieur d'Artagnan'' (1700), a historical novel by
Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras (1644, Montargis – 8 May 1712, Paris) was a French novelist, journalist, pamphleteer and memorialist. His abundant output includes short stories, gallant letters, tales of historical love affairs (''Les Intrigue ...
, printed by Pierre Rouge in Amsterdam, which Dumas discovered during his research for his history of
Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...
. According to Dumas, the incident where d'Artagnan tells of his first visit to M. de Tréville, captain of the Musketeers, and how, in the antechamber, he encountered three young Béarnese with the names Athos, Porthos and Aramis, made such an impression on him that he continued to investigate. That much is true – the rest is fiction: He finally found the names of the three musketeers in a manuscript titled ''Mémoire de M. le comte de la Fère, etc.'' Dumas "requested permission" to reprint the manuscript; permission was granted:
Now, this is the first part of this precious manuscript which we offer to our readers, restoring it to the title which belongs to it, and entering into an engagement that if (of which we have no doubt) this first part should obtain the success it merits, we will publish the second immediately. In the meanwhile, since godfathers are second fathers, as it were, we beg the reader to lay to our account and not to that of the Comte de la Fère, the pleasure or the ennui he may experience. This being understood, let us proceed with our story.
''The Three Musketeers'' was written in collaboration with
Auguste Maquet Auguste Maquet (; 13 September 1813 – 8 January 1888) was a French author, best known as the chief collaborator of French novelist Alexandre Dumas, père, co-writing such works as ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' and ''The Three Musketeers''. ...
, who also worked with Dumas on its sequels (''
Twenty Years After ''Twenty Years After'' (french: Vingt ans après) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized from January to August 1845. A book of ''The d'Artagnan Romances'', it is a sequel to ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) and precedes the 1847–1850 no ...
'' and '' The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later''), as well as '' The Count of Monte Cristo''. Maquet would suggest plot outlines after doing historical research; Dumas then expanded the plot, removing some characters, including new ones and imbuing the story with his unmistakable style. ''The Three Musketeers'' was first published in serial form in the newspaper ''
Le Siècle ''Le Siècle'' ("''The Age''") is a daily newspaper that was published from 1836 to 1932 in France. History In 1836, ''Le Siècle'' was founded as a paper that supported constitutional monarchism. However, when the July Monarchy came to an end ...
'' between March and July 1844.


Plot

In 1625 France, D'Artagnan leaves his family in Gascony and travels to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
to join the Musketeers of the Guard. At a house in
Meung-sur-Loire Meung-sur-Loire () is a commune in the Loiret department, north-central France. It was the site of the Battle of Meung-sur-Loire in 1429. Geography Meung-sur-Loire lies 15 km to the west of Orléans on the north bank of the river Loire ...
, an older man derides D'Artagnan's horse. Insulted, D'Artagnan demands a duel. But the older man's companions instead beat D'Artagnan unconscious with a cooking pot and a metal tong that breaks his sword. His letter of introduction to Monsieur de Tréville, the commander of the musketeers, is also stolen. D'Artagnan resolves to avenge himself upon the older man, who is later revealed to be the Comte de Rochefort, an agent of Cardinal Richelieu, who is passing orders from the cardinal to his spy, Lady de Winter, usually called
Milady de Winter Milady Laurence de Winter, often referred to as simply Milady, is a fictional character in the novel ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) by Alexandre Dumas, père, set in 1625 France. She is a spy for Cardinal Richelieu and is one of the dominant a ...
or simply "Milady". In Paris, D'Artagnan visits Monsieur de Tréville at the headquarters of the musketeers, but without the letter, Tréville politely refuses his application. He does, however, write a letter of introduction to an academy for young gentlemen which may prepare his visitor for recruitment at a later time. From Tréville's window, D'Artagnan sees Rochefort passing in the street below and rushes out of the building to confront him, but in doing so he offends three musketeers, Athos,
Porthos Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), '' Twenty Years After'' (1845), and '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the othe ...
and
Aramis René d'Herblay, alias Aramis, is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), '' Twenty Years After'' (1845), and '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers, A ...
, who each demand satisfaction; D'Artagnan must fight a duel with all of them that afternoon. As D'Artagnan prepares himself for the first duel, he realizes that Athos's seconds are Porthos and Aramis, who are astonished that the young Gascon intends to duel them all. As D'Artagnan and Athos begin, Cardinal Richelieu's guards appear and attempt to arrest D'Artagnan and the three musketeers for illegal dueling. Although they are outnumbered four to five, the four men win the battle. D'Artagnan seriously wounds Jussac, one of the cardinal's officers and a renowned fighter. After learning of this, King Louis XIII appoints D'Artagnan to Des Essart's company of the King's Guards and gives him forty pistoles. D'Artagnan hires a servant named Planchet, finds lodgings and reports to Monsieur des Essart, whose company is a less prestigious regiment in which he will have to serve for two years before being considered for the musketeers. Shortly after, his landlord speaks to him about the kidnapping of his wife, Constance Bonacieux. When she is presently released, D'Artagnan falls in
love at first sight Love at first sight is a personal experience as well as a common trope in literature: a person or character feels an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction for a stranger upon first seeing that stranger. Described by p ...
with her. She works for Queen Anne of France, who is secretly having an affair with the English
duke of Buckingham Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses of Buckingham. ...
. The king, Louis XIII, gave the queen a gift of diamond studs, but she gives them to her lover as a keepsake. Cardinal Richelieu, who wants war between France and England, plans to expose the tryst and persuades the king to demand that the queen wear the diamonds to a soirée that the cardinal is sponsoring. Constance tries to send her husband to London to fetch the diamonds from Buckingham, but the man is instead manipulated by Richelieu and thus does not go, so D'Artagnan and his friends intercede. En route to England, the Cardinal's henchmen repeatedly attack them and only D'Artagnan and Planchet reach London. Before arriving, D'Artagnan is compelled to assault and nearly to kill, the Comte de Wardes, a friend of the Cardinal, cousin of Rochefort and Milady's lover. Although Milady stole two of the diamond studs, Buckingham provides replacements while delaying the thief's return to Paris. D'Artagnan is thus able to return a complete set of jewels to Queen Anne just in time to save her honour. In gratitude, she gives him a beautiful ring. Shortly afterward, D'Artagnan begins an affair with Madame Bonacieux. Arriving for an assignation, he sees signs of a struggle and discovers that Rochefort and M. Bonacieux, acting under the orders of the Cardinal, have assaulted and imprisoned Constance. D'Artagnan and his friends, now recovered from their injuries, return to Paris. D'Artagnan meets Milady de Winter officially and recognizes her as one of the Cardinal's agents, but becomes infatuated with her until her maid reveals that Milady is indifferent toward him. Entering her quarters in the dark, he pretends to be the Comte de Wardes and trysts with her. He finds a ''
fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...
'' branded on Milady's shoulder, marking her as a felon. Discovering his identity, Milady attempts to kill him but D'Artagnan eludes her. He is later ordered to the
Siege of La Rochelle The siege of La Rochelle (, or sometimes ) was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627–28. The siege marked the height of the struggle between the Catholics and the Pr ...
. He is informed that the queen has rescued Constance from prison. At an inn, the musketeers overhear the Cardinal asking Milady to murder Buckingham, a supporter of the Protestant rebels at La Rochelle who has sent troops to assist them. Richelieu gives her a letter that excuses her actions as under orders from the Cardinal himself, but Athos takes it. The next morning, Athos bets that he, D'Artagnan, Porthos and Aramis and their servants can hold the recaptured St. Gervais bastion against the rebels for an hour, for the purpose of discussing their next course of action. They resist for an hour and a half before retreating, killing 22 Rochellese in total; D'Artagnan is made a musketeer as a result of this feat. They warn Lord de Winter and the duke of Buckingham. Milady is imprisoned on arrival in England, but she seduces her guard, Felton (a fictionalization of the real John Felton) and persuades him to allow her to escape and to kill Buckingham himself. Upon her return to France, Milady hides in a convent where Constance is also staying. The naïve Constance clings to Milady, who sees a chance for revenge on D'Artagnan and fatally poisons Constance before D'Artagnan can rescue her. The musketeers arrest Milady before she reaches Cardinal Richelieu. They bring an official executioner, put her on trial, sentence her to death, and execute her. After her execution, the four friends return to the Siege of La Rochelle. The Cardinal's Guards arrest D’Artagnan and take him to the cardinal. When questioned about Milady's execution, D'Artagnan presents her letter of pardon as his own. Impressed with D'Artagnan's wilfulness and secretly glad to be rid of Milady, the Cardinal destroys the letter and writes a new order, giving the bearer a promotion to lieutenant in the Tréville company of musketeers, leaving the name blank. D'Artagnan offers the letter to Athos, Porthos and Aramis in turn but each refuses it; Athos because it is beneath him, Porthos because he is retiring to marry his wealthy mistress and Aramis because he is joining the priesthood. D'Artagnan, though heartbroken and full of regrets, finally receives the promotion he had coveted.


Characters

;Musketeers * Athos – Comte de la Fère: he has never recovered from his marriage to Milady and seeks solace in wine. He becomes a
father figure A father figure is usually an older man, normally one with power, authority, or strength, with whom one can identify on a deeply psychology, psychological level and who generates emotions generally felt towards one's father. Despite the literal te ...
to d'Artagnan. *
Porthos Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), '' Twenty Years After'' (1845), and '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the othe ...
– M. du Vallon: a
dandy A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle des ...
, fond of fashionable clothes and keen to make a fortune for himself. The least cerebral of the quartet, he compensates with his homeric strength of body and character. *
Aramis René d'Herblay, alias Aramis, is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), '' Twenty Years After'' (1845), and '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers, A ...
– René d'Herblay, a handsome young man who hesitates between his religious calling and his fondness for women and scheming. * D'Artagnan – Charles de Batz de Castelmore D'Artagnan: a young, foolhardy, brave and clever man seeking to become a musketeer in France. ;Musketeers' servants *Planchet – a young man from Picardy, he is seen by Porthos on the Pont de la Tournelle spitting into the river below. Porthos takes this as a sign of good character and hires him on the spot to serve d'Artagnan. He turns out to be a brave, intelligent and loyal servant. *Grimaud – a Breton. Athos is a strict master and only permits his servant to speak in emergencies; he mostly communicates through sign language. *Mousqueton – originally a Norman named Boniface; Porthos, however, changes his name to one that sounds better. He is a would-be dandy, just as vain as his master. In lieu of pay, he is clothed and lodged in a manner superior to that usual for servants, dressing grandly in his master's old clothes. *Bazin – from the province of Berry, Bazin is a pious man who waits for the day his master (Aramis) will join the church, as he has always dreamed of serving a priest. ;Others *
Milady de Winter Milady Laurence de Winter, often referred to as simply Milady, is a fictional character in the novel ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) by Alexandre Dumas, père, set in 1625 France. She is a spy for Cardinal Richelieu and is one of the dominant a ...
– a beautiful and evil spy of the Cardinal, she is also Athos's ex-wife. D'Artagnan impersonates a rival to spend a night with her, attracting her deadly hatred. *
Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...
is a more conventional agent of the Cardinal. Following their duel on the road to Paris, d'Artagnan swears to have his revenge. He loses several opportunities, but their paths finally cross again towards the end of the novel. *Constance Bonacieux – the queen's seamstress and confidante. After d'Artagnan rescues her from the cardinal's guard, he immediately falls in love with her. She appreciates his protection, but the relationship is never consummated. *Monsieur Bonacieux – Constance's husband. He initially enlists d'Artagnan's help to rescue his wife from the Cardinal's Guards, but when he himself is arrested, he and the Cardinal discover they have an understanding. Richelieu turns Monsieur Bonacieux against his wife and he goes on to play a role in her abduction. *Kitty – a servant of Milady de Winter. She dislikes her mistress and adores d'Artagnan. *Lord de Winter – brother of Milady's second husband, who died of a mysterious disease (apparently poisoned by Milady). He imprisoned Milady upon her arrival in England and decided to send her overseas in exile. Later, he took part in Milady's trial. ;Historical characters *King Louis XIII of France – presented by Dumas as a fairly weak monarch often manipulated by his chief minister. *Queen
Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 un ...
– the unhappy queen of France. * Cardinal Richelieu – Armand Jean du Plessis, the king's chief minister, who plots against the queen in resentment at having his advances rebuffed. Dumas describes him as being "36 or 37" though in 1625 Richelieu was 40. * M. de Tréville – captain of the musketeers and something of a mentor to d'Artagnan, though he has only a minor role. * George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham – a handsome and charismatic man used to getting his way: he thinks nothing of starting a war between England and France for his personal convenience. His courtship of Anne of Austria gets her in trouble. * John Felton – a Puritan officer assigned to guard Milady and warned about her ways, he is nonetheless seduced and fooled by her in a matter of days and assassinates Buckingham at her request.


Editions

''Les Trois Mousquetaires'' was translated into three English versions by 1846. One of these, by William Barrow (1817–1877), is still in print and fairly faithful to the original, available in the Oxford World's Classics 1999 edition. To conform to 19th-century English standards, all of the explicit and many of the implicit references to sexuality were removed, adversely affecting the readability of several scenes, such as the scenes between d'Artagnan and Milady. There are 3 modern translations as well. One recent English translation is Will Hobson in 2002. Another is by
Richard Pevear Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky are literary translators best known for their collaborative English translations of classic Russian literature. Individually, Pevear has also translated into English works from French, Italian, and Greek. The ...
(2006), who, though applauding Barrow's work, states that most of the modern translations available today are "textbook examples of bad translation practices" which "give their readers an extremely distorted notion of Dumas' writing." The most recent translation is by the American translator Lawrence Ellsworth (Lawrence Schick) published by Pegasus Books in February 2018 from the 1956 French edition. Ellsworth decided to translate the full trilogy of
The d'Artagnan Romances ''The d'Artagnan Romances'' are a set of three novels by Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870), telling the story of the 17th-century musketeer d'Artagnan. Dumas based the character and attributes of d'Artagnan on captain of musketeers Charles de Batz-Ca ...
as well as the two novels of The Count of Moret for 21st century readers in 9 volumes, making it the first complete translation in over a century and a half. 5 out of 9 volumes have been published, the 6th is in preparation for publishing, and the 7th volume is in progress in a serialized translation on Substack.


Adaptations


Film

* ''The Three Musketeers'' (1921), a silent film adaptation starring
Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...
. * ''The Three Musketeers'' (1939), a musical comedy adaptation starring Don Ameche and The
Ritz Brothers The Ritz Brothers were an American family comedy act who performed extensively on stage, in nightclubs and in films from 1925 to the late 1960s. A fourth brother, George, acted as their manager. Early life The four brothers were born to Austria ...
. * ''The Three Musketeers'' (1948), a 1948 adaptation starring Van Heflin,
Lana Turner Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized pe ...
, June Allyson, Angela Lansbury and Gene Kelly. * ''The Three Musketeers'' (1973), an adaptation by
Richard Lester Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for directing the Beatles' films '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and '' Help!'' (1965), and the superhero films ' ...
starring Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay, Richard Chamberlain and
Michael York Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Ro ...
. This was only the first half of the Dumas novel, with the rest appearing in the following year's '' The Four Musketeers''. *''
D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers ''D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers'' (russian: Д'Артаньян и три мушкетёра, ''D'Artanyan i tri mushketyora'') is a three-part swashbuckler musical miniseries produced in the Soviet Union and first aired in 1978. It is based o ...
'' (1978), a popular Soviet musical featuring Mikhail Boyarsky * ''The Three Musketeers'' (1993), a 1993 Disney adaptation starring
Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), ''The Thr ...
, Kiefer Sutherland,
Oliver Platt Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a Canadian-born American actor. He is known for his starring roles in many films such as ''Flatliners'' (1990), ''Beethoven'' (1992), '' Indecent Proposal'', ''The Three Musketeers'' (both 1993), '' Execut ...
and
Chris O'Donnell Christopher Eugene O'Donnell (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor and former model. He played Charlie Sims in '' Scent of a Woman'', Chris Reece in ''School Ties'', D'Artagnan in ''The Three Musketeers'', Jack Foley in the drama film '' ...
. *'' The Musketeer'', a 2001 film. * ''The Three Musketeers'' (2011), directed by Paul W. S. Anderson and starring
Luke Evans Luke George Evans (born 15 April 1979) is a Welsh actor and singer. He began his career on the stage, performing in many of London's West End productions such as ''Rent'', ''Miss Saigon'', and '' Piaf'' before making his film breakthrough in ...
,
Ray Stevenson George Raymond Stevenson (born 25 May 1964) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He is known for playing Dagonet in the film ''King Arthur'' (2004) and Titus Pullo in the BBC/ HBO television series ''Rome'' (2005–2007). He has portrayed two M ...
and Milla Jovovich.


Television

The novel has been adapted also for television in live action and animation.


Live action

The BBC has adapted the novel on three occasions. *''The Three Musketeers'', a 1954 BBC adaptation in six 30-minute episodes, starring Laurence Payne, Roger Delgado, Paul Whitsun-Jones and Paul Hansard *'' The Three Musketeers'', a 1966 BBC adaptation in ten 25-minute episodes, directed by Peter Hammond and starring Jeremy Brett, Jeremy Young and
Brian Blessed Brian Blessed (; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor, presenter, writer and mountaineer. Blessed is known for portraying PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars'', Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of '' I, Claudius'', King Richard I ...
* '' The Musketeers'', a 2014 series by
Adrian Hodges Adrian Hodges (born 4 February 1957) is an English television and film writer. He has won a BAFTA Award. Life and career He began his career in journalism for ''Screen International'' magazine
, is the newest BBC adaptation starring Tom Burke, Santiago Cabrera,
Howard Charles Howard Charles is an English actor who is best known for his portrayal of Porthos in the BBC series '' The Musketeers''. Education He studied at Kingston College in England between 2000 and 2005, earning a BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Performing Ar ...
and
Luke Pasqualino Luca Giuseppe "Luke" Pasqualino (born 19 February 1990) is a British actor of Italian descent. He is best known for his portrayal of Freddie McClair in the television series '' Skins'', d'Artagnan in the television series '' The Musketeers'' a ...
as the titular musketeers. ''
Young Blades ''Young Blades'' is a 13-episode historical fantasy television series that aired on PAX TV from January to June 2005, inspired by Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeers''. Thirteen episodes were made before cancellation. Plot Set in ...
'' is an American/Canadian television series that aired on PAX in 2005. The series serves as a sequel to the novels, centered on the son of d'Artagnan, played by Tobias Mehler. A series adapted for Korean history aired in 2014.


Animation

Walt Disney Productions produced a
Silly Symphony ''Silly Symphony'' is an American animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces ...
cartoon called, '' Three Blind Mouseketeers'', which is loosely based on the novel in 1936, in which the characters are depicted as anthropomorphic animals. A two-part adaptation aired on '' The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo'', with Magoo portraying D'Artagnan. '' The Three Musketeers'' was a series of animated shorts produced by Hanna-Barbera as part of ''
The Banana Splits ''The Banana Splits'' is an American television variety show produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and featuring the Banana Splits, a fictional rock band composed of four costumed animal characters in red marching band hats with yellow plumes. ...
Comedy-Adventure Hour'' and ''The Banana Splits & Friends'' show. '' The Three Musketeers'' was a Hanna-Barbera animated special from 1973. It was part of the 1970s-80s CBS anthology series '' Famous Classic Tales'' that was produced by Hanna-Barbera's Australian division and often aired around the holidays between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. ''
Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds ''Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds'' (Spanish: ''D'Artacán y los Tres Mosqueperros''; Japanese: ''ワンワン三銃士 Wan Wan Sanjuushi'', lit., ''Woof Woof Three Musketeers'') is a children's animated television series that adapts the cl ...
'' is a 1981 Spanish–Japanese
anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
adaptation, where the characters are anthropomorphic dogs. A sequel, ''The Return of Dogtanian'', was released in 1989 by
BRB Internacional BRB Internacional S.A.U is a Spanish licensing and production company of animated television series as ''Around the World with Willy Fog'', ''Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds'' and ''The World of David the Gnome''. On 31 January 2018, WildBrain ...
, Thames Television and Wang Film Productions. Set 10 years after the original, it is loosely based on the novel ''
The Vicomte de Bragelonne ''The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later'' (french: link=no, Le Vicomte de Bragelonne ou Dix ans plus tard ) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is the third and last of '' The d'Artagnan Romances'', following ''The Three Musketeers'' and ''Tw ...
''. A key difference between the two ''Dogtanian'' adaptions and Dumas' novel is that the character traits of Athos and
Porthos Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), '' Twenty Years After'' (1845), and '' The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the othe ...
were interchanged, making Athos the extrovert and Porthos the secretive noble of the group. In 1989, Gakken produced a new anime adaptation called '' The Three Musketeers Anime'', this time with human characters, which features several departures from the original. '' Albert the Fifth Musketeer'' is a 1994 French animated series featuring a new musketeer, the titular Albert. '' Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers'', a direct-to-video animated movie produced by
Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...
and the Australian office of DisneyToon Studios, directed by
Donovan Cook Donovan Ryan Cook III (born January 30, 1968) is an American film director, cartoon creator and producer, best known for creating, directing and producing the animated series ''2 Stupid Dogs'' and directing the Disney animated features ''Return ...
and released on 17 August 2004. A
Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...
adaption of the tale by the name of '' Barbie and the Three Musketeers'' was made in 2009.


Stage

The first stage production was in Dumas' own lifetime as the opera ''Les Trois Mousquetaires'' with a libretto by Dumas himself and music by
Albert Visetti Albert Anthony Visetti (13 May 1846–10 July 1928) was a Dalmatian musician who moved to London where he was Professor of Singing at the Royal College of Music, becoming a Fellow in 1921. He was the stepfather of the novelist Radclyffe Hall. ...
. '' The Three Musketeers'' is a musical with a book by William Anthony McGuire, lyrics by Clifford Grey and
P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...
and music by
Rudolf Friml Charles Rudolf Friml"Mrs. Rudolf Friml to Receive Divorce"
...
. The original 1928 production ran on Broadway for 318 performances. A 1984 revival ran for 15 previews and 9 performances. In 2003, a Dutch musical '' 3 Musketiers'' with a book by André Breedland and music & lyrics by Rob & Ferdi Bolland premiered, which went on to open in Germany (both the Dutch and German production starring Pia Douwes as Milady De Winter) and Hungary. Playwright Peter Raby, composer George Stiles and lyricist Paul Leigh have written another adaptation titled ''The 3 Musketeers, One Musical For All'', originally produced by the now defunct
American Musical Theatre of San Jose The American Musical Theatre of San Jose (AMTSJ), previously known as the San Jose Civic Light Opera (SJCLO), was a major professional nonprofit musical theatre company in San Jose, California. Founded in 1934 as the San Jose Light Opera Associatio ...
. In 2006, an adaptation by Ken Ludwig premiered at the Bristol Old Vic. In this version, d'Artagnan's sister Sabine, "the quintessential tomboy," poses as a young man and participates in her brother's adventures. In 2018, The Dukes performed an outdoor promenade production in Williamson Park, Lancaster, adapted by Hattie Naylor: in this version d'Artagnan was a young woman aspiring to be a musketeer.


Video games and board games

In 1995, publisher U.S. Gold released '' Touché: The Adventures of the Fifth Musketeer'' by video game developers
Clipper Software A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "Cl ...
, a classic point-and-click adventure game. In 2005, Swedish developer Legendo Entertainment published the side-scrolling
platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...
'' The Three Musketeers'' for
Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...
and
Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...
. In July 2009, a version of the game was released for WiiWare in North America and Europe under the title '' The Three Musketeers: One for All!''. In 2009, Canadian developer Dingo Games self-published '' The Three Musketeers: The Game'' for
Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...
and Mac OS X. It is the first game to be truly based on the novel (in that it closely follows the novel's story). 2009 also saw the publication of the asymmetric team board game ''The Three Musketeers "The Queen's Pendants"'' (''Настольная игра "Три мушкетера"'') from French designer Pascal Bernard by the Russian publisher Zvezda. In 2010, a co-operative game called "Mousquetaires du Roy" was released by Ystari and Rio Grande. The alternative spelling of "Roy" was taken from the old French and is rumoured to be preferred over the regular spelling because the publishers desire to have a letter "Y" in the name of the games they publish. Designed by François Combe and Gilles Lehmann for 1-5 players, the medium heavy game depicts the quest to retrieve the Queen's diamonds, while at the same time fending off disasters back in Paris. A sixth player expansion, called "Treville" was also made available in 2010. In 2010, Anuman Interactive launched ''The Three Musketeers'', a hidden object game on PC and MAC. Players follow d'Artagnan in his quest to become a king's musketeer.


Web Series

In 2016, KindaTV launched a web series based on the story of ''The Three Musketeers'', called "All For One". It follows a group of college students, mainly Dorothy Castlemore and is centred around a sorority- Mu Sigma Theta (MST). The majority of characters have been gender-swapped from the original story and most character names are based on the original characters. It covers several themes including the LGBT community, mental health, long-distance relationships and college life.


Audio Drama

In September 2019, Amazon released The Three Musketeers: an Audible Original Audio Drama, which follows the story of the book told from Milady's perspective. In April 2021, Durham University Audio Society began releasing the first season of DUADS' The Three Musketeers. The show originally aired on Durham University's student radio station,
Purple Radio Purple Radio is Durham University's Official Student Radio Station. Purple broadcasts online 24 hours a day during term time, from October until June each year. History Purple FM (1996 - 2005) Purple Radio was previously known as Purple FM ...
, and went on to be nominated for and receive several local awards. The show remains faithful to the events of the novel, but adds in several adventures and touches on additional themes, including LGBT themes. The first season covers the first arc of the book, the quest for the Queen's diamond studs. A second and third season are in the works. In May 2022,
Radio Mirchi Radio Mirchi (also known as 98.3 Mirchi) is a nationwide network of private FM radio stations in India. It is owned by the EntertainmentNetwork India Ltd (ENIL), which is one of the subsidiaries of The Times Group. ''Mirchi'' is Hindi for re ...
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
station aired The Three Musketeers in Bangla version, translated by Rajarshee Gupta for Mirchi's Sunday Suspense Programme. It was narrated by Deepanjan Ghosh. D'Artagnan was voiced by actor Rwitobroto Mukherjee. Athos was voiced by
Gaurav Chakrabarty Gaurav Chakrabarty is an Indian Bengali film and television actor best known for his portrayal of the character Prodipto Lahiri in the Bengali musical TV series ''Gaaner Oparey'' that aired on Star Jalsha from 28 June 2010 to 16 April 2011. Chak ...
, Porthos by Agni, Aramis by Somak, King Louis XIII by Sayak Aman and Cardinal Richelieu by Mir Afsar Ali.


Other

Publisher Albert Lewis Kanter (1897–1973), created '' Classic Comics'' for
Elliot Publishing Company The Gilberton Company, Inc. () was an American publisher best known for the comic book series ''Classics Illustrated'' featuring adaptations of literary classics. Beginning life as an imprint of the Elliot Publishing Company, the company became in ...
in 1941 with its debut issues being ''The Three Musketeers''. '' The Three Mouseketeers'' was the title of two series produced by
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
; the first series was a loose parody of ''The Three Musketeers''. It was also made into motion comics in the Video Comic Book series In 1939, American author Tiffany Thayer published a book titled ''Three Musketeers'' (Thayer, 1939). This is a re-telling of the story in Thayer's words, true to the original plot but told in a different order and with different points of view and emphasis from the original. Fantasy novelist Steven Brust's
Khaavren Romances The ''Khaavren Romances'' are a series of fantasy novels written by Steven Brust and set in the fictional world of Dragaera. The novels are swashbuckling adventure stories involving war, intrigue, and romance. They are heavily influenced by and ho ...
series have all used Dumas novels (particularly the D'Artagnan Romances) as their chief inspiration, recasting the plots of those novels to fit within Brust's established world of Dragaera. His 2020 novel ''
The Baron of Magister Valley ''The Baron of Magister Valley'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Steven Brust, set in the fictional world of Dragaera and part of the Khaavren Romances. Like the other books in that series, the novel is heavily influenced by the d'Artagnan R ...
'' follows suit, using ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' as a starting point. Sarah Hoyt wrote a series of Historical Murder mysteries with the Musketeers as the protagonists. (Hoyt wrote the novels under the name Sarah d'Almeida.)
Tansy Rayner Roberts Tansy Rayner Roberts (born 22 May 1978) is an Australian fantasy writer. Her short stories have been published in a variety of genre magazines, including ''Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine'' and ''Aurealis''. She also writes crime fiction a ...
wrote ''Musketeer Space'', a space opera retelling of the original book in which almost all characters have a different gender, as a weekly serialized novel from 2014 to 2016.


In popular culture


Literature

In the book '' The Assault'', The Three Musketeers is quoted in the Prologue as the protagonist had the story read to him by Mr. Beumer, a lawyer who later becomes senile and in morbidity. The American translator, Lawrence Ellsworth is currently translating
The d'Artagnan Romances ''The d'Artagnan Romances'' are a set of three novels by Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870), telling the story of the 17th-century musketeer d'Artagnan. Dumas based the character and attributes of d'Artagnan on captain of musketeers Charles de Batz-Ca ...
entirely and he has also written a 2-volume novel called The Rose Knight's Crucifixion that is a parallel novel to The Three Musketeers and most of the characters from The Three Musketeers and Sir Percy Blakeney from The Laughing Cavalier and The First Sir Percy by
Baroness Orczy Baroness Emma Orczy (full name: Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orci) (; 23 September 1865 – 12 November 1947), usually known as Baroness Orczy (the name under which she was published) or to her family and friends as Em ...
appear. The protagonist's physical appearance, however, is based on Quasimodo from
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
's
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story of ...
.


Film and television

In the movie '' The Man in the Iron Mask'', the aging musketeers come out of retirement and reunite to save France from the spoiled, cruel young King Louis XIV (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). The movie features
Jeremy Irons Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...
as Aramis,
John Malkovich John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...
as Athos,
Gerard Depardieu Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...
as Porthos and
Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, audiobook narrator, and author. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's s ...
as D’Artagnan. In ''
Slumdog Millionaire ''Slumdog Millionaire'' is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel '' Q & A'' (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Pa ...
'', Jamal Malik's final question was to correctly identify the name of the third musketeer- which was Aramis. Jamal did so and won twenty million rupees. In the film ''
Django Unchained ''Django Unchained'' () is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Walton Goggins, Dennis Ch ...
'', one of the slaves, owned by Calvin Candie, is named D'Artagnan.


Video games

In ''
Pokémon Black and White and are 2010 role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. They are the first installments in the fifth generation of the ''Pokémon'' video game series. First releas ...
'', the Pokémon Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion, known as the Swords of Justice, are based on the Three Musketeers. Cobalion represents Athos, Terrakion represents Porthos and Virizion represents Aramis. The fourth Sword of Justice, Keldeo, represents d'Artagnan.


Music

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...
song You've Got Everything Now features the line: "I've seen you smile, but I've never really heard you laugh" and is borrowed from a narrative description of Athos: Ppcocaine's song "Three Musketeers" shares little with the novel but its title.


References


External links

* *. Plain text format. *
History of Dumas' Musketeers
shows links between the characters and actual history.
Comprehensive collection of Dumas links''The Three Musketeers''
Scanned public domain editions in PDF format from
Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
, some w/ illustrations, introductions and other helpful material.
"The Paris of ''The Three Musketeers''"
by E. H. Blashfield and E. W. Blashfield. ''
Scribner's Magazine ''Scribner's Magazine'' was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. ''Scribner's Magazine'' was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of ' ...
'', August 1890. Cornell University Library. *Cooper, Barbara T., "Alexandre Dumas, père", in ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'', Vol. 119: ''Nineteenth-Century French Fiction Writers: Romanticism and Realism, 1800–1860'', edited by Catharine Savage Brosman, Gale Research, 1992, pp. 98–119. *Hemmings, F. W. J., "Alexandre Dumas Père", in ''European Writers: The Romantic Century'', Vol. 6, edited by Jacques Barzun and George Stade, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1985, pp. 719–43. *Foote-Greenwell, Victoria, "The Life and Resurrection of Alexandre Dumas", in ''Smithsonian'', July 1996, p. 110. *Thayer, Tiffany, ''Three Musketeers'', New York: Citadel Press, 1939. (On the hard cover, the title is printed as ''Tiffany Thayer's Three Musketeers''.)
Discussion of the work, bibliography and linksBibliography and references for ''The Three Musketeers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Three Musketeers 1844 French novels French adventure novels French historical novels French novels adapted into films French novels adapted into plays Novels adapted into comics Novels adapted into video games French novels adapted into television shows Novels by Alexandre Dumas Novels first published in serial form Novels set in Early Modern France Novels set in the 1620s Works originally published in Le Siècle 1844 in France Cultural depictions of Cardinal Richelieu Cultural depictions of Louis XIII Novels set in the 17th century