The Three Musketeers (French: Les Trois Mousquetaires [le twa muskt]) is a

historical novel by Alexandre Dumas.

Set in 16251628, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan

(based on Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan) after he leaves home to travel to
Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard. Although D'Artagnan is not able to join
this elite corps immediately, he befriends the three most formidable musketeers of
the age: Athos, Porthos and Aramis and gets involved in affairs of the state and
court.

In genre, The Three Musketeers is primarily a historical and adventure novel.

However, Dumas also frequently works into the plot various injustices, abuses, and
absurdities of the old regime, giving the novel an additional political aspect at a
time when the debate in France between republicans and monarchists was still
fierce. The story was first serialised from March to July 1844, during the July
Monarchy, four years before the French Revolution of 1848 violently established the
Second Republic. The author's father, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, had been a well-
known General in France's Republican army during the French Revolutionary Wars.

The story of d'Artagnan is continued in Twenty Years After and The Vicomte of
Bragelonne: Ten Years Later.

Contents [hide]
1 Origin
2 Plot summary
3 Characters
4 Editions
5 Adaptations
5.1 Film
5.2 Television
5.3 Stage
5.4 Video games and board games
5.5 Other
6 References
7 External links
Origin[edit]

A Musketeer of the Guard c.1660.

In the very first sentences of his preface, Alexandre Dumas indicated as his source
Mmoires de Monsieur d'Artagnan (1700), a historical novel by Gatien de Courtilz de
Sandras, which Dumas discovered during his research for his history of Louis XIV,
printed by Pierre Rouge in Amsterdam.[1] It was in this book, he said, that
d'Artagnan relates his first visit to M. de Trville, captain of the Musketeers, where in
the antechamber, he met three young Barnese with the names Athos, Porthos, and
Aramis. This information struck the imagination of Dumas so muchhe tells us
that he continued his investigation and finally encountered once more the names of
the three musketeers in a manuscript with the title Mmoire de M. le comte de la
Fre, etc.. Excited, Dumas requested permission to reprint the manuscripta
permission which 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 Fre, the pleasure or
the ennui he may experience.

This being understood, let us proceed with our story.[2]

The book he referred to was Mmoires de M. d'Artagnan, capitaine lieutenant de la

premire compagnie des Mousquetaires du Roi (Memoirs of Sir d'Artagnan,
Lieutenant Captain of the first company of the King's Musketeers) by Gatien de
Courtilz de Sandras (Cologne, 1700). The book was borrowed from the Marseille
public library, and the card-index remains to this day; Dumas kept the book when
he went back to Paris.[citation needed]

Following Dumas's lead in his preface, Eugne d'Auriac (de la Bibliothque Royale)
in 1847 was able to write the biography of d'Artagnan: d'Artagnan, Capitaine-
Lieutenant des Mousquetaires Sa vie aventureuse Ses duels etc. based on
Courtilz de Sandras.[3]
The Three Musketeers was written in collaboration with Auguste Maquet, who also
worked with Dumas on its sequels (Twenty Years After 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 Sicle
between March and July 1844.

Plot summary[edit]
In 1625 France, d'Artagnan (a poor young nobleman) leaves his family in Gascony
and travels to Paris to join the Musketeers of the Guard. At an inn in Meung-sur-
Loire, an older man derides d'Artagnan's horse. Insulted, d'Artagnan demands a
duel. The older man's companions beat d'Artagnan unconscious with a cooking pot
and a metal tong that breaks his sword. His letter of introduction to Monsieur de
Trville, the commander of the Musketeers, is also stolen. D'Artagnan resolves to
avenge himself upon the 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 or simply Milady).

In Paris, d'Artagnan visits M. de Trville at the headquarters of the Musketeers, but

without the letter, Trville politely refuses his application. He does, however, write a
letter of introduction to an academy for young gentlemen which may prepare him
for recruitment at a later time. From Trville'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, and Aramis, 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' 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 try
to arrest d'Artagnan and the three Musketeers for illegal dueling. Although
outnumbered, 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.

Depiction of the Cardinal's musketeers, the great rivals of the King's musketeers.
D'Artagnan hires a servant (Planchet), finds lodgings, and reports to Monsieur des
Essart. Des Essart's company is a less prestigious regiment in which he must serve
for two years before being considered for the Musketeers. Shortly after, his landlord
speaks to him about his wife Constance Bonacieux's kidnapping. When she is
presently released, d'Artagnan falls in love at first sight with her. She works for
Queen Anne of France, who is secretly conducting an affair with the Duke 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
the Queen wear the diamonds to a soire that the Cardinal is sponsoring. Constance
tries to send her husband to London but the man is manipulated by Richelieu and
does not go, so d'Artagnan and his friends intercede. En route, 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 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, the Duke of 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 afterwards, 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
her. 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 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 ordered to the Siege of La Rochelle.

He is informed that the Queen has rescued Constance from prison. In an inn, the
musketeers overhear the Cardinal asking Milady to murder the Duke of 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. They warn Lord de Winter and the Duke of Buckingham. Milady
is imprisoned on arrival in England but seduces her guard, Felton (a fictionalization
of the real John Felton), and persuades him to allow her escape and to kill
Buckingham himself. On her return to France, Milady hides in a convent where
Constance is also staying. The naive 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 and sentence her to death. After
her execution, the four friends return to the siege of La Rochelle. The Comte de
Rochefort arrests d'Artagnan and takes 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 willfulness 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 Trville 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 below 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, gets the promotion he coveted.

Characters[edit]
Musketeers
Athos Comte de la Fre: he has never recovered from his marriage to Milady and
seeks solace in wine. He becomes a father figure to d'Artagnan.
Aramis Ren d'Herblay, a handsome young man who hesitates between his
religious calling and his fondness for women and scheming.
Porthos M. du Vallon: A dandy, 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.
D'Artagnan Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan: a young, foolhardy, brave
and clever man seeking his fortune in Paris.
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 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 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 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 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 Trville 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.