Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers: The mess of the French 19th century and the three Dumas
100 Days of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers
100 Days of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers
June 1 - August 31, 2024
All for One and One for All: "The Three Musketeers" at 180
June 2
Historical post 1 of 10
The mess of the French 19th century and the three Dumas
19th century France was such a politically and ideologically volatile place, emigration and exile were common among intellectuals, aristocrats, as well as monarchs. After the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, the fate of subsequent French emperors and kings was quite tragic… Emperor Napoleon I was exiled and died on the distant island of Saint Helena in 1821 – his remains were returned to France in 1840 for a spectacular burial at Les Invalides - MUST SEE tomb and sarcophagus!!! The last Bourbon king of France, Charles X, had to flee France after the Revolution of 1830 and died in exile in the town of Gorizia – in today’s Slovenia – where he is buried in a Franciscan monastery - which I visited in 2022!!! His successor – the first AND only House of Orleans king of France – and the final French king – Louis Philippe, had to flee France after the Revolution of 1848 – and died in exile in England in 1850. His remains were returned to France in 1876 – he was reburied in the House of Orleans family crypt. And the last emperor of France Napoleon III had to flee France when yet another revolution engulfed the nation in 1870 – he left for England where he did in exile in 1873. He is buried at Saint Michael’s Abbey in Hampshire – along with his wife, Empress Eugenie, and their son, Napoleon, Prince Imperial… Why are these facts important?! Because French history is an integral part of The Three Musketeers!!! And now - note on the three Dumas!!!
Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), the author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, lived through 3 of these 4 French Revolutions (1830, 1848, and 1870), and through his father, the great Afro-French general Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, was connected to the Revolution of 1789, the Napoleonic period, and the early days of the First French Republic. Even though Dumas lived through two Restorations, Bourbon and Orleans monarchies, and the Second French Empire, he was born in a republic (First French Republic) and died in a republic (Third French Republic). These crucial aspects of Dumas' biography are essential for a deeper understanding of The Three Musketeers and its two sequels - which we are reading in 2025 and 2026 - see my earlier posts!!!
Just as many of the French luminaries of the 19th century, including French kings and French writers, such as Victor Hugo, he had to live in exile first in Belgium and Russia, then in Italy, during the Second French Republic and Second French Empire because of ideological and intellectual disagreements with Napoleon III. And just as with many of the French greats of the 19th century – his remains were exhumed after his 1870 burial in the town of his birth, Villers-Cotterets, and reburied with great pomp and circumstance in 2002, during the commemoration of his bicentennial!!! During the presidency of Jacques Chirac, Dumas’ remains were moved into the holiest shrine of French intellectual life – the Pantheon – where he rests now with his illustrious compatriots Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, and many others… During Dumas’ funeral procession in 2002, his casket was carried into the Pantheon by 4 members of the French National Guard – dressed in 4 musketeer outfits!!! Yes, as unbelievable as this may be, I am not making this up!!! During his eulogy, president Jacques Chirac underscored the fact that the legacy of Alexandre Dumas, France’s most prolific and popular 19th century writer, was overshadowed by racism that affected both his career and the career of his father, General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas.
Born to a French aristocrat, Alexandre Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie, and a Haitian slave woman, Marie-Cessette Dumas, the novelist’s father was brought to Paris from Haiti in 1776 and was educated in elite French military schools. After his departure from Haiti, he never saw his mother and he took her last name, Dumas, after a falling out with his father when he enlisted with the Queen’s Dragoons in 1786. Three years later the Revolution of 1789 changed everything, French colonial slaves were freed, and France embraced the fraternity of all men and women. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas became an avid supporter of the Revolution and distinguished himself on the battlefields so spectacularly that he earned the rank of a general at 31 (that’s the glory that Julien Sorel was seeking in Stendhal’s The Red and the Black, but it was an impossibility in Restoration France…). Brave, courageous, loyal, and ardently committed to the Revolution and the French Republic, General Dumas served as second-in-command of the French Black Legion under an Afro-French compatriot, virtuoso violinist and fencer, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. General Dumas served as commander-in-chief of the Army of the Pyrenees in 1793 and the Army of the Alps in 1793-1784, and as Commander of Cavalry during the French Egyptian Campaign directly under Napoleon Bonaparte!!! But that’s where his illustrious military career ended. Napoleon was jealous of General Dumas’ popularity with the army and the respect he inspired in the Mamelukes of Egypt. His imposing height (he was over 6 feet at the time when most Frenchmen were just over 5 feet) and his natural grace in the saddle (he was trained in elite French riding schools in his teens) stood in sharp contrast to Napoleon’s unimpressive height and riding skills. The falling out between the two revolutionary generals was complete after Napoleon’s disastrous withdrawal from Egypt. Dumas’ ship ended up in the Kingdom of Naples where he was arrested and thrown in a dungeon for two years. Please remember this incident – Dumas the novelist will write an adventure novel inspired by this event in his father’s life!!! Many heroic deeds of his father – such as fighting three duels in one day – ended up in the novels that featured courageous and reckless heroes in larger-than-life adventures!!!
Alexandre Dumas the novelist was born in 1802 in the small town of Villers-Cotterets after his father, whose military unit was stationed here in the early days of the Revolution of 1789, married Marie-Louise Labouret, the daughter of a local innkeeper who was immensely impressed with Dumas’ manners, courage, and rapid promotion in the army. The future novelist had two older sisters (only one lived to adulthood) and the family fortunes were dashed when General Dumas returned from his two-years-long imprisonment a broken man. After he died, his widow wrote in vain to Napoleon – the great deeds of General Dumas were forgotten for two centuries after his death… Dumas the future novelist was only four when General Dumas died – but he did not forget the memory of his dashing and courageous father and resurrected it in countless adventure novels!!!
Alexandre had to establish himself through his own wits – and managed to become the secretary of our ancient acquaintance – Louis-Philippe, the Duke of Orleans, who became the king of France in 1830!!! SO MANY historical connections in the family of Alexandre Dumas!!! In addition to his work for the Duke and future king of the July Monarchy, Alexandre Dumas started publishing plays – which gained immediate success – and novels – which gained popularity. How much did he write?! Hard to tell!!! The most complete archive of Alexandre Dumas’ writing consists of over 3,000 volumes which include manuscripts of his published and unpublished works!!! The man was a machine!!! In 1844, when he was writing The Count of Monte Cristo, he was also writing The Three Musketeers and Queen Margo – all MONSTROUSLY long and complex historical novels!!! Dumas wrote novels, sequels to novels, and sequels to sequels!!! The Three Musketeers has 2 sequels – Twenty Years After – written in 1845 – just one year after the publication of The Three Musketeers – and The Vicomte de Bragelonne written in 1847!!! He wrote about numerous French historical periods from the time of Francis I and Henry II to Louis XIII, Louis XV and Marie Antoinette!!! Dumas lived in Russia for two years and travelled extensively from north to south and through the Caucasus. As a consequence, he wrote several travelogues about Russia!!! He travelled extensively through Spain, Germany, and Italy where he befriended Garibaldi, the hero of Italian unification!!! Needless to say – numerous Italian travelogues followed!!! Dumas was large, loud, and gregarious!!! He loved life, food, and women – by some accounts he had as many as 40 mistresses and 3-7 illegitimate children!!!
One of these children, also named Alexandre – so many Alexandres!!! – was acknowledged by Dumas as his legitimate son, was brilliantly educated and introduced into the world of literature and women. Alexandre Dumas the son became a successful playwright, a member of the French Academy and the recipient of the Legion of Honor!!! His most famous novel, The Lady of the Camelias, written in 1844 while he was living with his father (1844 must have been the most prolific literary year in French history!!!) was based on his love affair with the Parisian courtesan Marie Duplessis. The popularity of the novel prompted Alexandre Dumas the son to turn it into a play which took Paris by storm. The Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi saw the play in Paris and turned it into one of his most famous operas – La Traviata!!!
And that’s the story of the three Dumas!!! The general, the novelist, and the playwright!!! A note on ALL the Bourbon kings of France AND French republics next!!!
Portrait of General Dumas, painting by Olivier Pichat (1825–1912).
Alexandre Dumas, the father - the celebrated novelist - in his library, surrounded by his characters, 1894, by Maurice Leloir (1853-1940), French illustrator and printer.
Alexandre Dumas, the son - novelist and playwright, in his youth.