The Man in the Iron Mask is a sad novel for me. Here there are the deaths of Porthos, Athos, Raoul and D’Artagnan. My first acquaintance with D’Artagnan was in my 7th standard when we had ‘The Three Musketeers’ as our English non-detailed text. Since then D’Artagnan: the fearless warrior, that unrivalled swordsman has grown in my imagination. Alexandre Dumas’s tale of the Musketeers and their valor in protecting the honor of the King and the Queen of France has never been eclipsed. We have Athos a gentleman to the core, a noble man in word and deed carrying a spirit of melancholic ardor. Porthos is a giant and a courageous fighter who combines a simple personality with a belief in one and all, and malice towards none. He has an amazing quality of being led and may even be called gullible. There is D’Artagnan who is the most feared swordsman, who places honor and duty above all, who does not fear death and who knows only the fulfilling of an order. He is also extremely sharp and intelligent. Aramis is a cunning and chivalrous man, who is ambitious and honorable but not without the simplicity and artlessness of Porthos, the nobility of Athos or the undying fortitude of D’Artagnan.
The Man in the Iron Mask has its share of thrills and stunts. The sweep of the novel is astonishing. The absolute mastery of Dumas in sketching the intrigues of the court, the affairs of the royal house, the plots and the double plots, the conversations which are so natural and bear an uncanny resemblance to real life, is something to be enjoyed and admired.
The poor creature and the Bastille
Louis the XIV’s brother is The Man in the Iron Mask. He is masked and incarcerated, since he bears a very close resemblance to the King. Aramis plans to restore to the exiled prince what may have been rightfully his, if only the queen mother Anne of Austria had acted. Alas Aramis is discovered as is Philippe. Dumas’s portraits of the men on the sidelines, Mosqueton, Guillard, and La Fontaine show us how intricately Dumas had studied the French society and the affairs of the royalty at that time.
The Three Musketeers have entertained me for more than 40 years. The deaths of the main characters now leave it entirely to my imagination to bring them again to life. With the adding of ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ the trio of adventure novels from Alexandre Dumas takes the reader on a fascinating roller-coaster ride of adventure, thril and excitement. (To be continued)