Division I of Pangasinan

DANIL MARAMBA NATIONAL HIGHSCHOOL

STA BARBARA

English III

Book Report

First Quarter

The Three Musketeers

Title of the Story

Submitted to:

Submitted by:
I-Title of the Book: The Three Musketeers

II- Author: Alexandre Dumas

Authors Background:

Alexandre Dumas, French novelist and playwright by unusual

real-life characters for his novels and plays. Like his swashbuckling
characters, Dumas was himself an excellent shot with the pistol, and a
passable swordsman. Alexander Dumas, who lived from 1802 to 1870,
was raised by his mother. His father, a General during the Revolution
and under Napoleon, died when Dumas was four. The family had fallen
out of favor with Napoleon, so young Dumas and his mother were left without means, living in the provinces.
Dumas received a limited education from a local priest, and at the age of twenty-one, traveled to Paris to
make his fortune. His first play was produced in 1829; he began a successful career as a dramatist and writer,
which culminated with The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. As he grew older, Dumass
opulent lifestyle forced him to sink into greater and greater debt, and by the time of his death in 1870, he was
at the mercy of his creditors.

The Three Musketeers (1844) is rivaled only by The Count of Monte Cristo (1844-1845) as Dumas
most famous work.

III-Settings:
The Three Musketeers is set in 17th century France during the reign of Louis XIII. The story takes
place predominantly in Paris, but the protagonists adventures take him across the French
countryside and as far as England.

IV. Characters:

D'Artagnan - The central character of the novel, d'Artagnan is a young, impoverished Gascon
nobleman who comes to make his fortune in Paris. He is brave, noble, ambitious, crafty, and
intelligent. Like any Romantic hero, he is driven by love and ruled by chivalry, but occasionally prone
to fall into amoral behavior.
 Athos - The most important of the Three Musketeers, Athos is something of a father figure to
d'Artagnan. He is older than his comrades, although still a young man. Athos is distinguished in
every way--intellect, appearance, bravery, swordsmanship--yet he is tortured by a deep melancholy,
the source of which no one knows.
Aramis - A young Musketeer, one of the great Three. Aramis is a handsome young man, quiet and
somewhat foppish. He constantly protests that he is only temporarily in the Musketeers, and that any
day now he will return to the Church to pursue his true calling. Aramis has a mysterious mistress,
Madame de Chevreuse, a high noblewoman, whose existence and identity he tries to keep from his
friends.
Porthos - Porthos, the third of the Three Musketeers, is loud, brash, and self-important. He is
extremely vain, and enjoys outfitting himself handsomely; but for all that, he is a valiant fighter and
a courageous friend. His mistress is Madame Coquenard, the wife of a wealthy attorney.
Lady de Winter - A mysterious, beautiful, dangerous, and ultimately evil Cardinalist agent.
D'Artagnan becomes obsessed with her, but eventually she and the Musketeers become fierce
adversaries. Milady has a secret, and she kills anyone who finds it out--her left shoulder is branded
with the Fleur-de-Lis, a mark put on the worst criminals.
Madame Bonacieux - Wife of Monsieur Bonacieux and lady-in-waiting for Queen Anne. Madame
Bonacieux is loyal to the Queen through and through. D'Artagnan falls in love with her, and in
doing so gets involved in the Queen's secret affairs.
Monsieur Bonacieux - D'Artagnan's landlord, and Madame Bonacieux's husband. He originally
comes to d'Artagnan for help when Madame Bonacieux is kidnapped, but after a private audience
with the Cardinal, turns on his wife and becomes a Cardinalist agent.
Monsieur de Treville - The head of the King's Musketeers. Monsieur de Treville is an honorable and
distinguished gentleman, and close friend to the King. He treats all his Musketeers as his sons, and is
an important figure of support for the young d'Artagnan. He is a rival of Cardinal Richelieu for favor
and influence with the King.
King Louis XIII - King of France. Louis XIII is not much of a ruler, and is dominated by his advisors,
most notably Cardinal Richelieu, the most powerful man in France. He is a petulant and petty
person, and those around him who are most successful are those who have learned to manipulate his
pettiness.
 Cardinal Richelieu - The King's most influential advisor, Richelieu is the most powerful and
important man in France. He is furiously self-absorbed, but also an extremely effective leader of the
state. Richelieu works hard to maintain the reputation and power of the king, since this is the stock
on which his own status is based.
Queen Anne - Queen of France. Anne is Spanish, and her loyalties are divided between her Spanish
heritage, her position as Queen of France, and her love for George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham.
The King does not trust her, or particularly like her, and the Cardinal hates her. Anne leads an
unhappy life in the court
George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham - Favorite and Minister of War for King Charles I of
England. Buckingham is the perfect English gentleman, handsome, witty, brave, wealthy, and
powerful. He is desperately in love with Anne of Austria, who, more reservedly, returns his affections.
Throughout the novel, Buckingham's only motivation is to see and please Anne.
Lord de Winter - Lady de Winter's brother-in-law. Lord de Winter is a foppish gentlemen, not given
to intrigue or action, but he rises to the occasion when more is demanded of him toward the end of
the novel.
Comte de Rochefort - The Cardinal's private spy, a dangerous man.
Comte de Wardes - A Cardinalist agent; Milady is in love with him.
Kitty - Milady's maid; she falls in love with d'Artagnan.
John Felton - A British Naval Officer, ward of Lord de Winter; a Protestant.
Planchet - D'Artagnan's manservant. A very intelligent, reliable, somewhat brave man.
Grimaud - Athos' manservant. Athos has trained him to communicate in hand-signals, to minimize
speech.
Mousqueton - Porthos's manservant. Like his master, he enjoys the finer things in life.
Bazin - Aramis's manservant. He wants nothing so much as for his master to enter the Church.
Madame de Coquenard - Porthos's mistress, the wife of a wealthy attorney. She dotes on Porthos,
living for his affection. Porthos keeps her identity secret from his friends, telling them his mistress is
a Duchess.
Madame de Chevreuse - Aramis's secret mistress, and a close personal friend of the Queen. Madame
de Chevreuse is banished from Paris because the King, goaded by the Cardinal, suspects her of
aiding the Queen in her personal and political intrigues.
V-Point of View /Conflict

Alexander Dumas' classic book "The Three Musketeers" is developed around the classic theme of good versus
evil. It is a tale of sword fighting and adventure. In the story it is the intent of the antagonist, The Cardinal,
to ruin Queen Anne's reputation. Queen Anne has given a gift to her lover, The Duke of Buckingham,
diamond studs, if this is revealed it would cause her defacement with the king. The protagonist's are Athos,
Porthos, and Aramis, and a new edition in the group, youthful D'Artagnan. The conflict that they face is
retrieveing the Queen's jewels and stopping the Cardinal from destroying the Queen and her influence.

D'Artagnan faces conflict as he fights the different members of the Musketeers to prove his worthiness at
being a member of the Musketeers.

Milady, a romantic conquest of D'Artagnan and her attempts to end his life is the other conflict in the story.
Milady also goes after Constance,D'Artagnan's beloved. Constance dies, but in the end good triumphs over
evil and Milady is killed.

VI- Plot:
All for one and one for all is the motto of the three musketeers, who are fearless, loyal and
unstoppable. DArtagnan, our hero, wants to serve the king as a musketeer. He soon finds himself saving the
queen from the subtle traps of her enemy, Cardinal Richelieu, and his sadistic and beautiful agent, Milady.
Will the three musketeers- Porthos, Aramis and Athos- be able to save DArtagnan from the hatred
of Miladys cruel revenge?

VI- Summary:

We begin the novel in France, where a young man from Gascony (a city in France) named
DArtagnan sets out for Paris with three gifts from his father: fifteen crowns, a horse, and a letter of
introduction to M. de Trville, who is a Very Important Person since he commands the Kings Musketeers.
DArtagnan hopes to become a Musketeer one day, but he doesnt have much going for him except for his
training as a gentleman, which means, effectively, that he can handle a sword and be polite about it. His
pluck, determination, and good manners lead him to become BFF with three Musketeers named Porthos,
Athos, and Aramis, and also lead him to fall in love with the beautiful Constance Bonacieux.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Buckingham is wooing Queen Anne of France. Since they cant exactly be
public about their feelings for each other (shes married to the King of France, after all), Anne gives him some
diamond studs as a consolation prize during his trip back to England.
 Enter the nefarious Cardinal, who is the biggest deal in France yes, even bigger than the King. The
Cardinal, whos still angry that Anne burned his declarations of love some time back, wants her to get in
trouble with her husband. He knows, through his spies that Anne gave the diamonds to Buckingham. He
suggests that the King throw a fte(party) and require Anne to wear the diamonds (which were originally a
gift from the King, which means that Anne re-gifted a gift from her husband to her lover classy). As soon
as Anne finds out about this party and this requirement, she bursts into tears.

Enter Madame Bonacieux, who promises that she will find someone to help the Queen regain the
diamond studs in time for the ball. This someone turns out to be DArtagnan, whos just tripping all over
himself to get in her good graces. He takes his buddies Athos, Porthos, and Aramis to England to retrieve the
studs, but one by one each of them is detained on the road. DArtagnan makes it to London alone and meets
with the Duke. He finds the studs, but two are missing. To solve the problem, the Duke has two new ones
whipped up and blocks any ship from leaving England to ensure that the missing studs dont make it to
Paris. This, of course, means that hes declared war on France, but obviously the honor of his beloved is much
more important. DArtagnan makes it back to Paris in time to save the Queen.

Now Madame Bonacieux is ready to get busy with DArtagnan she makes a date with him for ten
oclock at a little pavilion. When he shows up, however, DArtagnan waits to no avail. It turns out Madame
Bonacieux was kidnapped. The plot thickens.

DArtagnan next skips town with Planchet (his trusty lackey) to find out what happened to his
friends. They find Porthos and Aramis at two inns along the way, but both are still too wounded for travel
and so DArtagnan leaves them both horses and presses on to find Athos. DArtagnan finds Athos at another
inn down the road, and the two friends reunite over several bottles of wine. While intoxicated, Athos tells
DArtagnan how a woman once ruined a "friend" of his. This friend was a nobleman who, many years ago,
married a beautiful woman against the wishes of his family, only to discover she was a branded criminal. His
heart has been broken ever since (foreshadowing much, you think?).
After a few bumps in the road (Athos gambles away two of the horses, and Porthos and Aramis lose
theirs as well), the four return to Paris and DArtagnan finds out that the King is recommending him to
become a Musketeer. This joy is short-lived, however, as all the men must somehow gain enough money to
outfit themselves properly for war. Porthos and Aramis appeal to their mistresses, and DArtagnan sleeps
with a noblewoman in return for a valuable ring (that, we find out, once belonged to Athos) and the two sell it
to split the money. The friends find themselves well-funded and ready for war all is well in the world, right?
 Wrong. Trouble is, DArtagnan didnt just sleep with any old woman he slept with Milady, who is
an agent of the Cardinal. Not only did he sleep with her, he uncovered her secret: she has a fleur-de-
lis branded into her shoulder, marking her a criminal. As a result, Milady sends two assassins after him and
then follows that up with some poisoned wine. Our young hero barely escapes both times.
Meanwhile, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis eavesdrop on a conversation between the Cardinal and
Milady. She is charged with going to England and persuading someone to assassinate the Duke of
Buckingham. In return, she wants DArtagnan dead. Needless to say, DArtagnan doesnt take this bit of
information well.
The friends decide to send a lackey to Tours (a city in France) with a letter warning the Queen of the
plot against Buckingham, and to send another lackey to England to warn Miladys brother-in -law about her
arrival. When Milady arrives in England, therefore, she is escorted to a snug room in a castle above a cliff. The
room has lots of bars on it. However, Milady soon manages to corrupt her jailer and convince him that she is
a pure and innocent woman ruined by the Duke of Buckingham. Her jailer (John Felton) sets her free, puts
her on a ship, and then he stabs the Duke to death. Milady sets sail for France, destined for a convent where
Constance Bonacieux is hiding.

DArtagnan is overjoyed when word comes from the Queen that he can meet Constance and take her
away from the convent. He arrives moments too late, however, as Milady exacts her revenge on DArtagnan by
fatally poisoning Constance. She dies in DArtagnans arms. The four friends track Milady down and bring
her to a trial, where we hear the full extent of her crimes. The sentence pronounced upon her is death. She is
executed.

As the friends head back to war, the Cardinal requests to see DArtagnan. Even though DArtagnan
is afraid hell be sentenced to death, he bravely heads to the meeting. He confesses to the Cardinal that
Milady is dead, but since the Cardinal was only going to kill DArtagnan as a favor to Milady, he changes his
mind and gives DArtagnan a commission as a lieutenant in the Musketeers. DArtagnan is overcome and
protests that one of his friends should take it. He offers it to them each in turn, but they refuse. Athos doesnt
want it, Aramis is going to become a priest, and Porthos is going to marry a rich woman. Monsieur Bonacieux
disappears under mysterious circumstances, and there the novel ends.
VII-Conclusion:

I enjoyed reading this book because the story of the Three Musketeers was not what I assumed it to
be. I thought the Three Musketeers were law enforcers who would catch criminals and put them behind
bars but on the contrary, some of the musketeers are very ill-disciplined and are put behind bars by
the Cardinal guards. I admired the loyalty of the Three Musketeers toward dArtagnan. They helped him
capture the evil Milady even when their lives where at danger. I think that the moral of this story is good
always triumphs. After ruining DArtagnans life Milady escaped and leaved no traces behind. She through
her good luck managed to kill Madame Bonacieux. However, the Three Musketeers and dArtagnan managed
to capture her and kill her

VIII-Reccomendations

The Three Musketeers is one of Alexandre Dumas'earliest works and is widely considered to be his
best. Although the plot is intricate and complicated, the story is extremely popular with young people. It was
originally written in French, but it translates very well into English. The story has been made into several
movies, a TV series, miniseries and even a cartoon. This work was followed in the D'Artagnan trilogy by
"Twenty Years After in 1845" and by "The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later in 1850". These sequels
depict the further adventures of the four friends.

This work is highly recommended for fans of literature. It is also an excellent way to introduce young
people to the joys of reading the classic.

I highly recommended this book because this give us a valuable moral lesson of importance of unity
and teamwork. If there is unity, there is also harmony. This story also teaches the importance of hard work
and perseverance.