REVIEW: The Three Musketeers

One for All, All for One

Is there anyone who hasn’t heard about the Three Musketeers? It’s just so prominent in pop culture, and you would probably have a hard time finding someone who hasn’t watched at least one of the many movie adaptations. Besides that, there are countless references, and even entire episodes of popular series based on Dumas’ novel, like Tom & Jerry: The Two Mouseketeers. In Tarantino’s Django Unchained, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Calvin Candy, has a slave named D’Artagnan, which is the name of the novel’s main character. There is also a Barbie adaptation, a ton of merchandise, and even a 3 Musketeers candy bar!

So the novel is undeniably influential. It left a strong mark in the literary world and pop culture, establishing Dumas as one of the best adventure novel writers of all time.

Even though The Three Musketeers are so popular, I get the feeling that the ‘brand’ is way more popular than the actual novel. Many people never get to actually read it, and that was also the case with me up until recently. What prompted me was the interest in the historical setting, and my experience with The Count of Monte Cristo, which is among my favorite novels of all time. So needles to say, my expectations were high!

The Historic Setting

What you notice right away with Dumas’ writing is how well he builds up the world and setting. The plot is set in 17th century France. Very soon you are engrossed in the story with sword fights, horse riding, honor, and court drama. We are also introduced to fictionalized versions of King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu, among others. I really like this kind of setting, as it provides a real life, historical frame of reference upon which the author builds his fiction.

The fact that real life prominent persons are involved in the story also means that you have a chance to learn something new about this period in history, which is always welcome. It for sure motivated me to research a bit more about the king and cardinal, and also about the historical weapons used, such as the musket and rapier.

What if I’m Not into Classics?

I think this is a book which is easy to recommend even if you’re not that much into classics. A lot of classics can be hard to read, but this one is fun and fluid (for the most part). It’s an adventure novel, and you feel it. The plot is intriguing enough to keep you reading, as you would watch a fun adventure movie. Even though it’s quite long, I would probably recommend this before many other books to someone looking for an easy-to-read classic.

D’Artagnan

The main character of the novel is actually neither of the titular Three Musketeers, but the young Gascon D’Artagnan. He travels to Paris to join the Musketeers, starting as a trainee. He quickly befriends Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and gets tangled up in political and love affairs.

D’Artagnan is your classic hero – brave, decisive, and ready for adventures. With his witty nature, and can come across as a little arrogant. He is very likeable though, with distinct strengths and flaws. He is mostly driven by his pride and is always ready for taking action.

I thought D’Artagnan was an excellent main character. He arrives at the center of the action at the beginning of the novel so we as readers follow his path as he gets to know the other characters and the city. It all feels very natural, and it’s easy to root for him from the beginning.

Athos, Porthos & Aramis

Seeing that the three Musketeers Athos, Porthos, and Aramis are featured in the books’ title, one would assume that a lot of plot points would revolve around them. And indeed they are, well, sort of. We spend the most time with Athos. He is the most fleshed out, and also most complicated character. He is interesting, but can be annoying at times. Athos is the ‘head’ of the three, often the wisest and most decisive one.

Porthos and Aramis do get their share of chapters, but not enough in my opinion. It is enough to get a very basic picture of who they are, but at the end the thing you remember is that Porthos is not the brightest one, and Aramis blushes a lot. I did feel there was an unbalanced representation of the three friends.

One thing I saw people comment online was the way the Musketeers treated their lackeys. They are usually not depicted in the movies, as it would take up valuable screen time, but in the books they are quite prominent characters. The Musketeers can be harsh towards their lackeys, but we need to put it into the historical perspective, and not judge the writing of 17th century behavior through today’s lenses. I really liked the three lackeys and thought they were fun additions to the main cast.

Milady

Milady the Winter is the main antagonist of the story (kind of). She is the femme fatale character, getting her way through seduction and intellect. I thought she was a good villain, and a nice counterpart to D’Artagnan. We mostly see her chapters in the second half of the book. By the end, she is a fleshed out character though, and a worthy villain. But to be honest, I liked some live action adaptations of this character better than the original one from the book.

Book Editions

For such a popular classic there are countless editions, so you will for sure find one to your liking. I went with the Penguin Classics edition (looks like now this editions got more expensive??) as I really liked the cover art. The pages are quite thin so the book can feel a bit ”wobbly” as you can basically take 300 pages and fold them up with ease. This can feel a bit weird, but is not a deal-breaker, and overall I think this is a very good edition with a nice, readable font size.

Some weeks after I read it, I had the privilege of visiting the National Gallery in London. Imaging my surprise and joy when I entered one of the rooms and saw the very painting that was used for the cover art of the book I read! It is called Three Men and a Boy, and below you can see me admiring this beautiful painting!

The same room also features another amazing painting of one prominent character in the story! So for fans of Dumas and The Three Musketeers, this is a goldmine! If you ever find yourself in London, I really recommend paying the National Gallery a visit. And the best part is that it’s completely free of charge to enter!

My Reading Experience & Thoughts

This was a very fun read for me. I thought the plot was interesting from the start, and the writing style is nice and readable. This continued for the most part of the novel. However, there were instances where it really felt as if we were having filler episodes. What comes to mind are several chapters where the musketeers look for equipment for a war campaign. Here we have to think about how the novel was initially released – it was serialized much like today’s TV shows, so there is bound to be some filler material.

I liked how the characters were introduced, and feel each main character was distinct enough. I did wish that Porthos and Aramis got a bit more chance to shine, but I guess Dumas couldn’t focus on all of them equally. In the second half of the book there is a long section featuring Milady. While it was well executed in itself, I somehow couldn’t justify that many chapters in a row with this character. She was prominent before that section, but not that much, and I was not sure if this was planned as part of the novel, or inserted as a means to prolong the series a bit more. I wished we could see a bit more of the court intrigue between the king and cardinal instead of this section with Milady.

Conclusion & Verdict

Above I wrote a bit about the setting, a bit about the characters, and a bit about the overall feel of the book. I did not include any plot points, as I feel this is one of the novel’s strongest parts and is best experienced live while reading. This book and its characters had a big influence on pop culture for a reason. Some are lovable, some you love to hate. We are treated with some amazing combat action, and very intriguing court drama. It really can be considered a masterclass in writing an adventure novel.

There are some small issues I had, like chapters which kind of feel like filler, and a bit too much convenience in the plot at certain points, but this does not take away too much of the enjoyment. I have to somehow compare it to Dumas’ other popular work – The Count of Monte Cristo, and by those standards, this one is a little short of a perfect score for me. Nonetheless, all the important parts a book should have – characters, plot, setting – are at a very high level, and I can easily recommend this book.

In 2023, we got yet another adaptation of The Three Musketeers, this time divided into two parts, subtitled D’Artagnan and Milady. The first part is by now probably available for streaming, and if you haven’t seen it, I can only recommend it. It seems it didn’t get too much attention at the box office, probably because people are fed up with all the different version, some of which were pretty ridiculous. This one, however, is a bit more grounded and dark. It’s in French, and features an amazing cast including Eva Green and Vincent Cassel. It has some gorgeous cinematography, so maybe give it a shot if you haven’t already.

Lastly, if you pick up anything from reading this, then pick up the names of the Musketeers. It may help you in some quizzes or in impressing your friends!

The Three Musketeers – Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.

Rating: 4/5

One for all, all for one!