The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

This book was serialized from January to August 1845. It covers the period when Louis XIII and Richelieu have both died. The young Louis XVI is controlled by his mother Anne of Austria, and the current Cardinal Mazarin. A rebellion of nobles and princes, known as the Fronde, breaks out during this time. This is a major plot line in the novel. In the second half of the book, the action moves to England at the time of a more serious revolution, where Cromwell's forces deposed and ultimately executed King Charles I.

A number of characters from The Three Musketeers reappear in this book.

I enjoyed this book more than the first one, not so much because of the plot but because we get to know the distinct personalities of the musketeers (and their sidekicks) so much better. I won't be rereading, but I might comment when I can be sure of not giving away spoilers.

Yes, please do!

The name Fronde comes from the word for sling, or slingshot, which could be used to break windows. It was also a sort of metaphor for guerrilla warfare, in that the rebels were likened to schoolboys using unorthodox weapons.

Historians say that Louis XIV's childhood experience during the Fronde (which we will see in our book) led him to strengthen the power of the monarchy once he was an adult.

From Wikipedia

The Fronde was a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition of the princes, the nobility, the law courts (parlements), and most of the French people, and yet won out in the end. The dispute started when the government of France issued seven fiscal edicts, six of which were to increase taxation. The parlements pushed back and questioned the constitutionality of the King's actions and sought to check his powers.

From Ellsworth's introduction:

Dumas could have written a second book set right after the first, simply expanding upon the formula of youthful heroics, but the author, by then approaching his mid-forties, was more interested in how his most popular characters would face life's complexities once they were past the simple moral clarity of youth. How would his heroes cope when confronted by the ambiguities and compromises of maturity? Excited by this idea, Dumas planned out what we we would now call a character arc for each of his four archetypal heroes, a long saga set against the events of one of the most dramatic periods in French history, the rise of King Louis XIV.

On the division into parts - In many French editions, the book is published in 2 parts, but not with different names. Ellsworth is the first to give a different name (the to my mind generic title of Royal Blood) to the second part.

I must admit, I always wondered why Dumas skipped to 20 years after. Why not 5?
I would have loved some more youthful adventures of the musketeers.
I guess I’ll have to use my imagination.

We don't really know, the comment above is Ellsworth's interpretation. It might also be that Dumas wanted an era with more dramatic events in it. The ending of The Three Musketeers is kind of disappointing in that the group breaks up.