Kay Shue
Honors Humanities
Wiki Entry 1
September 25, 2011
Summary
The Three Musketeers, by Alexander Dumas, starts with Gascon d'Artagnan leaving his home for
Paris to make a fortune with the Musketeers, a group of soldiers who act as personal bodyguards to the
King and Queen. At his first stop on his journey to Paris, the town of Meung, d'Artagnan gets into a fight
with a man over his horse. He is knocked unconscious and when he comes to, finds that the letter to M. de
Treville, the head of the Musketeers, has been stolen. D'Artagnan rides on to Paris to the home of M. de
Treville and is introduced to three of the King's musketeers: Aramis, Athos, and Porthos. D'Artagnan
explains to M. de Treville that he lost the letter. M. de Treville suspects d'Artagnan may be working for the
Cardinal, the King's enemy, and tests him, but before the interview is over, d'Artagnan sees the man from
Meung who stole his letter and attempts to catch him. D'Artagnan carelessly runs into Athos during his
pursuit and the man gets away. D'Artagnan is outraged by this and challenges Athos to a duel at noon.
D'Artagnan then proceeds to mock Porthos after running into him, and the two schedule a duel for one
o'clock. As if these two duels weren't enough, a duel with Aramis is set for two o'clock after d'Artagnan
accidentally exposes the affair Aramis was trying to hide, by picking up the handkerchief of his lover.
D'Artagnan realizes his stupidity in having three consecutive duels with the Musketeers and is convinced he
will be killed. Athos meets d'Artagnan at noon for the duel, with Porthos and Aramis as seconds. Before the
duel can begin, d'Artagnan apologizes to Porthos and Aramis for his foolishness because he does not think
he will survive the first duel. All of a sudden, a group of the Cardinal's guards turn the corner and attempt
to arrest the Musketeers for dueling. D'Artagnan fights along side the three Musketeers and helps defeat the
guards. The three Musketeers and d'Artagnan start to become friends after this event. King Louis XIII
commends the Musketeers for their loyalty and gives d'Artagnan a large sum of money for killing one of
the Cardinal's greatest guards. The Musketeers spend the money on dinner and a servant for d'Artagnan.
Time goes by normally until one day, d'Artagnan finds Monsieur Bonacieux, his landlord, in his
house begging him to help him find his wife, a lady-in-waiting to the Queen, who had been kidnapped.
Monsieur Bonacieux goes on to explain that his wife's kidnapping might have something to do with the
Queen's affair with the Duke of Buckingham. D'Artagnan agrees to help him find Madame Bonacieux and
discusses the plan of action with the three Musketeers. Monsieur Bonacieux returns briefly to ask
d'Artagnan to save him from a group of the Cardinal's guards who have come to arrest him. D'Artagnan
knows that in order to save Madame Bonacieux, he and the Musketeers cannot get arrested, so they do
nothing to help Monsieur Bonacieux. The four friends listen through the wall to the police interrogations
being conducted. They hear Madame Bonacieux being brought in for interrogation and d'Artagnan rushes
into the room, surprising the guards, and rescues her. He drops Madame Bonacieux off at the Queen's
palace and then proceeds to visit M. de Treville to secure an alibi for the evening so he is not arrested.
Through all of this, d'Artagnan falls in love with Madame Bonacieux.
The next day, d'Artagnan is walking down the streets of Paris when he spots Madame Bonacieux
exchanging handkerchiefs at Aramis's house. He approaches her about the strange activity and she tells him
it is for a secret mission and to not follow her anymore. Later, d'Artagnan finds out Athos has been arrested
because the police thought he was d'Artagnan. D'Artagnan heads to the Louvre to tell M. de Treville about
Athos's arrest. At the Louvre, he sees the Duke of Buckingham declare his undying love to the Queen.
Meanwhile, the police have interrogated Monsieur Bonacieux for days, and he is brought in front of the
Cardinal. The Cardinal proceeds to convince Monsieur Bonacieux to spy on his wife for him.
Analysis
I found this part of the book very interesting to read because it was full of action and mystery. The
reading allows you to question yet understand certain parts of the book. For example, the reader
understands that the King and Queen are enemies to the Cardinal, but the book does not explain why they
are enemies. Another example is Madame Bonacieux's secret mission. The entire situation surrounding her
exchange of the handkerchief was not explained in great detail. Also, the Queen's affair with the Duke of
Buckingham is stated but not explained. I presume all of these things will be explained later on in the book.
Regardless of the mystery, I enjoyed reading the fight scenes and seeing how much trouble the Musketeers
would get themselves into and how they would solve a problem they were faced with. I also found this part
of the book very informative, setting the stage for later events in the book. It is important to make sure the
reader understands the background information about certain things before diving into the plot, and I feel as
though Alexander Dumas does that well.
Application
This part of the book applies to both the course essential question and the objectives. The inherent
human characteristics that span time and culture that I pulled from my reading were that of bravery and
humility. In the book, d'Artagnan challenges as many people as he can to duel as a way of showing his
bravery and that he is not afraid of dying or being hurt. D'Artagnan also shows us humility in the book
when he apologizes to Porthos and Aramis for being foolish and rude before he duels Athos. Human nature,
human roles and behavior, and human ideals are all objectives that apply to the part of the book I have read.
Human nature can be seen in this part of the book through all of the duels d'Artagnan gets into. Selfdefense is a basic part of human nature. Everyone feels the need to defend him or herself when they feel
threatened. D'Artagnan is a good example of this because whenever he feels insulted or in danger, he
defends himself and his name the only way he knows how, challenging his opponent. This is basically
instinctual to him, therefore exemplifying human nature. Human roles and behavior can be seen in this part
of the book by the Musketeers. The Musketeers are the bodyguards for the King and Queen of France. Each
member is responsible for keeping them safe and defeating the Cardinal's guards. Their role in society is to
defend nobility. However, each Musketeer is different, they do not act exactly the same. For example,
d'Artagnan is much more short-tempered, defensive, and willing to fight than Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.
This defines his role within the Musketeers as a leader, whereas another member of the group could be
considered a follower, or someone who goes along and fights but does not start or lead any conflict. Human
ideals are seen in this part of the book through the Musketeers. The Musketeers main goal is to achieve
justice and keep the King and Queen safe from their enemies. Although they do fight and create conflict,
the goal remains the same and each member works to perfect himself so that goal is achieved. It is in these
ways this part of the book applies to the course essential question and the objectives.