"The Three Musketeers"-- A Review

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the romantic and rational ideals as seen in 19th century literature, using Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Musketeers" as an example. The paper gives a basic plot summary and character analysis of the novel. The paper shows three incidences from the novel that demonstrate forms of romantic and rational chivalry which reflect male-female relationships. The author concludes by describing when rational versus romantic chivalry was necessary in the novel.

From the Paper:

"This balance of both romanticism and rationalism is evidenced in the novel, "The Three Musketeers." Written in the mid-19th century, "Musketeers" chronicled the life of the protagonist d'Artagnan and his path towards being a true Musketeer, with the help of the 'three Musketeers' Athos, Pathos, and Aramis. Prevalent among the themes tackled in the novel was the theme of chivalry, a romanticist ideal that puts importance on how males regard female members of the society. However, the theme of chivalry was also shown to assume 'traces' of both romanticism and rationalism. That is, while chivalry was still the norm followed in the novel, this characteristic was motivated by the rational thoughts of d'Artagnan and the three Musketeers as protectors not only of the King and his family, but most importantly, of civil society from offenders and criminals."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Collington, T. (2002). "History is not just a thing of the past: The chronotopic transpositions of La Reine Margot." Literature Interpretation Theory, Vol. 13.
• Dumas, A. E-text of "The Three Musketeers." Project Gutenberg web site.
• Fromkin, D. (2006). "Dumas gastronomique." The New Criterion.
• Valiunas, A. (2003). "Dumas among the gods: the three Musketeers and other French fantasies." The American Spectator.
• Volo, J. (2004). The Antebellum Period: American popular culture through history. Conn: Greenwood Publishing Group.

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