The Three Musketeers (1844) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas. The young Gascon d'Artagnan comes to Paris in 1625, befriends the musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis, and battles Cardinal Richelieu and the dangerous Milady de Winter to save the queen's honour.
The story
D'Artagnan arrives in Paris hoping to join the king's musketeers, and on his first day challenges three of them to duels. They become inseparable friends.
Together they recover the diamond studs that Queen Anne gave to the Duke of Buckingham, before Richelieu can expose her. The second half follows their struggle against Milady, a spy of many crimes.
History and invention
Dumas wrote the novel with his collaborator Auguste Maquet, drawing on the Mémoires de M. d'Artagnan by Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras, published in 1700.
Real figures such as Louis XIII, Anne of Austria, Richelieu and Buckingham mix with invented adventures; the siege of La Rochelle provides the background.
Success
Serialised in the newspaper Le Siècle from March to July 1844, the novel was an enormous success and was followed by Twenty Years After and The Vicomte de Bragelonne.
It has been translated into almost every language and adapted countless times, from silent cinema to animation.
Anecdotes
A real d'Artagnan
Charles de Batz de Castelmore, known as d'Artagnan, was a real Gascon musketeer who served Louis XIV and was killed at the siege of Maastricht in 1673.
Four musketeers
The three musketeers of the title are Athos, Porthos and Aramis; d'Artagnan, the hero, is not one of them at the start of the novel and has to earn his place.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the three musketeers?
Athos, Porthos and Aramis.
Was d'Artagnan a real person?
Yes, a Gascon officer who died at Maastricht in 1673, though Dumas invented most of his adventures.
Who helped Dumas write the novel?
His collaborator Auguste Maquet.