The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion
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Twenty Years After
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The ambush scene is a wonderful episode. D’Artagnan’s instincts seem to have dulled over the years, since it is Planchet who picks up the clues. But once confronted, our hero is undaunted. And I love the way Aramis makes his entrance.
What did you think of the interactions between d’Artagnan and Aramis, and later Porthos? I was struck by the fact that, as they proclaim their friendship, everyone hides something (though Porthos predictably is most transparent.) Supposedly, many readers find Aramis their least favorite musketeer because they see him as sneaky. But I always liked him, and never more than when his musketeer side wins out over his religious side.
We know what d’Artagnan is hiding, but we only see that Aramis has some short flashes or grimaces. We do find out about his love life being exactly opposite of what he claimed.
The section with Porthos is openly comic, as he serves gargantuan meals and boasts about his lands and their riches, his food, his wine and even his air. But he also sighs deeply. We see a tender side of the giant, who apparently loved his wife.
What is the role of the servants? They also seem to be used for comic effect - Bazin’s hypocrisy and Mousqueton’s pride are exaggerations of their masters’ flaws.
As mentioned in the previous thread, the male-female relationships are often with a negative touch and I became reminded by Planchet in “my” chapter 12 ( M. Porthos du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds) that there are hardly any happy marriages at all in these works of Dumas except maybe later on the one Porthos had, but his wife is dead. The other deeper relationships seem to be outside of marriage. I used to be in doubt about how much d’Artagnan had really loved Constance, but in “my” chapter 8 - the first chapter of this thread - he mentions that there is no second Constance in the world. This implies that he must have had very strong feelings for her and might not really have gotten over that loss.
I must admit that I hardly liked any of the characters in the three musketeers seeing mostly their flaws all the time. I got rather irritated by their many misconducts, vices and lack of improvement especially in financial matters.
However, I like them now much more (maybe due to the translation and/or my mood as well). There are quite some comical moments and humorous descriptions e.g. when Planchet is embracing Mousqueton and trying to join his hands or the already mentioned entry of Aramis including the whole ladder experience at the convent.
In this regard, I find Aramis rather deceiving, which is, as you, Robin, mentioned, even more obvious in Bazin. I wonder why he was not a little more honest to d’Artagnan as his old friend, but maybe he was expecting some percussions from that side.
It becomes clear that all of them have maybe achieved what they were previously aiming for, but are still missing something. Aramis wanted to be an abbé, but is still involved with women, sells his sermons, instead of holding them, does not keep to the convent’s hours and keeps some weapons in his room.
Porthos has many estates, game, wine, food, etc., but misses his wife and the turbulent adventures of the past.
I am already curious what has become of Athos.
The reunion scenes are awesome. I like that this book shows more of everyone’s true character.Bazen is my least favorite of all the lackeys. He acts more like a parent than a servant. He believes that D’Artagnan has a bad influence on Aramis so he tries to keep them apart.
I’ll admit I was surprised that many other readers don’t like Aramis. He was always my favorite and I (somewhat naively) assumed he was everyone’s favorite. I imagine him as handsome, mysterious and sexy and those are all attractive qualities to me. 🥰
Athos and Aramis seem to be from ‘better’ (more noble) families than D’Artgnan and Porthos.
Aramis always has affairs with duchesses, and ladies of noble birth, while D’Artagnan is usually involved with the help. (Kitty was a maid, Constance was a seamstress and Madlen is an innkeeper.)
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I feel very sorry for poor Mosqueton, he did not want to leave, he was happy! I had hoped they would have left him behind...
I really enjoyed the reunion scenes also, along with the comedic scenes others have described. The characters have changed over the years, yet the changes seem realistic.Aramis is my least favorite of the Musketeers for reasons I can't quite identify. They're all flawed people, so I'm not sure why his hypocrisy and sneakiness bother me more than the flaws of the others.
I've never been one to enjoy romance in books, so I may be the only one who doesn't care much about their relationships. I wouldn't expect the characters to have the type of love matches we associate marriage with today. Most marriages were about status or inheritance rather than love in that era. Love was an added bonus in a marriage, not something to be expected.
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And I agree, marriage was often a business arrangement, especially in the upper classes, and having liaisons outside marriage was largely accepted for those classes.
@Anne: I had that dislike for Aramis as well. Maybe he seems in these chapters the least genuine and sincere towards d’Artagnan despite having been such good friends previously. This might even be enhanced by Bazin not wanting to tell where Aramis was.
I loved this section, seeing the reunion of our friends. It made me think of high school or college reunions after 20 years or so. Some people seem just the same, others have changed a lot. Some went in unusual directions. Some have everything they thought they wanted, but they are unhappy. Some never fulfilled their potential.
I will post questions in a couple days.