The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion
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I also had to think of Les Miserables during the chapters of the installation of barricades. I was also thinking of the French Revolution in 1789, considering that the people were fighting for a plebeian, but had not done so for incarcerated royals. And Mazarin speaks to the Queen whether she wanted to get beheaded, which brought the guillotine by which Queen Marie Antoinette lost her head to my mind.Queen Anne’s character was a striking contrast to hers 20 years before. However, her situation was not the best. She had always been a foreigner/ the Spaniard in France, Cardinal Richelieu opposed her actively, the king died, and she had to become regent and protector for her son. That might have had an impact on her, a woman, who was probably constantly made to feel inferior by the men around her. She reminded me in these scenes a little of Cersei in Game of Thrones (sorry for mentioning that as a reference 😉).
I wonder whether the royals had lost their attachment to the people already then, which led on the one hand to the opulent lives the royals were going to live during the following 141 years, including the erection of the beautiful Versailles palace and all the extravagancies that Louis XIV favored and on the other hand to the increasing hatred of royals by the people that in the end led to the French Revolution.
It is also interesting how Mazarin tells the Queen whether she wanted to end up like Charles I of England who is in the middle of a civil war. After the French Revolution many nobles in England were afraid that such a revolution would come to them.
London and Paris - a tale of two cities over centuries. 😉😊
Good point. There is something in these chapters that reminds me of Hugo’s Les Miserables. Queen Ann is not likable at all in this book. (She is even less likable later on). 🤨
The GOT reference made me laugh 😂 If she was standing by the window drinking a glass of wine 🍷 she would be just like Cersei.
I like how D’Artagnan looks after Raoul.
I actually prefer the British plot with King Charles, Lord Winter, Athos and Aramis.
Mazarin takes advantage of the excitement of the mass to arrest Broussel and this leads to a series of escalating skirmishes. I was thinking that Dumas had borrowed the character of Friquet from Gavroche in Les Miserables, but I looked up and found that Les Mis was written in 1862 vs. 1845 for this book. So Hugo borrowed from Dumas. Or both used a type, which Hugo discusses, of the Parisian "gamin". (Dumas and Hugo both started out in theater and influenced each other greatly.) There are similar characters in Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle.
We find that several of our old friends are leading figures in their own circles, such as Planchet and Rochefort. Fortunately, d'Artagnan never has direct contact with either of them during the riots. Or Raoul - how unfortunate if Raoul had killed or injured on of them, who he never even met. I really liked how d'Artagnan lectured the young man, but I think he could have given some explanation. Raoul seemed to lose some of his naivete after his battle experiences, but here he is so ignorant of politics that he just sticks to the simple idea of serving the king.
Those of us how read Sylvia's Lovers recently remarked on how recent events of our time made it easy for us to see how mobs can get out of hand. The same is true here. The building of barricades has been a Parisian tradition for centuries. The description of what is accomplished overnight is very impressive.
What do you think of Queen Anne? In The Three Musketeers, she was a sympathetic figure, beset by king and cardinal and a romantic figure. Here she has already lowered herself by allying with Mazarin, and she shows a lot of anger and pride. Are you impressed with the diplomatic maneuvering of Gondy? D'Artagnan was!