The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion
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Twenty Years After
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Twenty Years After - week 14 - thru The Battle of Charenton
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Yes, this section definitely starts out with a bang.💥 As usual, Dumas describes everything so well it’s like reading a film script - I can picture all the action. Mordaunt reminds me of a villain from a thriller or a horror movie - he just won’t die. He keeps popping up with a knife just like in the movies.
I like that Athos finally admitted Raoul was his son.
I wonder why he couldn’t at least have trusted his friends with that information. Everyone already knew or suspected it anyway. 🤷🏻♀️ I guess he is being discreet about his affair.
(By the way, I always imagined he continued the affair every time he went to ‘visit’ madame de Chevreuse.)
I agree with you Robin - the Fronde story line seems a little silly and ‘weak’ compared to the London events. I was also very confused as to why they were lying to the Queen about King Charles being alive. It makes no sense. She would obviously find out sooner or later. Maybe they thought she would leave France and re-join her husband if she believed he was still alive.
I don’t have Ellsworth s second book so I switched back to the free Gutenberg one.
Ana, I thought as well that the scenes of the “Big Bang of the Ship” which ironically was named Lightning were like in a modern Psychothriller in which the villain seems to have more than one life. Despite the previous behavior and attitudes it was up to Athos to kill the son of his former wife who had refused to do so until the end. We always think that we in modern times have come up with this type of plot and genre so it was very interesting to see that Dumas used these techniques of suspense.I must admit that I was not very focused when reading the last chapters of this section after our heroes’ arriving in Paris. I felt a little confused to keep track of all the names and which sides they were actually on.
I was trying to imagine additionally how a 17th century flooded Paris might look like. That must have been awful - with a lot of debris, dirt and probably disgusting smells. It is almost a pity that Dumas does not go more into detail about the state of Paris then.
Regarding the news about King Charles I’ s death, I was wondering whether they did not tell the truth out of fear of the Queen’s reaction in the sense of “Do not kill the messenger”. Naturally at some point the truth would come out, but in that situation they might not have felt comfortable to bring such news. People were killed/ punished for a lot of things in those days as we know. it is only a bad excuse - of course.
Mod
I also got a bit confused about the leaders of the Fronde. I didn't remember the Duc de Bouillon (sounds like a soup recipe!) And I was disappointed that the Duc de Beaufort was so easily bought off after his years of imprisonment. The bottom line is that all the figures so beloved of the people got rewards and the people got nothing. Maybe they got immunity from prosecution for treason, since there doesn't seem to be talk of arrests. But any legitimate issues, such as how Mazarin is taxing people and using the proceeds, weren't addressed. We see here the nobles and the bourgeois but nothing about the poor, who would go on suffering.
The Duke de Boullion really does sound like a soup recipe. 😆
Robin, in the notes of my edition it was mentioned that “contemporaries said that Paris was turned into ‘a little Venice’.”
Mod
Thanks, Hedi! It's great that Dumas incorporated this historical detail. You'd think our heroes would be sick of boats after their recent adventures!
I too was a little confused by all those names. I had to stop reading in the middle of the scene of Mordaunt asking for help in the sea, and I spent dinner time wondering how Dumas had risolved this problem: would they leave him to die (it did not seem feasible to me) or would they rescue him (but I could not imagine the five together in the boat)? So, after dinner I went on and I must say that Dumas found a satisfying ending!
Mod
I had to stop reading in the middle of the scene of Mordaunt asking for help in the sea, and I spent dinner time wondering how Dumas had risolved th..."
Yes, he resolved it in the most dramatic way!
Adrift at night, after swimming in the winter sea, our swashbucklers still joke (about eating Mousqueton) and even sleep and as Athos says, Providence sends them a rescue ship. Athos and Aramis land in the middle of a scene of uprising. Fortunately, they encounter Planchet, who keeps going up in the world. Ellsworth misses another joke. Planchet says that because he could get his troops to march on the same feet, he was given a promotion on the field of maneuvers. This is a play on the expression a promotion on the field of battle, or battlefield commission. In Ellsworth, Planchet just says "they made me a drill officer."
As Athos and Aramis make their visits, they are constantly proceeded by 3 figures. I don't understand why the "ambassadors" are bringing false information about King Charles of England. Their main mission is to buy off the opposition leaders with property, titles, and other favors.
The whole episode of the Fronde seems ridiculous and insignificant in comparison with the civil war and execution we just saw in England. The main death we see in the Battle of Charenton is Aramis' carrying out the threatened duel with Chatillon. The crowning irony is that Planchet's unit never even went to the battle but spent the day drinking.
Now Athos and Aramis are in the position d'Artagnan had in The Three Musketeers, needing to retrace the steps of their friends to rescue them.