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ALL FOR ONE,
ONE FOR ALL
THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1844),
ALEXANDRE DUMAS
A
lthough the idea of setting
a novel in a previous period
of history was not a new
one—fictional tales of the past
are as old as literature itself—the
historical novel as a distinct genre
achieved unprecedented popularity
in the 19th century. Demand came
first in Britain, and was stimulated
by the novels of the Scottish writer
Sir Walter Scott, which appeared
between 1814 and 1832. These had
a huge readership, in Britain and
abroad, and their success inspired
a wave of similarly themed novels.
By the 1820s, the influence of
Scott’s novels in particular had
spread as far as the US, where
James Fenimore Cooper wrote the
popular “Leatherstocking Tales.”Translations of British historical
fiction were also creating a market
for the genre across Europe, notably
in France, where it was taken up
by writers such as Victor Hugo and
Honoré de Balzac. The most popular
of the French historical authors,
however, was Alexandre Dumas.A thirst for adventure
The first of Dumas’ novels, The
Three Musketeers, appeared in
serial form in 1844, and almost
immediately made him a household
name. The novel contained all the
ingredients of the popular fiction of
the time: dashing, romantic heroes
and wily villains; plots involving
derring-do and camaraderie; and
the backdrop of a period that was
well known to its readers for
political intrigue.
At the time of the book’s
publication, France had undergone
a turbulent period post-Revolution:
tensions between monarchists and
republicans were unresolved,
and the romantic depiction of a
fictionalized past appealed to those
yearning for a more settled time.
At the heart of Dumas’ story is
d’Artagnan, a young nobleman who
leaves his home in Gascony to join
the Musketeers of the Guard inIN CONTEXT
FOCUS
The historical novelBEFORE
1800 Anglo-Irish writer Maria
Edgeworth’s Castle Rackrent
is in the vanguard of a fashion
for historical fiction.1814 Waverley, by Scottish
writer Walter Scott, is the first
in a series of historical novels
that includes Rob Roy (1817)
and Ivanhoe (1820).1823– 41 US author James
Fenimore Cooper writes his
“Leatherstocking Tales,”
historical fictions that include
The Pioneers (1823) and The
Last of the Mohicans (1826).AFTER
1829 Honoré de Balzac’s The
Chouans tells of the 1799
royalist uprising in France.1989 Gabriel García Márquez’s
The General in His Labyrinth
is a postmodern historical
novel about Simon Bolivar,
“Liberator of South America.”Never fear quarrels, but seek
hazardous adventures.
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