Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
I went into this looking for it to be subversive, in part because Dumas was writing during the lead up to the revolutions of 1848, where I would have expected his sympathies to be on the side of the insurgents, especially given that his adored father was an ardent Republican who was badly treated by Napoleon in the long run, although he served him brilliantly in the field.
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This is an interesting thought
issybird, as I believe all the arts can show the influence of contemporary historical events. One extreme example is the way in which both music and art after the Great War seemed to be fractured by the way that war had changed the world, especially in Europe.
Then I read that Dumas had worked for the Duke of Orleans, who became King Louis-Philippe, a more liberal monarch replacing Charles X who seemed to be more of a "divine right of kings" sort of monarch, and was forced to abdicate. (I don't know much about French history, so please excuse this rather simplistic summary!)
So it would seem that Dumas did dislike the almost god-like status of rulers like Louis XIII, and politicians with the vast power of someone like Cardinal Richelieu. He wouldn't have cared too much for Napoleon either, given the way in which Napoleon's regime treated Dumas' father, leaving him to rot in jail for two years after he was captured.
This probably explains why Louis XIII is pretty well a nonentity in the book, and why Richelieu is depicted as being someone to fear because of his sweeping powers.