In Milady de Winter, Dumas created one of the great female characters and for that I could forgive him much. If in the end she turned out to be so powerful that he had to kill her off, that affirms her dominance. And the reality is that in the mid-19th century, men and women were held to different standards of morality. Heck, in the mid-20th century, that still obtained.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CRussel
This has nothing to do with current mores or political correctness. Their behaviour was reprehensible and repugnant by the standards of the time. They were not honourable, nor were they chivalrous. They were nasty, lazy, duplicitous, and infantile.
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Sure they were. But it was all tongue in cheek. Over the top, meant for fun at the same time it was meant for adventure and romance. Dumas signaled that again and again. One of the best aspects of the book was the witty prose that subverted the narrative.