Catlady, it seems as if you and I can't find anything to disagree about on this book?
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Originally Posted by Catlady
[...] 1. What is it about The Three Musketeers that has made it perennially popular? Given that the novel remains popular despite the vast social and political changes that have occurred since it first appeared, should we say that it addresses basic truths about human nature rather than historical and social issues?[...] |
While I can agree with Pajamaman's sentiment that this book is 17th century, so of course gender issues etc. will be different (although not so different as we'd like), I don't see that that excuses the fact that it turns into a story of an (apparently) evil woman hounded by men from all sides until she is cornered and killed. Where is the chivalry? Where is bravery required for this? She had no special powers, just intelligence and consistency. It doesn't say much for any of our "heroes" in the story that it takes so many of them to best her. And the side stories of adultery and seduction don't offer anything better. The actual action - what little there is - seems to be mostly just poncing about in fancy dress and being polite between sword thrusts; almost none of it offers any sense of excitement or tension to the story. (The more I think about this book the less I like it - and I haven't even left myself room to talk about the lackeys!)
The only explanation that I can come up with for this story remaining popular, despite its myriad deficiencies, is that people cherry-pick what they want to see and remember from the story. The title itself has passed into our language as a phrase describing comradeship and loyalty. These are good things and so we make up other stories (cartoons for the kids, movie adaptations) that emphasise this and downplay the not so nice parts of the story.
So, over the generations it is the title and the meaning it has taken on that gets remembered, and the few that bother to read the book look mainly at those parts which reinforce what they've already learned of the story, and perhaps avert their eye from the less flattering parts.
At least, that's my explanation. I can't really think of how else a modern audience can overlook what a grubby little story this is at its core.