For example, the Three Musketeers are united in order to defend the honor of Anne of Austria against Richelieu. It should be noted, though, that Dumas always retained his affectionate relationship with the Duc, and that he eventually returned to France, where he composed many first-rate, long-running plays.ĭumas' well-known collaboration with Auguste Maquet began in 1837 and resulted in a series of historical novels in which Dumas hoped to reconstruct the major events of French history. Then, because Dumas was implicated in some "irregularities" during a noted French general's funeral, he suddenly decided to "tour" Switzerland as a result, we have another long series of delightful Memoirs, this time issued as travel books. The Revolution of 1830 interrupted Dumas' playwriting, and for a pleasant and amusing account of these years, one should consult Dumas' Memoirs for many rich and humorous anecdotes (not worrying unduly about the degree of truth in them, of course). The Duc was so fond of it that he appointed Dumas the librarian of the Palais Royal. Then in 1829, Dumas' Henri III et sa cour (Henry III and His Court) was produced it was Dumas' first spectacular triumph. Professionally, this was an extremely happy time for Dumas for six years, he and Leuven had been collaborating on plays, and their legitimate dramas had been staged to much popular acclaim.
When he was twenty-two, however, a melodrama of his own making presented itself: Dumas found himself the father of an illegitimate son by a dressmaker, Marie Labay when the boy was seven, Dumas went to court to get custody of him, and succeeded. Later, as a young man, Dumas went to Paris and secured a position as a clerk to the Duc d'Orleans this was a marvelous stroke of good fortune, for the Duc would soon become king, and Dumas would write a superb Memoir about his many and varied mishaps while he was employed by the future king.Īt the same time, Dumas and his old friend, Leuven, produced several melodramas. As he grew older, he became close friends with the son of an exiled Swedish nobleman, and the two of them began to dabble in vaudeville enterprises. The young boy's formal education was scanty, most of it provided by a priest, and as soon as he could qualify, Alexandre entered the services of a lawyer. Therefore, on his father's death in 1806, when Alexandre was only four, the family was left in rather severe financial straits. His father was somewhat of an adventurer-soldier, a mulatto, and was not a favorite of Napoleon because of his staunch republicanism. Alexandre Dumas, the author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, among scores of other novels, was born on July 24, 1802.
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