René d'Herblay, alias Aramis, is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
in the novels ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...
'' (1844), ''
Twenty Years After
''Twenty Years After'' (french: Vingt ans après) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized from January to August 1845. A book of ''The d'Artagnan Romances'', it is a sequel to ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) and precedes the 1847–1850 no ...
'' (1845), and ''
The Vicomte de Bragelonne
''The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later'' (french: link=no, Le Vicomte de Bragelonne ou Dix ans plus tard ) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is the third and last of ''The d'Artagnan Romances'', following ''The Three Musketeers'' and ''Twe ...
'' (1847-1850) by
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where ''Suffix (name)#Generational titles, '' is French language, French for 'father', to distinguish him from ...
. He and the other two
musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
eers,
Athos
Athos may refer to:
Fictional or mythical characters
* Athos (character), one of the title characters in the novel ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) by Alexandre Dumas père
* Athos (mythology), one of the Gigantes in Greek mythology
* Athos Fadiga ...
and
Porthos
Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844), ''Twenty Years After'' (1845), and ''The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' (1847-1850) by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other ...
, are friends of the novels' protagonist,
d'Artagnan
Charles de Batz de Castelmore (), also known as d'Artagnan and later Count d'Artagnan ( 1611 – 25 June 1673), was a French Musketeer who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard. He died at the siege of Maastricht in the Fra ...
.
The fictional Aramis is loosely based on the historical musketeer
Henri d'Aramitz
Henri, Seigneur d'Aramitz ("Lord of Aramits"; c. 1620–1655 or 1674) was a Gascon '' abbé'', and black musketeer of the Maison du Roi in 17th century France. In addition, he was the nephew of the Comte de Troisville, captain of the Musketeers ...
.
Personality
Aramis loves and courts women, which fits well with the opinions of the time regarding
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
s and
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...
s. He is portrayed as constantly ambitious and unsatisfied; as a musketeer, he yearns to become an
abbé
''Abbé'' (from Latin ''abbas'', in turn from Greek , ''abbas'', from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is the title for lowe ...
; but as an abbé, he wishes for the life of the soldier. In ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...
'', it is revealed that he became a musketeer because of a woman and his arrogance; as a young man in training for the priesthood, he had the misfortune to be caught (innocently or not) reading to a young married woman and thrown out of her house. For the next year, he studied fencing with the best swordsman in town to get his revenge. He then challenged the man who had mistreated him to a duel and thanks to his newly learned fencing skills, killed him almost at once. Because duels were forbidden by royal edict and Aramis was a novice, he had to disappear and adopt a very low profile. He enlisted in the Musketeers under the assumed name of "Aramis". There he met Athos, Porthos and later d'Artagnan. Together, they worked to protect the king and to keep the queen's affair with the Duke of Buckingham from being revealed by
Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...
.
Aramis meets with great success, thanks to his Machiavellian plans and his audacity. He sees every victory as a step to climb to even greater power. Eventually, he is named
Superior General
A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...
of the
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
, which is precisely what saves his life at the end of ''Le Vicomte De Bragelonne'', after he is betrayed by
Nicolas Fouquet
Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux (27 January 1615 – 23 March 1680) was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV. He had a glittering career, and acquired enormous wealth ...
.
Despite his ruthless personal ambition, Aramis is an extremely loyal friend: in fact, his only mistakes come when he refuses to harm or offend his friends. In ''Twenty Years After'', he follows Athos's pleas to spare the life of the villain Mordaunt, and in ''Le Vicomte De Bragelonne'', he refuses to suppress d'Artagnan's discovery of the truth about
Belle-Île-en-Mer. Aramis even tells his friend Porthos the true identity of the Man in the Iron Mask, despite fearing that this will lead Porthos to kill him (Aramis). Friendship is so important to Aramis that, at the end of ''Le Vicomte De Bragelonne'', it is strongly implied that he cries - for the first and only time in his life - after causing the death of one of his friends.
Mistresses
Aramis' political intrigues are matched by (and usually connected with) his amorous intrigues, as Dumas casts him in the role of the lover of politically powerful women of his time. In ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...
'' ca. 1627, he is the lover of the
Duchesse de Chevreuse, the confidante of the queen. In ''
Twenty Years After
''Twenty Years After'' (french: Vingt ans après) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized from January to August 1845. A book of ''The d'Artagnan Romances'', it is a sequel to ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) and precedes the 1847–1850 no ...
'' he is the lover of the
Duchesse de Longueville
Duchesse (Duchesse satin) was a soft, heavy, and glossy satin cloth made in France.
Weave
Duchesse was produced with a satin weave with fine silk threads using a higher number of threads per square inch in the warp with at least seven floati ...
and, it is broadly implied, the father of her son.
Names
In contrast to the other musketeers, Aramis is twice referred to by his
first name
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
René. This first happens when d'Artagnan stumbles upon Aramis and his mistress in the chapter "Les Deux Gaspard" of the second book, and again when Bazin is talking about Aramis in the third book. In ''Twenty Years After'', Aramis is a
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
known as the
Abbé
''Abbé'' (from Latin ''abbas'', in turn from Greek , ''abbas'', from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is the title for lowe ...
d'Herblay or
Chevalier
Chevalier may refer to:
Honours Belgium
* a rank in the Belgian Order of the Crown
* a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold
* a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold II
* a title in the Belgian nobility
France
* a rank in the French Legion d'h ...
d'Herblay. In ''The Vicomte de Bragelonne'' he is the
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
of
Vannes
Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago.
History Celtic Era
The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who lived ...
, a title given to him by Nicolas Fouquet, and later becomes the
Superior General of the Jesuits
The superior general of the Society of Jesus is the leader of the Society of Jesus, the Catholic religious order also known as the Jesuits. He is generally addressed as Father General. The position sometimes carries the nickname of the Black Po ...
. When he comes back from exile, he is a Spanish
noble
A noble is a member of the nobility.
Noble may also refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Noble Glacier, King George Island
* Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land
* Noble Peak, Wiencke Island
* Noble Rocks, Graham Land
Australia
* Noble Island, Great B ...
and ambassador known as
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
of Alameda.
In film and television
Actors who have played Aramis on screen include:
*
Harold M. Shaw
Harold Marvin Shaw (also cited in some records as Henry Marvin Shaw; November 3, 1877January 30, 1926) was an American stage performer, film actor, screenwriter, and notable director of the silent era. A native of Tennessee, he worked professio ...
, in ''The Three Musketeers: Parts I and II'' (1911)
*
C.N. Mortensen, in ''The Three Musketeers '' (1916)
*
Pierre de Guingand
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
, in ''Les trois mousquetaires'' (1921)
*
Eugene Pallette
Eugene William Pallette (July 8, 1889 – September 3, 1954) was an American actor who worked in both the silent and sound eras, performing in more than 240 productions between 1913 and 1946.
After an early career as a slender leading man, ...
, in ''The Three Musketeers'' (1921)
*
Gino Corrado
Gino Corrado (born Gino Liserani; 9 February 1893 – 23 December 1982) was an Italian-born film actor."Obituaries." ''Variety'' (Archive: 1905-2000); Los Angeles. Vol. 309, Iss. 10, (Jan 5, 1983): 78-79. Via Proquest. He appeared in more ...
, in ''The Iron Mask'' (1929)
*
Jean-Louis Allibert
Jean-Louis Allibert (1897–1979) was a French film and television actor.Gmür p.72 He is sometimes also known as Louis Allibert.
Selected filmography
* ''Monte Carlo'' (1925)
* ''The Painter and His Model'' (1925)
* ''Saint Joan the Maid'' (1929 ...
, in ''Les Trois Mousquetaires'' (1933)
*
Onslow Stevens
Onslow Stevens (born Onslow Ford Stevenson; March 29, 1902 – January 5, 1977) was an American stage, television and film actor.
Early years
Born in Los Angeles, California, Stevens was the son of British-born character actor Houseley Ste ...
, in ''The Three Musketeers'' (1935)
*
Miles Mander
Miles Mander (born Lionel Henry Mander; 14 May 1888 – 8 February 1946), was an English character actor of the early Hollywood cinema, also a film director and producer, and a playwright and novelist. He was sometimes credited as Luther Mile ...
, in ''The Three Musketeers'' (1939)
*
Robert Coote
Robert Coote (4 February 1909 – 26 November 1982) was an English actor. He played aristocrats or British military types in many films, and created the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering in the long-running original Broadway production of ''My Fai ...
, in ''The Three Musketeers'' (1948)
*Keith Richards, in ''The Three Musketeers'' (1950)
*
Judd Holdren
Judd Clifton Holdren (October 16, 1915 – March 11, 1974) was an American film actor best known for his starring roles in the serials '' Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere'' (1951), ''Zombies of the Stratosphere'' (1952), ''The Lost Plan ...
, in ''Lady in the Iron Mask'' (1952)
*
Jacques François
Henri Jacques Daniel Paul François (16 May 1920 – 25 November 2003), known as Jacques François was a French actor. During a sixty-year career (1942–2002) he appeared in more than 120 films and over 30 stage productions. In 1948 he we ...
, in ''Les Trois Mousquetaires'' (1953)
*
Paul Hansard
Paul Hansard (12 January 1922 – 28 January 2013) was a German-born British actor on both television and film. He was also a puppeteer. On several of his television appearances on both ''The Buccaneers'' and ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'', ...
, in ''The Three Musketeers'' (1954)
*
Paul Campbell, in ''The Three Musketeers'' (1956) and ''Le Avventure dei tre moschettieri'' (1957)
*
Tim O'Connor, in ''The Three Musketeers'' (TV movie) (1960)
*
Jaques Toja Jaques is a given name and surname, a variant of Jacques.
People with the given name Jaques
* Jaques Bagratuni (1879-1943), Armenian prince
* Jaques Bisan (b. 1993) Beninese footballer
* Jaques Étienne Gay (1786-1864) Swiss-French botanist
* Jaq ...
, in ''Les Trois Mousquetaires: La Vengeance de Milady'' (1961) and ''Les Trois Mousquetaires: Les Ferrets de la Reine'' (1961)
*
Roberto Risso
Roberto Risso (22 November 1925 – 16 November 2010) was a Swiss-born Italian film actor.
Life and career
Born Pietro Roberto Strub in Geneva, Risso joined the cinema industry when he was still a university student of architecture, playing a ...
, in ''D’Artagnan contro i tre moschettieri'' (1963)
*
Gary Watson
Gary Watson (born Garrowby Watson, 13 June 1930) is a British retired actor. Early in his career he appeared in Friedrich Hebbel's 1962 play '' Judith'' at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, with Sean Connery. He made more than 40 appearances i ...
, in ''The Three Musketeers'' (1966)
*
John Woodvine
John Woodvine (born 21 July 1929) is an English actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles.
Early life
Woodvine was born in Tyne Dock, South Shields, Tyne & Wear, Englan ...
, in ''The Further Adventures of the Three Musketeers'' (1967)
*
Roger Sterckx
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages, Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", " ...
, in ''Die Drie Musketiers'' (1968)
*
Noel Willman
Noel Willman (4 August 1918 – 24 December 1988) was an Irish actor and theatre director. Born in Derry, Ireland, Willman died aged 70 in New York City, United States.
Willman's films included '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956), '' Across ...
, in ''The Man in the Iron Mask'' (1968)
*
Colin Fox, in ''The Three Musketeers'' (1969)
*
Georges Mansart, in ''Les Quatre Charlots Mousquetaires'' (1971)
*
Richard Chamberlain
George Richard Chamberlain (born March 31, 1934) is an American actor and singer, who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show ''Dr. Kildare'' (1961–1966). He subsequently appeared in several TV mini-series, such as ''Shōg ...
, in ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...
'' (1973), ''
The Four Musketeers'' (1974), and ''
The Return of the Musketeers
''The Return of the Musketeers'' is a 1989 film adaptation loosely based on the novel ''Twenty Years After'' (1845) by Alexandre Dumas. It is the third Musketeers film directed by Richard Lester, following 1973's ''The Three Musketeers'' and 1 ...
'' (1989)
*
Igor Starygin
Igor Vladimirovich Starygin (Russian:''Игорь Владимирович Старыгин'', 13 June 1946 in Moscow – 8 November 2009 in Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor.
An alumnus of the Russian Academy of Theatre Ar ...
, in ''
D'Artanyan i Tri Mushketyora'' (1978), ''Mushketyory 20 Let Spustya'' (1992), and ''Tayna Korolevy Anny ili Mushketyory 30 Let Spustya'' (1993)
*
Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. (January 15, 1913 – March 10, 1998) was an American film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of four children, includi ...
, in ''The Fifth Musketeer'' (1979)
*
Eiko Yamada
is a Japanese actress and voice actress from Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Hisamura worked under her maiden name before her marriage and for a long time afterward, so that name is still often used, even among fans. She is currently affilia ...
, in ''
Anime San Jushi'' (1987)
*
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), ''The Thr ...
, in ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...
'' (1993)
*
Sami Frey
Sami Frey (born Samuel Frei; 13 October 1937) is a French actor of Iranian Jewish descent. Among the films he starred in are '' En compagnie d'Antonin Artaud'' (1993), in which he portrays French poet and playwright Antonin Artaud, and '' Bande ...
, in ''Revenge of the Musketeers'' (1994)
*
William Richert
William Richert (1942 – July 19, 2022) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. He is known for writing and directing the feature films '' Winter Kills'', ''The American Success Company'', and '' A Night in the Life o ...
, in an early 1998 film of ''The Man in the Iron Mask''
*
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...
, in ''
The Man in the Iron Mask'' (1998)
*Thomas Beckett, in ''Three Musketeers'' (1999)
*
Callum Blue
Daniel James Callum Blue (born 19 August 1977), known professionally as Callum Blue, is an English actor. Best known for his roles on the Showtime series ''Dead Like Me'' and ''The Tudors'', as well as his roles as Zod in the American televis ...
, in ''
Young Blades
''Young Blades'' is a 13-episode historical fantasy television series that aired on PAX TV from January to June 2005, inspired by Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeers''. Thirteen episodes were made before cancellation.
Plot
Set in ...
'' (2001) (unaired TV series pilot)
*
Nick Moran
Nick Moran (born 23 December 1968 or 1969, sources differ) is an English actor and filmmaker, best known for his role as Eddie the card sharp in ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels''. He appeared as Scabior in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly H ...
, in ''
The Musketeer
''The Musketeer'' is a 2001 American action film, action-adventure film based on Alexandre Dumas's classic 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeers'', directed and photographed by Peter Hyams and starring Catherine Deneuve, Mena Suvari, Stephen Rea, Ti ...
'' (2001)
*
Allan Corduner
Allan Corduner (; born 2 April 1950) is a British actor. Born in Stockholm to a German mother and a Russo-Finnish father, Corduner grew up in a secular Jewish home in London. After earning a BA (Hons) in English and Drama at Bristol Universit ...
, in ''La Femme Musketeer'' (TV miniseries) (2003)
*
Grégori Derangère
Grégori Derangère (born 27 March 1971) is a French actor.
Career
Derangère was born in Montpellier where his parents finished their medicine studies. He moved to Moscow and French Guiana during his childhood and then to Paris.
He studi ...
, in ''D'Artagnan et les trois mousquetaires'' (2005)
*
Nick Jonas
Nicholas Jerry Jonas (born September 16, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas ...
, in ''The Three Musketeers'' (''
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
'' TV series ''
JONAS
Jonas may refer to:
Geography
* Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands
* Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States
* Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States
People with the name
* Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas
* Jonas, one of ...
'')
*
Luke Evans
Luke George Evans (born 15 April 1979) is a Welsh actor and singer. He began his career on the stage, performing in many of London's West End productions such as ''Rent'', ''Miss Saigon'', and '' Piaf'' before making his film breakthrough in ...
, in ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...
'' (film in 3D) (2011)
*
Santiago Cabrera
Santiago Cabrera (; born 5 May 1978) is a Chilean-British actor who has worked mainly in the UK and United States. Cabrera is best known for his roles as the character Isaac Mendez in the television series ''Heroes'', Lancelot in the BBC drama s ...
, in ''
The Musketeers
''The Musketeers'' is a British period action drama programme based on the characters from Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeers'' and co-produced by BBC America and BBC Worldwide. The series follows the musketeers Athos, Aramis ...
'' (TV series) (2014 - 2016)
References
{{The Three Musketeers
Literary characters introduced in 1844
Alexandre Dumas characters
Characters in The Three Musketeers
Cultural depictions of French men
Fictional French people
Adventure film characters
Fictional fencers
Fictional priests and priestesses
Fictional bishops
Fictional dukes and duchesses