''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical
adventure novel
Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of romance fiction.
History
In the Introduction to the ''Encycloped ...
written in 1844 by French author
Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer. ...
. It is in the
swashbuckler
A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, guile and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, daring ...
genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight for justice.
Set between 1625 and 1628, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan (a character based on
Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan) after he leaves home to travel to Paris, hoping to join the
Musketeers of the Guard. Although d'Artagnan is not able to join this elite corps immediately, he is befriended by three of the most formidable musketeers of the age –
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 Fadi ...
,
Porthos and
Aramis, "the three musketeers" or "the three inseparables" – and becomes involved in affairs of state and at court.
''The Three Musketeers'' is primarily a historical and adventure novel. However, Dumas frequently portrays various injustices, abuses and absurdities of the
Ancien Régime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for " ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
{{disambig ...
, giving the novel an additional political significance at the time of its publication, a time when the debate in France between
republicans
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
and
monarchists was still fierce. The story was first serialised from March to July 1844, during the
July Monarchy
The July Monarchy (french: Monarchie de Juillet), officially the Kingdom of France (french: Royaume de France), was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 ...
, four years before the
French Revolution of 1848
The French Revolution of 1848 (french: Révolution française de 1848), also known as the February Revolution (), was a brief period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundati ...
established the
Second Republic.
The story of d'Artagnan is continued in ''
Twenty Years After'' and ''
The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later''.
Origin

Dumas presents his novel as one of a series of recovered manuscripts, turning the origins of his romance into a little drama of its own. In the preface, he tells of being inspired by a scene in ''Mémoires de Monsieur d'Artagnan'' (1700), a historical novel by
Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras
Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras (1644, Montargis – 8 May 1712, Paris) was a French novelist, journalist, pamphleteer and memorialist.
His abundant output includes short stories, gallant letters, tales of historical love affairs (''Les Intrigu ...
, printed by Pierre Rouge in Amsterdam, which Dumas discovered during his research for his history of
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Ve ...
. According to Dumas, the incident where d'Artagnan tells of his first visit to M. de Tréville, captain of the Musketeers, and how, in the antechamber, he encountered three young
Béarn
The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three B ...
ese with the names Athos, Porthos and Aramis, made such an impression on him that he continued to investigate. That much is true – the rest is fiction: He finally found the names of the three musketeers in a manuscript titled ''Mémoire de M. le comte de la Fère, etc.'' Dumas "requested permission" to reprint the manuscript; permission was granted:
Now, this is the first part of this precious manuscript which we offer to our readers, restoring it to the title which belongs to it, and entering into an engagement that if (of which we have no doubt) this first part should obtain the success it merits, we will publish the second immediately.
In the meanwhile, since godfathers are second fathers, as it were, we beg the reader to lay to our account and not to that of the Comte de la Fère, the pleasure or the ennui he may experience.
This being understood, let us proceed with our story.
''The Three Musketeers'' was written in collaboration with
Auguste Maquet, who also worked with Dumas on its sequels (''
Twenty Years After'' and ''
The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later''), as well as ''
The Count of Monte Cristo
''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (french: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (''père'') completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with '' The Three Musketeers''. L ...
''. Maquet would suggest plot outlines after doing historical research; Dumas then expanded the plot, removing some characters, including new ones and imbuing the story with his unmistakable style.
''The Three Musketeers'' was first published in
serial form in the newspaper ''
Le Siècle
''Le Siècle'' ("''The Age''") is a daily newspaper that was published from 1836 to 1932 in France.
History
In 1836, ''Le Siècle'' was founded as a paper that supported constitutional monarchism. However, when the July Monarchy came to an end ...
'' between March and July 1844.
Plot

In 1625 France, D'Artagnan leaves his family in
Gascony
Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part ...
and travels to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
to join the
Musketeers of the Guard. At a house in
Meung-sur-Loire, an older man derides D'Artagnan's horse. Insulted, D'Artagnan demands a duel. But the older man's companions instead beat D'Artagnan unconscious with a cooking pot and a metal tong that breaks his sword. His letter of introduction to Monsieur de Tréville, the commander of the musketeers, is also stolen. D'Artagnan resolves to avenge himself upon the older man, who is later revealed to be the
Comte de Rochefort
The Comte de Rochefort is a secondary fictional character in Alexandre Dumas' '' d'Artagnan Romances''. He is described as approximately 40 to 45 years old in 1625 and "fair with a scar across his cheek".
In ''The Three Musketeers''
Known throu ...
, an agent of
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 ...
, who is passing orders from the cardinal to his spy, Lady de Winter, usually called
Milady de Winter or simply "Milady". In Paris, D'Artagnan visits Monsieur de Tréville at the headquarters of the musketeers, but without the letter, Tréville politely refuses his application. He does, however, write a letter of introduction to an academy for young gentlemen which may prepare his visitor for recruitment at a later time. From Tréville's window, D'Artagnan sees Rochefort passing in the street below and rushes out of the building to confront him, but in doing so he offends three musketeers,
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 Fadi ...
,
Porthos and
Aramis, who each demand satisfaction; D'Artagnan must fight a duel with all of them that afternoon.
As D'Artagnan prepares himself for the first duel, he realizes that Athos's
seconds are Porthos and Aramis, who are astonished that the young Gascon intends to duel them all. As D'Artagnan and Athos begin, Cardinal Richelieu's guards appear and attempt to arrest D'Artagnan and the three musketeers for illegal dueling. Although they are outnumbered four to five, the four men win the battle. D'Artagnan seriously wounds Jussac, one of the cardinal's officers and a renowned fighter. After learning of this, King
Louis XIII
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...
appoints D'Artagnan to Des Essart's company of the King's Guards and gives him forty
pistoles. D'Artagnan hires a servant named Planchet, finds lodgings and reports to Monsieur des Essart, whose company is a less prestigious regiment in which he will have to serve for two years before being considered for the musketeers. Shortly after, his landlord speaks to him about the kidnapping of his wife, Constance Bonacieux. When she is presently released, D'Artagnan falls in
love at first sight
Love at first sight is a personal experience as well as a common trope in literature: a person or character feels an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction for a stranger upon first seeing that stranger. Described by p ...
with her. She works for
Queen Anne of France, who is secretly having an affair with the English
duke of Buckingham
Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses of Buckingha ...
. The king, Louis XIII, gave the queen a gift of diamond studs, but she gives them to her lover as a
keepsake.
Cardinal Richelieu, who wants war between France and England, plans to expose the tryst and persuades the king to demand that the queen wear the diamonds to a soirée that the cardinal is sponsoring. Constance tries to send her husband to London to fetch the diamonds from Buckingham, but the man is instead manipulated by Richelieu and thus does not go, so D'Artagnan and his friends intercede. En route to England, the Cardinal's henchmen repeatedly attack them and only D'Artagnan and Planchet reach London. Before arriving, D'Artagnan is compelled to assault and nearly to kill, the Comte de Wardes, a friend of the Cardinal, cousin of Rochefort and Milady's lover. Although Milady stole two of the diamond studs, Buckingham provides replacements while delaying the thief's return to Paris. D'Artagnan is thus able to return a complete set of jewels to Queen Anne just in time to save her honour. In gratitude, she gives him a beautiful ring. Shortly afterward, D'Artagnan begins an affair with Madame Bonacieux. Arriving for an assignation, he sees signs of a struggle and discovers that Rochefort and M. Bonacieux, acting under the orders of the Cardinal, have assaulted and imprisoned Constance. D'Artagnan and his friends, now recovered from their injuries, return to Paris. D'Artagnan meets Milady de Winter officially and recognizes her as one of the Cardinal's agents, but becomes infatuated with her until her maid reveals that Milady is indifferent toward him.
Entering her quarters in the dark, he pretends to be the Comte de Wardes and trysts with her. He finds a ''
fleur-de-lis
The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol.
The fleur-de-lis has been used in th ...
'' branded on Milady's shoulder, marking her as a felon. Discovering his identity, Milady attempts to kill him but D'Artagnan eludes her. He is later ordered to the
Siege of La Rochelle
The siege of La Rochelle (, or sometimes ) was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627–28. The siege marked the height of the struggle between the Catholics and the Pr ...
. He is informed that the queen has rescued Constance from prison. At an inn, the musketeers overhear the Cardinal asking Milady to murder Buckingham, a supporter of the Protestant rebels at La Rochelle who has sent troops to assist them. Richelieu gives her a letter that excuses her actions as under orders from the Cardinal himself, but Athos takes it. The next morning, Athos bets that he, D'Artagnan, Porthos and Aramis and their servants can hold the recaptured St. Gervais bastion against the rebels for an hour, for the purpose of discussing their next course of action. They resist for an hour and a half before retreating, killing 22 Rochellese in total; D'Artagnan is made a musketeer as a result of this feat. They warn Lord de Winter and the duke of Buckingham. Milady is imprisoned on arrival in England, but she seduces her guard, Felton (a fictionalization of the real
John Felton) and persuades him to allow her to escape and to kill Buckingham himself. Upon her return to France, Milady hides in a convent where Constance is also staying.
The naïve Constance clings to Milady, who sees a chance for revenge on D'Artagnan and fatally poisons Constance before D'Artagnan can rescue her. The musketeers arrest Milady before she reaches Cardinal Richelieu. They bring an official executioner, put her on trial, sentence her to death, and execute her. After her execution, the four friends return to the Siege of La Rochelle. The Cardinal's Guards arrest D’Artagnan and take him to the cardinal. When questioned about Milady's execution, D'Artagnan presents her letter of pardon as his own. Impressed with D'Artagnan's wilfulness and secretly glad to be rid of Milady, the Cardinal destroys the letter and writes a new order, giving the bearer a promotion to lieutenant in the Tréville company of musketeers, leaving the name blank. D'Artagnan offers the letter to Athos, Porthos and Aramis in turn but each refuses it; Athos because it is beneath him, Porthos because he is retiring to marry his wealthy mistress and Aramis because he is joining the priesthood. D'Artagnan, though heartbroken and full of regrets, finally receives the promotion he had coveted.
Characters
;Musketeers
*
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 Fadi ...
– Comte de la Fère: he has never recovered from his marriage to Milady and seeks solace in wine. He becomes a
father figure
A father figure is usually an older man, normally one with power, authority, or strength, with whom one can identify on a deeply psychological level and who generates emotions generally felt towards one's father. Despite the literal term "father f ...
to d'Artagnan.
*
Porthos – M. du Vallon: a
dandy
A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle des ...
, fond of fashionable clothes and keen to make a fortune for himself. The least cerebral of the quartet, he compensates with his homeric strength of body and character.
*
Aramis – René d'Herblay, a handsome young man who hesitates between his religious calling and his fondness for women and scheming.
*
D'Artagnan – Charles de Batz de Castelmore D'Artagnan: a young, foolhardy, brave and clever man seeking to become a musketeer in France.
;Musketeers' servants
*Planchet – a young man from
Picardy
Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France.
Hist ...
, he is seen by Porthos on the
Pont de la Tournelle
The (''Tournelle Bridge'' in English), is an arch bridge spanning the river Seine
)
, mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur
, mouth_coordinates =
, mouth_elevation =
, progression =
, river_system = Seine basin
, ...
spitting into the river below. Porthos takes this as a sign of good character and hires him on the spot to serve d'Artagnan. He turns out to be a brave, intelligent and loyal servant.
*Grimaud – a
Breton. Athos is a strict master and only permits his servant to speak in emergencies; he mostly communicates through sign language.
*Mousqueton – originally a
Norman named Boniface; Porthos, however, changes his name to one that sounds better. He is a would-be dandy, just as vain as his master. In lieu of pay, he is clothed and lodged in a manner superior to that usual for servants, dressing grandly in his master's old clothes.
*Bazin – from the province of
Berry
A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, rasp ...
, Bazin is a pious man who waits for the day his master (Aramis) will join the church, as he has always dreamed of serving a priest.
;Others
*
Milady de Winter – a beautiful and evil spy of the Cardinal, she is also Athos's ex-wife. D'Artagnan impersonates a rival to spend a night with her, attracting her deadly hatred.
*
Rochefort
Rochefort () may refer to:
Places France
* Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department
** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard
* Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department
* Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...
is a more conventional agent of the Cardinal. Following their duel on the road to Paris, d'Artagnan swears to have his revenge. He loses several opportunities, but their paths finally cross again towards the end of the novel.
*Constance Bonacieux – the queen's seamstress and confidante. After d'Artagnan rescues her from the cardinal's guard, he immediately falls in love with her. She appreciates his protection, but the relationship is never consummated.
*Monsieur Bonacieux – Constance's husband. He initially enlists d'Artagnan's help to rescue his wife from the Cardinal's Guards, but when he himself is arrested, he and the Cardinal discover they have an understanding. Richelieu turns Monsieur Bonacieux against his wife and he goes on to play a role in her abduction.
*Kitty – a servant of Milady de Winter. She dislikes her mistress and adores d'Artagnan.
*Lord de Winter – brother of Milady's second husband, who died of a mysterious disease (apparently poisoned by Milady). He imprisoned Milady upon her arrival in England and decided to send her overseas in exile. Later, he took part in Milady's trial.
;Historical characters
*King
Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...
– presented by Dumas as a fairly weak monarch often manipulated by his chief minister.
*Queen
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 un ...
– the unhappy queen of France.
*
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 ...
– Armand Jean du Plessis, the king's chief minister, who plots against the queen in resentment at having his advances rebuffed. Dumas describes him as being "36 or 37" though in 1625 Richelieu was 40.
*
M. de Tréville
Jean-Armand du Peyrer, Comte de Troisville (or Tresville) (1598 – 8 May 1672) was a French officer. He was fictionalized under the name Monsieur de Tréville in Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeers''.
Biography
Origins
Du Pe ...
– captain of the musketeers and something of a mentor to d'Artagnan, though he has only a minor role.
*
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, 28 August 1592 – 23 August 1628), was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite and possibly also a lover of King James I of England. Buckingham remained at t ...
– a handsome and charismatic man used to getting his way: he thinks nothing of starting a war between England and France for his personal convenience. His courtship of Anne of Austria gets her in trouble.
*
John Felton – a Puritan officer assigned to guard Milady and warned about her ways, he is nonetheless seduced and fooled by her in a matter of days and assassinates Buckingham at her request.
Editions
''Les Trois Mousquetaires'' was translated into three English versions by 1846. One of these, by William Barrow (1817–1877), is still in print and fairly faithful to the original, available in the Oxford World's Classics 1999 edition. To conform to 19th-century English standards, all of the explicit and many of the implicit references to sexuality were removed, adversely affecting the readability of several scenes, such as the scenes between d'Artagnan and Milady.
There are 3 modern translations as well. One recent English translation is Will Hobson in 2002.
Another is by
Richard Pevear (2006), who, though applauding Barrow's work, states that most of the modern translations available today are "textbook examples of bad translation practices" which "give their readers an extremely distorted notion of Dumas' writing."
The most recent translation is by the American translator Lawrence Ellsworth (Lawrence Schick) published by Pegasus Books in February 2018 from the 1956 French edition.
Ellsworth decided to translate the full trilogy of
The d'Artagnan Romances as well as the two novels of The Count of Moret for 21st century readers in 9 volumes, making it the first complete translation in over a century and a half. 5 out of 9 volumes have been published, the 6th is in preparation for publishing, and the 7th volume is in progress in a serialized translation on Substack.
Adaptations
Film
*
''The Three Musketeers'' (1921), a silent film adaptation starring
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...
.
*
''The Three Musketeers'' (1939), a musical comedy adaptation starring
Don Ameche
Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which l ...
and The
Ritz Brothers.
*
''The Three Musketeers'' (1948), a 1948 adaptation starring
Van Heflin,
Lana Turner
Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized pe ...
,
June Allyson,
Angela Lansbury
Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...
and
Gene Kelly.
*
''The Three Musketeers'' (1973), an adaptation by
Richard Lester
Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director based in the United Kingdom.
He is best known for directing the Beatles' films '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and '' Help!'' (1965), and the superhero films ' ...
starring
Oliver Reed
Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...
,
Frank Finlay
Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English stage, film and television actor, Oscar-nominated for a supporting role as Iago in Laurence Olivier's 1965 film adaptation of ''Othello''.
In 1983, Finlay was directed by It ...
,
Richard Chamberlain and
Michael York
Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''R ...
. This was only the first half of the Dumas novel, with the rest appearing in the following year's ''
The Four Musketeers''.
*''
D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers'' (1978), a popular Soviet musical featuring
Mikhail Boyarsky
*
''The Three Musketeers'' (1993), a 1993 Disney adaptation starring
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 Th ...
,
Kiefer Sutherland,
Oliver Platt and
Chris O'Donnell
Christopher Eugene O'Donnell (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor and former model. He played Charlie Sims in '' Scent of a Woman'', Chris Reece in '' School Ties'', D'Artagnan in '' The Three Musketeers'', Jack Foley in the drama film ' ...
.
*''
The Musketeer'', a 2001 film.
*
''The Three Musketeers'' (2011), directed by
Paul W. S. Anderson and starring
Luke Evans,
Ray Stevenson and
Milla Jovovich.
Television
The novel has been adapted also for television in live action and animation.
Live action
The BBC has adapted the novel on three occasions.
*''The Three Musketeers'', a 1954 BBC adaptation in six 30-minute episodes, starring
Laurence Payne,
Roger Delgado
Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto (1 March 1918 – 18 June 1973) was a British actor. He played many roles on television, radio and in films, and had "a long history of playing minor villains" before becoming ...
,
Paul Whitsun-Jones and Paul Hansard
*''
The Three Musketeers'', a 1966 BBC adaptation in ten 25-minute episodes, directed by
Peter Hammond and starring
Jeremy Brett,
Jeremy Young and
Brian Blessed
Brian Blessed (; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor, presenter, writer and mountaineer.
Blessed is known for portraying PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars'', Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of ''I, Claudius'', King Richard IV ...
* ''
The Musketeers'', a 2014 series by
Adrian Hodges, is the newest BBC adaptation starring
Tom Burke,
Santiago Cabrera,
Howard Charles and
Luke Pasqualino as the titular musketeers.
''
Young Blades'' is an American/Canadian television series that aired on
PAX in 2005. The series serves as a sequel to the novels, centered on the son of d'Artagnan, played by
Tobias Mehler.
A series adapted for Korean history aired in 2014.
Animation
Walt Disney Productions
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 1 ...
produced a
Silly Symphony cartoon called, ''
Three Blind Mouseketeers'', which is loosely based on the novel in 1936, in which the characters are depicted as anthropomorphic animals.
A two-part adaptation aired on ''
The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo'', with
Magoo portraying D'Artagnan.
''
The Three Musketeers'' was a series of animated shorts produced by
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer t ...
as part of ''
The Banana Splits Comedy-Adventure Hour'' and ''The Banana Splits & Friends'' show.
''
The Three Musketeers'' was a Hanna-Barbera animated special from 1973. It was part of the 1970s-80s CBS anthology series ''
Famous Classic Tales
''Famous Classic Tales'' is an animated anthology television series featuring animated adaptations of classic children's stories which aired on CBS from 1970 to 1984. The series was produced by the Australian division of Hanna-Barbera and Air Pro ...
'' that was produced by Hanna-Barbera's Australian division and often aired around the holidays between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.
''
Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds'' is a 1981 Spanish–Japanese
anime
is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
adaptation, where the characters are
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
dogs. A sequel, ''The Return of Dogtanian'', was released in 1989 by
BRB Internacional
BRB Internacional S.A.U is a Spanish licensing and production company of animated television series as ''Around the World with Willy Fog'', '' Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds'' and ''The World of David the Gnome''. On 31 January 2018, WildBrai ...
,
Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...
and
Wang Film Productions
Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. (also known as Hong Guang Animation (宏廣) and Cuckoos' Nest Studio) is one of the oldest and most prolific Taiwanese-American animation studios since 1978. The company, based in Xindian, Taipei and Los Angeles, ...
. Set 10 years after the original, it is loosely based on the novel ''
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 '' ...
''. A key difference between the two ''Dogtanian'' adaptions and Dumas' novel is that the character traits of
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 Fadi ...
and
Porthos were interchanged, making Athos the extrovert and Porthos the secretive noble of the group.
In 1989, Gakken produced a new anime adaptation called ''
The Three Musketeers Anime'', this time with human characters, which features several departures from the original.
''
Albert the Fifth Musketeer'' is a 1994 French animated series featuring a new musketeer, the titular Albert.
''
Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers'', a direct-to-video animated movie produced by
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American Film studio, film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action featur ...
and the Australian office of
DisneyToon Studios, directed by
Donovan Cook
Donovan Ryan Cook III (born January 30, 1968) is an American film director, cartoon creator and producer, best known for creating, directing and producing the animated series ''2 Stupid Dogs'' and directing the Disney animated features '' Retu ...
and released on 17 August 2004.
A
Barbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiratio ...
adaption of the tale by the name of ''
Barbie and the Three Musketeers
''Barbie and the Three Musketeers'' is a 2009 computer-animated fantasy film. It was released to DVD on September 15, 2009, and made its television premiere on Nickelodeon on November 22, 2009.
This film is the sixteenth entry in the ''Barbie'' ...
'' was made in 2009.
Stage
The first stage production was in Dumas' own lifetime as the opera ''Les Trois Mousquetaires'' with a
libretto by Dumas himself and music by
Albert Visetti.
''
The Three Musketeers'' is a musical with a book by
William Anthony McGuire
William Anthony McGuire (July 9, 1881 – September 16, 1940) was an American playwright, theatre director, and producer and screenwriter, including ''The Kid From Spain'' (1932) starring Eddie Cantor. McGuire earned an Oscar nomination for ...
, lyrics by Clifford Grey and
P. G. Wodehouse and music by
Rudolf Friml. The original 1928 production ran on Broadway for 318 performances. A 1984 revival ran for 15 previews and 9 performances.
In 2003, a Dutch musical ''
3 Musketiers
''3 Musketiers'' is a Dutch musical, also known as 3 Musketiere (German), 3 Musketeers (English) and A 3 Testőr (Hungarian) written by Ferdi Bolland and Rob Bolland. The story is based on Alexandre Dumas, père's 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeer ...
'' with a book by André Breedland and music & lyrics by Rob & Ferdi Bolland premiered, which went on to open in Germany (both the Dutch and German production starring
Pia Douwes as Milady De Winter) and Hungary.
Playwright Peter Raby, composer George Stiles and lyricist Paul Leigh have written another adaptation titled ''The 3 Musketeers, One Musical For All'', originally produced by the now defunct
American Musical Theatre of San Jose.
In 2006, an adaptation by
Ken Ludwig premiered at the Bristol Old Vic. In this version, d'Artagnan's sister Sabine, "the quintessential tomboy," poses as a young man and participates in her brother's adventures.
In 2018,
The Dukes performed an outdoor promenade production in
Williamson Park, Lancaster, adapted by Hattie Naylor: in this version d'Artagnan was a young woman aspiring to be a musketeer.
Video games and board games
In 1995, publisher
U.S. Gold released ''
Touché: The Adventures of the Fifth Musketeer'' by
video game developer
A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a larg ...
s
Clipper Software, a classic point-and-click
adventure game
An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...
. In 2005, Swedish developer
Legendo Entertainment published the
side-scrolling platform game
A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action game, action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform game ...
''
The Three Musketeers'' for
Windows XP
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was release to manufacturing, released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Wind ...
and
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...
. In July 2009, a version of the game was released for
WiiWare in North America and Europe under the title ''
The Three Musketeers: One for All!''. In 2009, Canadian developer
Dingo Games self-published ''
The Three Musketeers: The Game'' for
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...
and
Mac OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
. It is the first game to be truly based on the novel (in that it closely follows the novel's story). 2009 also saw the publication of the asymmetric team
board game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.
Many board games feature a ...
''The Three Musketeers "The Queen's Pendants"'' (''Настольная игра "Три мушкетера"'') from French designer Pascal Bernard by the Russian publisher
Zvezda. In 2010, a co-operative game called "Mousquetaires du Roy" was released by Ystari and Rio Grande. The alternative spelling of "Roy" was taken from the old French and is rumoured to be preferred over the regular spelling because the publishers desire to have a letter "Y" in the name of the games they publish. Designed by François Combe and Gilles Lehmann for 1-5 players, the medium heavy game depicts the quest to retrieve the Queen's diamonds, while at the same time fending off disasters back in Paris. A sixth player expansion, called "Treville" was also made available in 2010.
In 2010,
Anuman Interactive launched ''The Three Musketeers'', a
hidden object game
A hidden object game, also called hidden picture or hidden object puzzle adventure (HOPA), is a puzzle video game genre in which the player must find items from a list that are hidden within a scene. Hidden object games are a popular trend in casu ...
on PC and MAC. Players follow d'Artagnan in his quest to become a king's musketeer.
Web Series
In 2016, KindaTV launched a web series based on the story of ''The Three Musketeers'', called "All For One". It follows a group of college students, mainly Dorothy Castlemore and is centred around a sorority- Mu Sigma Theta (MST). The majority of characters have been gender-swapped from the original story and most character names are based on the original characters.
It covers several themes including the LGBT community, mental health, long-distance relationships and college life.
Audio Drama
In September 2019,
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
released The Three Musketeers: an Audible Original Audio Drama, which follows the story of the book told from Milady's perspective.
In April 2021, Durham University Audio Society began releasing the first season of DUADS' The Three Musketeers. The show originally aired on Durham University's student radio station,
Purple Radio, and went on to be nominated for and receive several local awards. The show remains faithful to the events of the novel, but adds in several adventures and touches on additional themes, including LGBT themes. The first season covers the first arc of the book, the quest for the Queen's diamond studs. A second and third season are in the works.
In May 2022,
Radio Mirchi
Radio Mirchi (also known as 98.3 Mirchi) is a nationwide network of private FM radio stations in India. It is owned by the EntertainmentNetwork India Ltd (ENIL), which is one of the subsidiaries of The Times Group. ''Mirchi'' is Hindi for re ...
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
station aired The Three Musketeers in
Bangla
Bangla (Bengali: বাংলা) may refer to:
*Bengali language, an eastern Indo-Aryan language
*The endonym of Bengal, a geographical and ethno-linguistic region in South Asia
*''Bangla-'', a prefix indicating Bangladesh
Businesses and organ ...
version, translated by Rajarshee Gupta for Mirchi's Sunday Suspense Programme. It was narrated by Deepanjan Ghosh. D'Artagnan was voiced by actor
Rwitobroto Mukherjee. Athos was voiced by
Gaurav Chakrabarty, Porthos by Agni, Aramis by Somak, King Louis XIII by Sayak Aman and Cardinal Richelieu by
Mir Afsar Ali.
Other

Publisher Albert Lewis Kanter (1897–1973), created ''
Classic Comics'' for
Elliot Publishing Company
The Gilberton Company, Inc. () was an American publisher best known for the comic book series '' Classics Illustrated'' featuring adaptations of literary classics. Beginning life as an imprint of the Elliot Publishing Company, the company became ...
in 1941 with its debut issues being ''The Three Musketeers''. ''
The Three Mouseketeers
''The Three Mouseketeers'' is the name of two separate talking animal comic series published by DC Comics.
Golden Age version
The original ''Three Mouseketeers'' were published in DC's humor series ''Funny Stuff'', first appearing in ''Funny Stu ...
'' was the title of two series produced by
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...
; the
first series
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 reco ...
was a loose parody of ''The Three Musketeers''. It was also made into motion comics in the
Video Comic Book
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems ...
series
In 1939, American author
Tiffany Thayer
Tiffany Ellsworth Thayer (March 1, 1902 – August 23, 1959) was an American actor, writer, and one of the founding members of the Fortean Society.
Biography
Born in Freeport, Illinois, Thayer quit school at age 15 and worked as an actor, repor ...
published a book titled ''Three Musketeers'' (Thayer, 1939). This is a re-telling of the story in Thayer's words, true to the original plot but told in a different order and with different points of view and emphasis from the original.
Fantasy novelist
Steven Brust's
Khaavren Romances series have all used Dumas novels (particularly the
D'Artagnan Romances) as their chief inspiration, recasting the plots of those novels to fit within Brust's established world of
Dragaera.
His 2020 novel ''
The Baron of Magister Valley'' follows suit, using ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' as a starting point.
Sarah Hoyt wrote a series of
Historical Murder mysteries with the Musketeers as the protagonists. (Hoyt wrote the novels under the name Sarah d'Almeida.)
Tansy Rayner Roberts wrote ''Musketeer Space'', a
space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and soc ...
retelling of the original book in which almost all characters have a different gender, as a weekly serialized novel from 2014 to 2016.
In popular culture
Literature
In the book ''
The Assault'', The Three Musketeers is quoted in the Prologue as the protagonist had the story read to him by Mr. Beumer, a lawyer who later becomes senile and in morbidity.
The American translator, Lawrence Ellsworth is currently translating
The d'Artagnan Romances entirely and he has also written a 2-volume novel called The Rose Knight's Crucifixion that is a parallel novel to The Three Musketeers and most of the characters from The Three Musketeers and Sir Percy Blakeney from
The Laughing Cavalier and
The First Sir Percy by
Baroness Orczy appear. The protagonist's physical appearance, however, is based on
Quasimodo
Quasimodo (from Quasimodo Sunday) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the novel '' The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (1831) by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster, bu ...
from
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
's
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story of ...
.
Film and television
In the movie ''
The Man in the Iron Mask'', the aging musketeers come out of retirement and reunite to save France from the spoiled, cruel young King Louis XIV (played by
Leonardo DiCaprio). The movie features
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 p ...
as Aramis,
John Malkovich as Athos,
Gerard Depardieu as Porthos and
Gabriel Byrne as D’Artagnan.
In ''
Slumdog Millionaire
''Slumdog Millionaire'' is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel '' Q & A'' (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Pat ...
'', Jamal Malik's final question was to correctly identify the name of the third musketeer- which was Aramis. Jamal did so and won twenty million rupees.
In the film ''
Django Unchained'', one of the slaves, owned by Calvin Candie, is named D'Artagnan.
Video games
In ''
Pokémon Black and White'', the Pokémon
Cobalion,
Terrakion and
Virizion, known as the Swords of Justice, are based on the Three Musketeers. Cobalion represents Athos, Terrakion represents Porthos and Virizion represents Aramis. The fourth Sword of Justice,
Keldeo, represents d'Artagnan.
Music
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to em ...
song
You've Got Everything Now
''The Smiths'' is the debut studio album by English rock band the Smiths, released on 20 February 1984 by Rough Trade Records. After the original production by Troy Tate was felt to be inadequate, John Porter re-recorded the album in London, M ...
features the line: "I've seen you smile, but I've never really heard you laugh" and is borrowed from a narrative description of Athos:
Ppcocaine
Lilliane Catherine Diomi (born June 1, 2001), known professionally as ppcocaine (previously known as trapbunniebubbles), is an American social media personality and rapper. She is perhaps best known for her song "3 Musketeers" that gained popul ...
's song "Three Musketeers" shares little with the novel but its title.
References
External links
*
*. Plain text format.
*
History of Dumas' Musketeers shows links between the characters and actual history.
Comprehensive collection of Dumas links''The Three Musketeers'' Scanned public domain editions in PDF format from
Archive.org
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...
, some w/ illustrations, introductions and other helpful material.
"The Paris of ''The Three Musketeers''" by E. H. Blashfield and E. W. Blashfield. ''
Scribner's Magazine
''Scribner's Magazine'' was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. ''Scribner's Magazine'' was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of ...
'', August 1890. Cornell University Library.
*Cooper, Barbara T., "Alexandre Dumas, père", in ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'', Vol. 119: ''Nineteenth-Century French Fiction Writers: Romanticism and Realism, 1800–1860'', edited by
Catharine Savage Brosman
Catharine Savage Brosman (born 1934) is an American poet, essayist, and scholar of French literature and a former professor at Tulane University, where she held the Gore Chair of French Studies.
Life and career
Brosman was born in Denver; she sp ...
, Gale Research, 1992, pp. 98–119.
*Hemmings, F. W. J., "Alexandre Dumas Père", in ''European Writers: The Romantic Century'', Vol. 6, edited by Jacques Barzun and George Stade, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1985, pp. 719–43.
*Foote-Greenwell, Victoria, "The Life and Resurrection of Alexandre Dumas", in ''Smithsonian'', July 1996, p. 110.
*Thayer, Tiffany, ''Three Musketeers'', New York: Citadel Press, 1939. (On the hard cover, the title is printed as ''Tiffany Thayer's Three Musketeers''.)
Discussion of the work, bibliography and linksBibliography and references for ''The Three Musketeers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Three Musketeers
1844 French novels
French adventure novels
French historical novels
French novels adapted into films
French novels adapted into plays
Novels adapted into comics
Novels adapted into video games
French novels adapted into television shows
Novels by Alexandre Dumas
Novels first published in serial form
Novels set in Early Modern France
Novels set in the 1620s
Works originally published in Le Siècle
1844 in France
Cultural depictions of Cardinal Richelieu
Cultural depictions of Louis XIII
Novels set in the 17th century