The Vicomte De Bragelonne

What It's About

The Vicomte de Bragelonne is the third and final novel in Dumas's d'Artagnan Romances, following The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After. This long edition combines the full storyline, including the sections often published separately as Louise de la Vallière and The Man in the Iron Mask. Set in the 1660s during the early reign of Louis XIV, it follows the musketeers in their later years, each shaped differently by time and ambition. At its heart is Raoul, Vicomte de Bragelonne, the son of Athos, whose devotion and sense of honour draw him into the emotional and political turbulence of the French court. Around him unfolds a web of royal romance, ministerial intrigue, and the legendary mystery of an unidentified prisoner in the Bastille.

Key Concepts

The novel is as much about the end of an era as it is about adventure: the swashbuckling camaraderie of the earlier books gives way to questions of loyalty, aging, and duty to the crown versus duty to friends. Identity and concealment run throughout, most famously in the case of the masked prisoner, while the shifting balance of power at Louis XIV's court reflects France's move from an age of individual heroism toward one of centralized, bureaucratic monarchy.

About the Author

Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870) was a French novelist and playwright, and one of the most widely read authors of his era. The grandson of an enslaved woman from Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) and a French general, Dumas rose to fame with serialised historical adventure fiction that combined swordplay, romance, and political drama.

About This Edition

This is a 1893 translation by George Routledge.