Paris, France Visited June 2009
A post about the great French author Alexandre Dumas, whose
life was almost as interesting as the stories he told. "All For One and One for All"
Alexandre Dumas was born Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie
in July 1802 in Villers-Cotterêts, northeast of Paris, France. His father Thomas-Alexandre took the name
‘Dumas’ as his last name to honor his mother (the younger Alexandre’s
grandmother), a former Haitian slave.
The author’s father was born in Haiti but came to France as a
young boy. An imposing physical
presence, he joined the army and quickly rose to the rank of general by the age
of 31. He was a fearless and feared
commander whose personal bravery led him into dramatic individual acts of
heroism that made him a legend in the French army. When Napoleon came to power Dumas soon found
himself as the tip of the spear in many of Napoleon’s military campaigns. But eventually General Dumas’ popularity
among the troops and legendary status in French society collided with
Napoleon’s colossal ego and he fell out of favor. On a ship returning to France following his
demotion by Napoleon in Egypt, General Dumas was captured and imprisoned in
Italy for two years. His health was
crushed by the experience and he died five years later at the age of 43 in
1806.
General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas's life furnished much real life material for the heroic characters in his son's later novels. In 2012 historian Tom Reiss published a biography of the General's life titled The Black Count - Glory, Revolution and the Real Count of Monte Cristo. The book is currently in production as a major motion picture.
Alexandre the son was born following the General’s captivity and
was only four years old when his father died.
The loss of status under Napoleon impacted the family General Dumas left
behind, and Alexandre’s aristocratic French mother had to do manual labor in
order to send her son to school. But
the teenage Alexandre dropped out of school to work. Despite his lack of formal education the
young man was a voracious reader. In
1822, with the fall of Napoleon and the restoration of the French Monarchy, the
social status of the Dumas family was restored and 20-year-old Alexandre was
able to obtain a position as an aid to the Duke of Orleans in the Paliais Royal
in Paris.
Rendering of the author at about 27 years |
In his twenties Dumas developed a passion for writing – mostly
historical plays at the time – and he achieved success almost from the
start. By age 30 he was an established
playwright. In 1830 he took part in the
revolution that ousted King Charles from the throne and replaced him with
Dumas’ mentor the Duke of Orleans. So
the decade of the 1830s saw Alexandre Dumas prospering both in his literary
vocation and in the highest realms of Paris society. However, this did not keep him from experiencing
the racial insults of those who looked down upon his mixed race heritage. Dumas defended himself fiercely against
prejudice, one time responding to a racial slur with the following:
My father was a mulatto, my grandfather
was a Negro, and my great-grandfather a monkey. You see, Sir, my family starts
where yours ends
Alexandre Dumas
was a prodigious producer of literary work and an effective self-marketer,
which was essential because he was an even more lavish spender. He constantly lived at the edge of financial
ruin throughout his life – with great wealth seeming to run through his hands
like water. In his mid 30’s he began to
focus on the more lucrative genre of fiction writing, where he parlayed his
popularity and flair for storytelling into a steady stream of well-regarded novels. The works he is most known for are the
adventure classics, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers,
its sequel The Man in the Iron Mask, and The Corsican Brothers
(all published between 1844 and 1848).
But the total literary output over his lifetime included over 100,000
pages of writing. His various novels
have been translated into nearly 100 languages and have been the subject matter
for over 200 motion pictures.
A friend described Dumas in the following way,
"The most generous,
large-hearted being in the world. He also was the most delightfully amusing and
egotistical creature on the face of the earth. His tongue was like a windmill –
once set in motion, you never knew when he would stop, especially if the theme
was himself.”
Monte Cristo - the house Dumas built outside Paris which now serves as a museum to the author and his family. |
In 1840, at the age of 38, Dumas married an actress. But
throughout his adult life he carried on numerous affairs and had at least four
children outside his marriage. One son,
Alexandre Dumas (called ‘fils to distinguish him from his father) became a
noted literary figure in his own right.
In 1851 Napoleon III staged a successful overthrow of the monarchy and a
Dumas was once again under the disdain of a Napoleon. A combination of political disfavor and problems
with creditors led him to leave France for Belgium, then Russia and finally
Italy. He continued to publish during
this self-imposed exile, earning substantial royalties and spending them just
as fast. In 1864 the political climate
had improved enough for Dumas to return to France. He spent the rest of his years writing,
philandering and enjoying his popularity among the French people.
Statue of Dumas in Paris |
Dumas late in life |
Alexandre Dumas died at age 68 of a stroke in Puys, France on December 5,
1870. He was buried in his
hometown. In 2002 his body was moved to
the Pantheon in Paris where he was buried among the greats of French literature,
including Victor Hugo, Jean-Jaques Rousseau,Voltaire, and others. I had the chance to visit the Pantheon and see the simple Dumas crypt along side his contemporaries Victor Hugo and Emile Zola when I was in Paris for my 25th wedding anniversary. My wife stayed outside on the plaza.
Dumas' original grave in his hometown |
Dumas Crypt in the Pantheon |
Your blogger on the steps of the Pantheon in Paris |
When I was in high school I picked up a copy of The Count of
Monte Cristo and was utterly fascinated by the storytelling. For a long time it was my favorite book. When my wife and I were in France celebrating
our 25th wedding anniversary I reread it and was once again
enthralled by the tale of a man with unlimited means and the justice he metes
out in the use of it. Dantes rented a house in Paris in the novel at the address of 30 Champs Elysees. We found the street number. Nice but not quite the mansion depicted in the book.
Your blogger at 30 Champs Elysees |
In the early 2000’s an unpublished Dumas novel was
discovered. After considerable scholarly
research and editing the book was released in 2006 as The Last Chevalier. It too became a best seller.
Here are my favorite film adaptations of Dumas works in chronological order:
The Three Musketeers (1973). Richard Lester's lavish slapstick film has little to do with the plot of the book but is a rollicking swashbuckler with a big name cast.
The Man in the Iron Mask (1998). A star studded adaptation of the story of the further adventures of The Three Musketeers stars a young Leonardo DiCaprio as well as Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne. Probably should have been better than it was considering the cast.
The Count of Monte Cristo (2002). This is a serious and well executed effort to tell the story of Edmund Dantes starring Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce. The difficulty of telling the sprawling story in a two hour movie is a challenge, but its good movie watching with a beautifully filmed sword duel climax (not part of the novel).
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