AN OVERVIEW
This is a story with numerous subplots, but a central character holds the threads. The sutradhar is D’Artagnan, who arrives in Paris an impoverished country bumpkin. His quick temper coupled with aggressive swordplay gets him into many scrapes.
There are powerful enemies (Cardinal Richelieu and Milady) and he finds inseparable friends ( the three Musketeers) . His native wit, honesty and romantic nature make him a character to respect. The tale is set in the French capital amidst the intrigue of Louis’ court, the machinations of Cardinal Richelieu and the romance between his Queen and the Duke of Buckingham.
Chivalry is the order of the day and fights between men who wear the livery of the Cardinal and that of the King are rife.
SPECIFIC CHARACTERS
Our hero makes his mark as a man to be trusted and respected and we get a glimpse of the individual backgrounds and varying temperament of his friends. Athos-the darkest and most intriguing character is the man with a past, Aramis, a man of the cloth and Porthos a loud mouthed valiant buffoon. In the background is the malign influence of Milady.
It is natural to empathise with a struggling young man who makes good isn’t this what a lot of Hindi movies are about? Add good portions of seduction-Milady as a seductress while incarcerated in prison , flashbacks from the past, cunning plots, for example, the Cardinal tries to embarrass the Queen by exposing the fact that a present from the King has been given to her lover, Buckingham as a keepsake. The twists and tragedies of this sub plot and of D’Artagnan’s part in it, are alone worth reading the book.
D’Artagnan young and foolhardy with his heart on his sleeve is the antithesis of Athos with his past and a maturity born of suffering. Yet Athos , possibly sees a reflection of his youth and lends his support and adopts a protective role as far as our hero goes.
In a deeper sense I felt that the story reflects our own search for success and the route that we tread to achieve it. Many are the players who take part in the building of our road to our goal but only our integrity and effort will carry us through the numerous hurdles. That is why I chose my call name ’effort’ as it represents the struggle of this young headstrong idealist and his path to wisdom and maturity