The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 588 of the story, and 626 pages including explanatory notes.

Reviewer: Christian I.

The Man in the iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas is an excellent novel. It is about King Louis, and he is making France fall apart from his poor ruling as king. Three retired musketeers want to get rid of the king, after he put one of the musketeer’s sons on the front line of war. D’Artagnan, the musketeer captain, thinks otherwise, and is trying to defend the king. The other three find another heir to the throne, and that is the man in the iron mask. The man in the iron mask is King Louis’s twin brother, Phillipe. The musketeers then train Phillipe to fight, just in case if he needs to defend himself. King Louis then hosts a party, and the musketeers make the switch. Although, a loyal friend of the King breaks him out of jail, and  Louis resumes being king. Parthos and Arimas the escape to Belle-Isle, where the King sends an attack. D’Artagnan resigns from the military, and helps his friends. Parthos dies during the battle of Belle-Isle, and D’Artagnan died a few years later from a war with Holland. At the end, the only original musketeer alive is Aramis.

As I said in  the summary, I think The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas is excellent. It has an action filled story with a hint of mystery. This novel is considered a world classic, and is a French novel. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good book to read.

1. The author wrote The Man in the Iron Mask to show how two brothers can be different and what they will do for their country.

2. The theme of the book is right versus wrong. The king is a tyrant, and his twin brother (the man in the iron mask) knows what is right for France.

3. The author supports the thesis in many ways. In the book, three musketeers have to do a wrong action, to save France from the tyrant. They also did what was right by not killing the tyrant. D’Artagnan conflicts whether or not to help his friends or the king. The author uses many other examples to support this thesis.

4. The main issue is that the king, Louis, is a tyrant. Three of the original 4 musketeers had enough of the king’s tyranny. They discover that there is another heir to the throne, and they secretly switch the two, making France have a fair and kind king.