Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Chapter 31: English and French


Summary
     When it is six o’clock, the Fearsome Four and servants all head off to a goat field to have the duel. Athos pays the goat-keeper to clear the goats away for battle (and that just may win the prize for the most random sentence I have ever typed). The goat-keeper complies and the duel can get on with, thank goodness. The Englishmen insist on knowing Athos, Porthos, and Aramis’s full names, so they whisper their names to their individual opponents. However, Athos slips back into scary mode, telling his opponent that now he will have to kill him, because Athos is believed to be dead and has reasons for not wanting his existence discovered. Athos’s opponent is taken aback, and assumes that Athos is joking. The man is dead wrong (I swear didn’t mean that pun), and Athos kills him very quickly. Porthos is less over-confident after being defeated and wounded at the inn, so he fights carefully yet skillfully, and defeats his opponent by stabbing him in the leg. Amusingly, Porthos then kindly carries his wounded opponent to his carriage. I will never understand their standards of morality.  Aramis is anxious to get back to writing his poem, so he fights very viciously and aggressively, and his opponent actually runs away amid taunting from all the watching servants. D’Artagnan fights defensively, and pins his opponent, Lord de Winter, after a short scuffle. Lord de Winter is so grateful to d’Artagnan for sparing his life that he invites him to dinner at his and his sister’s place that very day. By the way, he calls her “Milady Clarik.” D’Artagnan agrees happily – this was his evil plan! He wanted to get an invitation to meet Milady. Wow. Color me unimpressed.

     The Englishmen, still astounded by the French people’s generosity, give them a bag of money taken from their dead comrade, advising them to distribute it among their servants. Yay! I like these Englishmen. However, Athos decides that it would somehow be nobler to give the money to the Englishmen’s servants. Well, the English servants and coachmen are pleased, and everyone applauds this act except, of course, for poor Planchet, Mousqueton, Bazin, and Grimaud. They never seem to win, do they? Noble, indeed! Athos, you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. (Yes, I did just go there). After the duel, D’Artagnan yet again crashes at Athos’s place to primp himself for his upcoming meal with Milady. Athos switches back to the voice of reason, telling d’Artagnan that it is shameful that he has seemingly forgotten his supposed love for Madam Bonacieux. D’Artagnan feels a prick of remorse, but justifies it by saying that he is only curious about Milady because she is a cardinal supporter, as suggested by her connection to Rochefort. He dismisses Athos’s other warnings, and leaves to go have dinner at the de Winter adobe – the Place Royale. Milady welcomes d’Artagnan kindly enough but as they discuss the duel, she seems to be hiding rage. She seems agitated when she realizes that d’Artagnan spared Lord de Winter’s life. In fact, d’Artagnan catches a glimpse of her biting her lips furiously and even chomping on her handkerchief to let out her anger when she thinks she is unobserved. Good grief. Then she quickly composes herself and is once again the gracious hostess. Scary! The rest of the evening is pleasant, and d’Artagnan goes over to the Place Royale for dinner every day that week. Milady’s attractive young maid, named Kitty, clearly is infatuated with d’Artagnan and keeps trying to get his attention in a sweet and timid way. However, he really does seem to be in love with Milady, and he is so focused on her that he never even notices Kitty. Chatting with Milady, d’Artagnan learns that Lord de Winter is actually her brother-in-law, and that if he does not marry, she will inherit his fortune. D’Artagnan feels slightly suspicious of her because of all these proceedings, but cannot figure out why. Luckily, he is prudent enough to pretend to be a cardinalist when she inquires about his loyalties.  

Reaction
     First of all, d’Artagnan really has fallen in love with Milady, and forgotten Madame Bonacieux. What a fickle guy! Also, his failure to be a successful spy, despite all the clues being thrown at him is again irritating. D’Artagnan has yet again failed to put together the pieces of the puzzle. Let me elucidate. Milady tells d’Artagnan that she will inherit Lord de Winter’s fortune if he does not marry. The ‘and after he dies’ is implied there. So, keeping in mind her unsubtle scariness, it not a stretch to assume that she would want him dead quickly, before he gets married, in order to obtain his money. Putting that together, it is evident that she wishes that d’Artagnan had indeed killed Lord de Winter, and is furious that he did not do so. How else do you explain her behavior at the first dinner party? Even d’Artagnan noticed something chilling and frightening about her. He really should trust his instincts and watch out! Because it is becoming clear that d’Artagnan is completely smitten with Milady. On a side note, if d’Artagnan must pursue some other woman, he ought to go for Kitty. At least she is interested, and actually a nice person. One doubt I have about my theories due to this chapter is that we learn that Milady’s surname is “Clarik,” according to her brother, unless he is lying on her behalf. This confuses me, because isn’t her surname ‘de Winter?’ Maybe ‘de Winter’ is her title, and ‘Clarik’ is her last name. Or do I just fail to understand French naming customs? Either way, this does not contradict my analysis so I will stick with those theories until we learn more.

     My favorite line occurs when d’Artagnan observed Milady’s secret rage, because it is so absurd: “Now that she believed herself to be no longer observed, a sentiment resembling ferocity animated her countenance. She bit her handkerchief with her beautiful teeth.” Calm yourself, woman. Actually, don’t – my mental image of that scene is priceless. 

1 comment:

glutenfreecupcakes said...

Oh my goodness. What an absolutely ridiculous duel. First the goats and then the terrifyingly violent Athos and the bizzarely gentlemanly Porthos and the bewilderingly threatening Aramis and then the weird friendship formed between d'Artagnan and Lord de Winter. D'Artagnan, I'm pretty sure you could have thought of a way to get invited to Lord de Winter's house without getting someone killed.
Regarding "Milady Clarik", "Milady" is probably her title, "Clarik" her first name, and "de Winters" her last name. So your theory is still intact!
I suppose the Englishmen are noble, but I'm a little confused by the apparent "generosity" of the Musketeers, and also by the fact that the Englishmen basically robbed their friend...
I'm glad Athos at least has noticed d'Artagnan's apparent betrayal of Madame Bonacieux! Too bad d'Artagnan won't pay his friend any attention!
Is d'Artagnan really such a catch? A lot of apparently attractive women seem interested in him...
I'm glad the plot with Milady is moving forwards! She's a fun antagonist, what with her acting and conniving and handkerchief biting. I only wish d'Artagnan would realize that she's an antagonist at all!
(In other news, I thought "handkerchief" was spelled "hankerchief" up until today!! Wow!!)

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