D’Artagnan’s grief


By Christiane Märker

August 3rd 2007

In the scene where Aramis tells his friends about his plan to replace the king, we see how D’Artagnan refuses to join him. When Athos asks him why he still follows Louis, D’Artagnan answers that he still believes that Louis can do better. But I think that he just used this explanation as a pretext because he couldn’t tell Athos and the others the truth – or didn’t want it. The truth, that Louis is his son. I’m convinced that in this scene we don’t see a soldier who wants to protect his king, but a father who wants to protect his son. After all Athos is right. Louis is in fact not a good king and D’Artagnan knows this, too. Maybe if Louis wouldn’t be his son, D’Artagnan would have joined his friends. However, I wouldn’t bet on it because D’Artagnan also seems to have a distinctive sense for loyalty. Well, but Louis is not just D’Artagnan’s king but also his son. And a father who loves his son would not harm him. I think that D’Artagnan really loves Louis or at least cares for him because we can see his pain in this scene. It must also be hard for him to see how his son acts and we can see in some scenes how D’Artagnan tries to exert a positive influence on Louis.

There is also the very interesting question what would have happened, if D’Artagnan had told his friends the truth in this scene. What if he would have said something like: “I can’t do it because he is my son”? I can’t say how the story would have continued then, but I’m sure that it would have moved in a completely different direction. Because if the others would have known the truth, they would have had scruple to harm Louis. On the other hand I have no idea what they would have done then instead, because I also think that they wouldn’t have been so moved that they would completely leave Louis alone. However, I think that would have been a very dramatic moment, if D’Artagnan would have told the truth in this scene. From the dramaturgical point of view this would have been a great scene. But the scene is already great without this and very heart-moving. When I watch the movie I feel really sorry for D’Artagnan because you really can’t envy him.

Chrissi

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