The Man In The Iron Mask

(conclusion in English is at the bottom of this post)

Bagaikan matahari, ada saatnya terbit, ada saatnya tenggelam, begitu pula kehidupan manusia, ada saat ia mengalami kejayaan masa muda, namun akan tiba saatnya kejayaan itu menyusut tiba-tiba. Empat sahabat pengawal ekslusif Raja Prancis yang dulu mengalami kejayaan, kini—tiga puluh tahun kemudian—mau tak mau menyaksikan tenggelamnya masa-masa indah itu. Mereka adalah the three musketeers: Athos, Porthos, Aramis, ditambah sahabat setia mereka D’Artagnan, para pengawal raja yang termashyur dengan semboyan: ‘one for all and all for one’. Kisah karya Alexandre Dumas yang berdasarkan sejarah pemerintahan Louis XIII hingga Louis XIV ini dirangkai ke dalam tiga sekuel. Dimulai dari The Three Musketeers, disusul Twenty Years After, dan ditutup dengan The Vicomte de Bragelonne. Sekuel ketiga ini—karena begitu panjangnya (sekitar 2000 halaman)—dibagi ke dalam 3 bagian. The Man in The Iron Mask ini adalah bagian terakhir dari sekuel ketiga itu (jadi ia sebenarnya bukan novel yang berdiri sendiri), di mana para musketeers telah memasuki usia 50-60 tahunan.

Seperti yang telah kuduga, Alexandre Dumas merangkai kisah ini dengan plot yang rumit, terbagi atas beberapa konflik yang melibatkan tokoh yang berbeda-beda. Mungkin ini adalah akibat cara penulisan kisah ini yang asalnya berupa serial (bukan novel). Karena itu, aku akan mengulas sedikit kisah dari 5 tokoh utama, beserta bumbu-bumbu konflik yang mengelilinginya.

Aramis

Adalah Aramis (sudah menjadi uskup) yang merancang kudeta terhadap Louis XIV dengan menukarnya dengan saudara kembar Louis yang sejak kecil diasingkan kemudian dipenjara agar tidak mengganggu takhta Louis. Phillipe, si saudara kembar malang inilah yang kemudian menjadi the man in the iron mask. Sedang Aramis sendiri kemudian dikejar-kejar pasukan Raja yang dipimpin D’Artagnan, karena pemberontakannya.

Athos

Setelah pensiun dari musketeers, Athos—kini Comte de la Verre—hidup tenang bersama putra tunggalnya yang kini meneruskan pelayanannya kepada Raja: Vicomte Raoul de Bragelonne. Sayangnya Raoul terlibat cinta segitiga dengan Louis XIV, yang dimenangkan—tentu saja—oleh sang Raja. Raoul bukan saja patah hati, namun juga patah semangat hidup. Hal yang membuat Athos marah dan menyalahkan Raja dengan kata-kata kasar. Raoul lalu berangkat perang ke Arab, meninggalkan Athos kesepian. Kisah ayah-anak ini yang paling tak aku sukai, penuh kegalauan!

D’Artagnan

Adalah satu-satunya yang masih mengabdi kepada monarki, dengan menjadi Kapten Musketeers. Karakter D’Artagnan sudah kuulas di sini. D’Artagnan tersinggung karena Louis XIV tak sepenuhnya memberinya kepercayaan saat ia bertugas memburu Aramis dan Porthos, lalu mengundurkan diri dari jabatannya (dan bukan sekali ini saja ia ‘ngambek’ dan mengancam mengundurkan diri).

Porthos

Digambarkan sebagai yang paling baik hati dari keempat sahabat ini, memiliki tubuh raksasa, namun tak terlalu cerdik. Diperalat Aramis untuk mengkudeta Louis XIV, namun toh tak membenci sahabatnya meski ia lalu menjadi buronan padahal tak bersalah. Dumas menuliskan epitaph yang sangat menyentuh emosi bagi musketeer yang satu ini!

Louis XIV

Kukira bolehlah disimpulkan bahwa sang Raja, Louis XIV, merupakan inti dari semua konflik yang ada di kisah ini, sekaligus yang memiliki karakter paling kompleks. Aku telah sedikit mengulasnya di sini. Selain berkonflik dengan jagoan-jagoan kita di atas, ia juga mencopot Menteri Keuangannya: M. Foquet setelah Foquet mengadakan pesta super mewah yang membuat pamor Louis XIV sebagai raja seolah ‘tenggelam’. Dipicu oleh kecemburuan, Colbert yang mengincar posisi Foquet pun ikut ‘mengipasi’ amarah Louis.

Dari konfliknya dengan semua tokoh, aku melihat bahwa Louis XIV bukanlah tokoh antagonis yang diktator, dan malah menurutku tindakannya wajar bagi seorang raja. Mari kita lihat dari kasus Aramis, ia jelas-jelas adalah pemberontak, musuh kerajaan, dan hukuman mati memang masuk akal baginya meski ia adalah sahabat D’Artagnan. Ketika ‘menukar’ Louis dengan Phillipe, jelas-jelas Porthoslah yang membantu Aramis, maka tak heran bila Louis menganggapnya juga sebagai pemberontak.

Tindakannya terhadap Foquet memang keterlaluan karena dipicu ego pribadi. Namun bagiku Foquet memang terlalu berlebihan saat mengadakan pesta mewah padahal kondisi keuangannya sedang carut-marut. Ia memang bangsawan yang terhormat dalam sikap dan kepribadian, namun ia terlalu membanggakan kehormatan yang dimilikinya, tanpa memperhatikan ego rajanya. Lagipula tampaknya ia memang bukan menteri keuangan yang kompeten, karena dari apa yang kutangkap dari buku, pembukuannya kacau sehingga kas kerajaan bercampur dengan kas rumah tangganya.

Takdir memang tak bersahabat bagi Raoul, namun kupikir juga kurang pada tempatnya bagi Athos untuk melampiaskan amarah pada Raja, apalagi karena La Valliere sendirilah yang memutuskan Raoul demi mengejar cinta Louis. Sedang dalam kasus D’Artagnan, aku justru mengangkat dua jempol bagi Louis XIV yang benar-benar memahami watak bawahan yang paling ia percayai itu. D’Artagnan sangat setia, namun kelemahannya terletak pada kebanggaannya yang agak berlebihan pada kehormatan. Louis jelas tak dapat mempercayai D’Artagnan untuk benar-benar menangkap kedua sahabatnya. Di bagian akhir kisah ini, Louis XIV menunjukkan bahwa dirinya bukanlah anak muda manja yang dijadikan raja. Ialah sang pemimpin mutlak negara. Inilah cuplikkan dialog yang menunjukkan kematangan Louis XIV sebagai raja.

Conclusion:

I see The Man In The Iron Mask as a symbol of changing times. What applies in the old days may not be able to impose on us in the present days. We should uphold the principles that we think is right, however we must also be flexible with the present situation. Honor could be maintained in a different way, not by violence, coercion, let alone the rebellion!

Athos, Porthos, Aramis and d'Artagnan is a symbol of past glory, and they will always be admired and respected at all times. But times have changed, the values ​​which they used to stand then, may not mean anything anymore now. Whose fault is that? The past, or the present? The answer is none. Life will continue, and we inevitably must adapt to it.

Thirty years after the golden age for the four musketeers, they were (through d'Artagnan in his conversation with Louis XIV) reminded that their time has gone. The new horizon has come, and what left for them are these choices: to get out of it with honor, or try to live with it. Still, their honorable manner is something that should be inspiring the future generations.

As usual, Alexandre Dumas has presented a complex story with a complex plot, involving many characters with their own problems, which at first seem unrelated, but in the end interlocked each other. Unfortunately, there are things still unrevealed until the end of the novel—for example: what exactly is Madam de Chevreuse’s motive in her intrigue to topple Foquet? It seems she wanted to revenge against Aramis, but why? Maybe I'll get the answer from the two previous novels. Nevertheless, The Man In The Iron Mask is an unforgettable story, part of a wonderful epic, about honor, loyalty, love and friendship.

Four swords for The Man In The Iron Mask and Alexandre Dumas!

Title: The Man In The Iron Mask

Author: Alexandre Dumas

Introduction & Notes: Keith Wren

Publisher: Wordsworth Classics

Published: 2002

Pages: 632

Louis XIV on The Man In The Iron Mask

Update

On my 10th Character Thursday blog hop, I decided to expand this blog hop for international participants. Therefore, from this post onward, I will post this hop in English. For my Indonesian blogger follower, you are free to post in Bahasa Indonesia, but if you would like to follow my decision, please also feel free to do it. I have provided Google Translation on the sidebar for both Bahasa Indonesia and English for your convenience.

And....here is my Character Thursday of this week:

Louis XIV

The Man In The Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas

I've always thought that King Louis XIV was the antagonist in The Man in the Iron Mask, considering I've seen the movie many times and Louis was portrayed ruthless, greedy and playboy. Well, here's the difference between book and movie. In the book, we will be able to follow the twists and turns of personality in a character, that it is sometimes difficult to say which one is the protagonist and which one is the antagonist, as each has it own positive and negative aspects, and in fact there is hardly a figure which is always good or always evil.

From the beginning of this story, Louis XIV had had trouble with Monsieur Athos and Foquet. Louis the playboy in this story loves Louise de la Vallière, while the girl was already engaged to Raoul de Bragelonne (son of Athos). Wanting to win Louise, the king sent Raoul to war outside Paris. And so, returning to Paris, Raoul found her fiance has become king’s lover, even though the King has approved the engagement before sending Raoul to war. He was heartbroken. Athos—have pity for her son—faced his King to demand an explanation. In this scene Louis lost his temper.

From his dialogue with Athos, I could imagine Louis's face flushed, with eyes full of hatred, because he knew that he was wrong and he wasn’t able to respond to the respectful but ironic words of Athos. Louis’ words became short and rough, and in his anger, Louis instructed D'Artagnan—his captain of musketeer to capture Athos, though of course D'Artagnan could not do such action which is demeaning the honor of a nobleman and former musketeer like Athos.

In addition to his hot-tempered manner, spoiled (often stomping his feet when angry), and playboy, Louis also mad of respect and worship of power, elegance and majesty, which is natural, given the King is considered a representative of God in the world at that time. So, when the finance minister M. Foquet was holding a party on his palatial mansion, Louis was burning with envy. He felt Foquet has stepped him, which is (supposedly) considered the highest and the wealthiest man in the world. Coupled with the incitement of subordinates Foquet targeting ministerial posts, Louis was jealous as he thought Foquet would like to seize La Vallière from him (without first investigating the truth). The King became angry, and told D'Artagnan to arrest Foquet in his own party while the King was still in his hospitality! Really quite an honorable manner, and D'Artagnan felt it too.

However, when we are nearing the end, things changed... When the king ordered d'Artagnan to catch his friends (Aramis and Porthos as rebels for attempting to swap the king with his twin brother: Phillipe), D'Artagnan met his equal adversary! Because he felt he had managed to 'twist' King’s orders many times before, d'Artagnan immediately made plans for saving Aramis and Porthos without having to violate King’s orders. D'Artagnan was surprised though, when, before he did so, an officer came and said he had a warrant from the King, which forbade d'Artagnan to continue his plan! And it happened not once but three times ... This time Louis XIV defeated d'Artagnan.

And when the angry d'Artagnan confronted and blamed the king for did not believing and embarrassing him in front of his men, this is the answer Louis XIV, with full confidence and authority, has pronounced:

“Captain D’Artagnan, I am master here, and I will have servants who will set no limits to their obedience, though they may perhaps lack your capacity. But one does not require the limbs to be endowed with intelligence. It is for the head to direct, and the limbs to obey; and it is I who am the head. Look around you; you will see that powerful heads had been obliged to bend. You also must humble your pride, or else choose such exile as will suit you best (….) You are a brave man—that I know full well. Why have you judged prematurely? Judge of me from this day forward, d’Artagnan, and with as much severity as you please.”

Gone were the short and rude words. Here is a warning full of grace and dignity, which would certainly make anyone fascinated and 'slapped’. And that was also how d'Artagnan felt at that time, as illustrated by Alexandre Dumas:

“D’Artagnan remained lost in mute bewilderment, and, for the first time in his life, was unable to come to a decision. He had at last found an adversary worthy of his steel. He recognized that this was no longer cunning, but the calculated foresight of a master mind; no longer violence, but strength; in place of petulance and empty boasting, he found determination and method.”

And when a group of M. Foquet’s friends came to ask the King’s help for the poor Madame Foquet, Louis was swept away in sympathy, and finally fulfill their request. For that, d'Artagnan gave Louis XIV a motto: 'Gentle towards the weak, but terrible to the strong'. An attribute that I think should be owned by a leader of a great empire.

In the end (in this story) Louis XIV showed his quality as king of France. Even if he seemed to be ruthless for punishing Aramis and Porthos, I thought it was natural for a king to give lessons to those who intended to rebel (Aramis), and who are too proud of himself regardless the feelings of his King (Foquet). Because if not so, how will a king be honored as the supreme leader?

In this story (again, because I did not read the real history), Louis XIV has transformed to such a character and managed to bring French—step by step—to a better state. I was just thinking, what it would be like if Aramis succeeded in overthrowing Louis from the throne and replacing him secretly with Phillipe? Phillipe might be a more sensible, with higher morality than his brother, but was he ready to become leader of France? Moreover, his brief appearance made me think Phillipe as a melancholy person, who I think is less firm to be the leader of a monarchy.

Inevitably, when I was reading this book, I always imagine Leonardo di Caprio as Louis XIV. I think he is fit to play Louis in the movie version of 1998 :

That's my Character Thursday of this week, who's yours?

D’Artagnan on The Man In The Iron Mask

D’Artagnan

The Man In The Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas

Masih ingat D’Artagnan, musketeer yang termuda saat bergabung dengan Three Musketeers? Karakternya makin nampak di buku ini dibanding ketika di Three Musketeers (yang lebih banyak menampilkan action-nya).

Lebih dari 20 tahun berlalu, ketika rekan-rekannya sudah memilih jalan hidup masing-masing, D’Artagnan masih mengabdi pada Raja Prancis (di kisah ini Louis XIV), kini sebagai Kapten Musketeers. D’Artagnan adalah sosok yang kesetiaannya kepada Raja tak diragukan. Hal ini sudah diakui Louis XIV sendiri maupun rekan-rekan dan semua orang yang mengenalnya. Namun, prinsipnya yang selalu menjunjung tinggi kehormatan, kesetiaan dan persahabatan membuatnya sulit untuk dapat menuruti semua perintah Raja Louis XIV yang semena-mena. Bagaimana kiat D’Artagnan untuk menyeimbangkan kedua hal yang penting baginya inilah yang membuat sosoknya menarik.

Yang paling sulit tentu saja saat D’Artagnan diperintahkan Raja menangkap sahabatnya sendiri, seorang dari ke-3 mantan musketeer. D’Artagnan di satu sisi setia pada persahabatannya, namun di sisi lain juga patuh pada Raja dan negara. Jalan mana yang dipilihnya? Ternyata ia memilih keduanya atau boleh dibilang bukan keduanya. Heran? Di buku ini anda akan membaca sendiri kisahnya, bagaimana D’Artagnan dengan cerdiknya memelintir perintah Raja itu tanpa bisa dibilang membangkang, dan membuat (memaksa?) Raja akhirnya membebaskan sahabatnya.

Dari segi pembawaannya, terlihat bahwa D’Artagnan memiliki karisma sendiri yang dihormati sekaligus disegani.

“D’Artagnan had never allowed himself to become common at court, and although seen at all sorts of times and places, he always produce an effect whenever and wherever he made his appearance. It’s natural to some people to resemble, in this respect, thunder and lightning. Everyone knows what they are, but, nevertheless they are always received with certain amount of surprise, and they always leave behind them the impression that their last appearance has been more remarkable than any that had preceded it.” ~hlm. 318.

Bisa jadi jabatannya sebagai Kapten Musketeers membuat banyak orang merasakan sensasi tak nyaman saat berada bersama D’Artagnan. Bayangan bahwa ia adalah abdi setia Raja (apalagi ketika sang Raja adalah sosok pemarah dan kejam), pasti membuat orang merasa tak nyaman bersamanya. Atau saat seseorang tiba-tiba menerima kunjungan D’Artagnan, mungkin dalam hati tersirat kengerian bahwa ia—entah bagaimana—telah menyinggung perasaan Raja dan kini akan diseret ke penjara.

D’Artagnan adalah orang yang sangat cerdik, dengan keahlian pedang yang tak perlu diragukan lagi serta intuisi yang sangat tajam ketika suatu intrik sedang terjadi di dekatnya. Hal ini juga terbukti saat perjumpaannya dengan Aramis ketika Aramis sedang menggarap “proyek mission impossible-nya”. Meski tak ada bukti kuat, namun D’Artagnan mampu mencium ada sesuatu yang ‘besar’ yang sedang terjadi, entah apa, yang direncanakan oleh sahabatnya itu. Sebuah kualitas yang dibutuhkan oleh Kapten Musketeers, sekaligus yang ditakutkan oleh lawan-lawannya (termasuk juga sahabatnya ketika akan melakukan sesuatu untuk melawan Raja).

Namun kualitas dalam dirinya yang paling aku kagumi adalah kesetiaannya terhadap persahabatan. Meski integritasnya untuk melayani raja dan negara tinggi, namun baginya, persahabatannya dengan three musketeers adalah segalanya.

“I should say to him [King] straight out: ‘Sire, imprison, exile, kill everyone in France or in Europe, order me to arrest or poniard anyone in the world, even were it monsieur your brother, but do not touch either of the four musketeers. If one of them be harmed, I will not answer for the consequences.’” ~hlm. 147.

Memang benar itu hanyalah pengandaian saja, tak benar-benar terjadi dalam kisah ini, namun dari ungkapan itu, kita bisa menilai betapa berartinya persahabatan bagi seorang D’Artagnan, selain kehormatan. Karena ia menjunjung tinggi kehormatan, ia pun dapat membayangkan bagaimana seorang ‘gentleman’ seperti Monsieur Fouquet akan terhina jika ia menaati titah Raja untuk menangkapnya ketika Raja tengah menginap di rumahnya! Sebuah dilema yang berat, namun bukan D’Artagnan kalau ia tak bisa menemukan cara untuk memuaskan kedua pihak. Di satu pihak menaati perintah Raja, dan di pihak lain menjaga kehormatan calon tawanannya. Salut untuk D’Artagnan yang punya prinsip dan teguh menjaganya!

Ini adalah sosok Gabriel Byrne yang memerankan D’Artagnan di film adaptasi The Man In The Iron Mask versi th. 1998. Agak kurang cocok menurutku karena di sini D’Artagnan nampak terlalu melankolis-romantis, dan kurang menunjukkan sosok D’Artagnan yang energetik, periang dan punya sense of humor tinggi.

The Man In The Iron Mask: A Small Part of A Complicated Series

Call me stupid, but I just realized that The Man In The Iron Mask is the third sequel of Three Musketeers, only after I read the first chapter! All this time I thought Iron Mask is the direct sequel of Three Musketeers, while Twenty Years After is the third one (for 20 years seems sooo long for me)… However, when I started this book, I felt as if I were being dropped in the middle of a story, instead of the beginning. So, I consulted the introduction page—which I admit I rarely read before finishing a book, because it often contains spoiler. And I found out that, The Man In The Iron Mask (my copy is 616 pages) is actually the THIRD SECTION of the third sequel of Musketeers series! Once again, it is only the third section of the third sequel, just a small part of a complicated series!

The third novel of Musketeers Series contains of around 2000 pages, thus it is divided into three sections: The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Vallièrre, and The Man In The Iron Mask. The question is, why Dumas made it so long? I found out the answer also within the introduction page.

Around the year 1836, newspaper began to benefit from subscription system. And in the effort to maintain the loyalty of subscribers, they published serialized fiction. Alexandre Dumas—just as other authors at that time—saw that as a good opportunity to sell their work. No wonder authors like Charles Dickens and Dumas wrote their works firstly as series, then novel.

The edition I am reading is Wordsworth Classics, and it’s begun with the chapter of ‘A Pair of Old Friends’. However, other (older) editions may be begun with ‘The Prisoner’ which is in the 29^th chapter of the newer edition (like mine). The adaptation movie (starring Leonardo di Caprio as King Louis XIV/Phillipe) used the older version. Now I wonder, if I want to read the whole and complete story, what edition of The Vicomte of Bragelonne and Louise de la la Vallièrre should I pick, so that it will not overlap with my Iron Mask edition? Can someone help me?…

the edition I'm reading, published in 2002

But, let me go back to my ‘unfortunate’ experience with this book, I suffered at first with the confusion, but I kept on reading. Now I am already half way through, and beginning to grab the meaning, although there are few things that are still ‘dark’ for me, especially with the affair of Madame Chevreuse and Aramis in the beginning of the novel. Another thing that I am still wondering, why the brother and sister in law of King Louis XIV is called by simply Monsieur and Madame by everyone (including the King himself), instead of by title+name (e.g. Prince X, or Princess Z)? However, so far I enjoy the intrigue and plot which Monsieur Dumas presented us.

**SPOILER ALERT**

If you are waiting for many actions from the musketeers, you will be disappointed, because the only one who is still in the musketeers is D’Artagnan, the captain. And at least until the first half, there are not many actions performed. Aramis plays the biggest part with his idea to switch Louis XIV with his twin. Athos showed his honorable and dignity in front of the King in the early chapters, but suddenly disappeared from the main action. As to Porthos, he became absurd and lazy in this novel. After all, the main attraction is indeed in the hand of Louis XIV and Phillipe. I like how Dumas had written deeply about their characters.

Although the title shows about a man in iron mask, I found Phillipe without it when I met him for the first time in the prison. However, the story of his releasing from Bastille and his taking over his brother’s throne appeared in the first half of the book, so the iron mask would surely show up in the second half. I still hope D’Artagnan and his three friends would be reunited for the last time, and I’m a bit curious of how Monsieur Dumas will end this novel. Would the four men still befriend, or were there anyone who must die? If yes, which one? (please don’t spoil if you know the answer!!).

Hopefully I can post my complete review in no time (although frankly speaking, I feel that writing review for this novel would be difficult… great books are often difficult to review!).