Teaching The Three Musketeers

Instructions for You

Objective: The Three Musketeers is a text that's constantly referenced in pop culture and alluded to in modern literature. Take this exchange from an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

[Buffy, Xander, and Willow are confronted by Cordelia.]
CORDELIA: Oh, look. It's the Three Musketeers.
BUFFY: Was that an insult?
XANDER: It kind of lacked punch.
WILLOW: The Three Musketeers were cool.
CORDELIA: I see your point.
XANDER: I would've gone with Stooges.

Anyone want to take bets on how many Buffy viewers have actually read The Three Musketeers? Yet references to the novel are recognizable even to people who haven't read the book, and the themes of the story are frequently used in modern texts.

In this lesson, your students will search for these modern allusions in order to understand how Dumas's novel has influenced other literary works. Specifically, students will find a group of four fictional characters from the same story and explain how they can be seen as "literary reincarnations" of Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan.

This activity should take 2-3 class periods.

Materials:

• Text of The Three Musketeers 
• Access to the Internet
• Art supplies

Step 1: Let's start things off with a discussion question: "What's your favorite fictional friendship?" It can be a friendship from a favorite book, television show, movie, or play. Allow students to brainstorm and discuss their favorite friendships and record their answers on the board.

Step 2: In a new brainstorm list, ask students to identify the most important personality traits of the four Musketeer characters. What makes their friendship work? What qualities do they have that keep them loyal as friends? What does each character contribute to the group?

Step 3: Put students in their own groups of three—er, four musketeers, and have them brainstorm possible modern allusions to Dumas's original characters. Students should look for four characters in the same text that share personality traits with Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan. This will take some digging, so encourage students to put their heads together and think about what they can contribute to their group (see what we did there?).Their comparisons should be detailed and should reference the characters' specific traits.

WRONG: "We picked Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville because they're friends and there are four of them and Neville joins them later. BOOM, done!" This activity requires a little more critical thinking than that.

RIGHT: "We picked Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville from Harry Potter because they each share qualities with one of the Musketeers. Harry is like Athos because they both have tortured pasts that they must overcome with the help of their friends. Ron is like Porthos because they're both talkative and boisterous. Hermione is like Aramis because they're both scholarly; Hermione is the top student and Aramis wants to join the church. Neville is like D'Artagnan because he has to prove himself to the other three characters and he's braver than he seems, and the other three accept him as their friend and ally."

Step 4: Now it's time to dig into these characters a bit deeper. Each student in the group should take one musketeer and his modern reincarnation for a dip in the analysis pool—proper swimming attire required. Students will create character posters illustrating their pair and explaining how the two characters are related and how their role within the group is similar. These posters should include text evidence from the novel and the modern text to support their analysis. Check out our character pages for help.

Step 5: Tune in next class for brilliant presentations by our very own literary scholars. As each group presents their character analyses and comparisons, encourage the class to discuss the following questions:

• How does the theme of friendship in The Three Musketeers reappear in other texts? 
• In what ways do these texts modify or update Dumas's theme or characters?
• What are some of the similarities and differences between Dumas's characters and the characters from the text you chose? 
• What conclusions can you draw about how Dumas's novel has influenced other works of literature?
• Why do you think references to The Three Musketeers are so popular even though the original novel is not widely popular with modern audiences? (Let's face it; most people today only read it when forced to by their English teacher.)

Instructions for Your Students

"Friendship, friendship, just a perfect blendship/when other friendships cease to gel/ours will still be swell!" "Friendship," by Cole Porter

The theme of friendship is universally popular and one that appears in multiple works of fiction. It's especially prevalent in The Three Musketeers, the novel where "all for one and one for all!" is the most famous line. In fact, that line and our main characters are so famous that they are constantly referenced in pop culture and alluded to in modern literature.

Today, you're going to find some "literary reincarnations" of the characters in The Three Musketeers and explain exactly why they're similar to the characters in Dumas's story. You'll analyze how the theme of friendship and even some of Dumas's character archetypes resurface in modern works of fiction.

Step 1: Let's start things off with a discussion question: "What's your favorite fictional friendship?" It can be a friendship from a favorite book, television show, movie, or play. Maybe you were particularly moved by the bond between Jess and Leslie in Bridge to Terabithia, or maybe you were a Frodo Baggins who always longed for a Sam in Lord of the Rings.

Step 2: Now let's talk about our four friends. Identify the most important traits of the four Musketeer characters. What makes their friendship work? What qualities do they have that keep them loyal as friends? What does each character contribute to the group?

Step 3: Speaking of groups, you'll break into your own bands of three—er, four musketeers, and then brainstorm possible modern allusions to Dumas's original characters. Look for four characters in the same text that share personality traits with Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan. This will take some digging, so you'll need to put your heads together and think about what you can contribute to your group (see what we did there?).

Still stuck? Here's a list of some fictional friendships that might spark your inspiration:

• Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville from the Harry Potter series
• Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Cordelia from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin from The Lord of the Rings
• Gordie, Chris, Teddy, and Vern from Stand by Me
• Sam, Roberta, Chrissy, and Teeny from Now and Then

Your comparisons should be detailed and should reference the characters' specific traits. You need to explain why each character is similar to one of the Musketeers. It's not enough to simply pick four characters that are friends and claim that they resemble the Musketeers. You need to explain why (for example) Harry Potter is similar to Athos and Hermione Granger shares a lot of traits in common with Aramis.

• Here's what NOT to do: "We picked Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville because they're friends and there are four of them and Neville joins them later. BOOM, done!" Did you really think you'd get off that easy? This activity requires a little more critical thinking than that.

• Here's what you should do: "We picked Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville from Harry Potter because they each share qualities with one of the Musketeers. Harry is like Athos because they both have tortured pasts that they must overcome with the help of their friends. Ron is like Porthos because they're both talkative and boisterous. Hermione is like Aramis because they're both scholarly; Hermione is the top student and Aramis wants to join the church. Neville is like D'Artagnan because he has to prove himself to the other three characters and he's braver than he seems, and the other three accept him as their friend and ally." Nice.

Step 4: Now it's time to dig into these characters a bit deeper. Each student in the group should take one musketeer and his modern reincarnation for a dip in the analysis pool—proper swimming attire required. You will create character posters illustrating your pair and explaining how the two characters are related and how their role within the group is similar. These posters should include text evidence from the novel and the modern text to support their analysis. Check out our character pages for help.

Step 5: Tune in next class for brilliant presentations by our very own literary scholars—um, that's you guys. As each group presents their character analyses and comparisons, we'll discuss the following questions:

• How does the theme of friendship in The Three Musketeers reappear in other texts? 
• In what ways do these texts modify or update Dumas's theme or characters?
• What are some of the similarities and differences between Dumas's characters and the characters from the text you chose? 
• What conclusions can you draw about how Dumas's novel has influenced other works of literature?
• Why do you think references to The Three Musketeers are so popular even though the original novel is not widely popular with modern audiences? (Let's face it; most people today only read it when forced to by their English teacher.)