The Man In The Iron Mask

As the Musketeers become older, some take up other occupations outside of military service (except D’Artagnan). In a well-thought-out essay, examine how these new professions coincide with or clash with their defining characteristics and values.

By the novel’s conclusion, it is clear that France is shifting to a new political attitude, one which demands cunning and wit rather than loyalty and devotion. Keeping the fates of the Musketeers in mind as you write, craft an essay in which you examine how Dumas’s narrative criticizes and legitimizes this new political direction.

Much of the novel’s main action revolves around Aramis’s attempts to gain power for himself, although other characters enact small power grabs of their own. In your essay, examine the consequences of their ambition and explore the significance of those consequences in the meaning of the work as a whole. Your essay should especially consider the novel’s stance on such bald ambition and the pursuit of power.

Several early scenes in the novel stress the importance of respecting and obeying authority. As the novel continues, it becomes clear that authority figures are not always met with the reverence the earlier scenes suggested they are due. In a thoughtful essay, select two characters and examine their approaches to authority and the significance of their (dis)respect to the meaning of the work as a whole. Be specific and avoid plot summary.

In the opening chapter, Aramis and Philippe discuss ambition and freedom. In a well-thought-out essay, examine how their philosophizing on these subjects resurfaces throughout the novel. Pay close attention to how their perspectives may change. Be sure to avoid mere plot summary.

When Philippe takes Louis’s place, he feels that betraying his brother is justified because of how (according to Aramis) his brother previously betrayed him, although the reader knows Philippe is mistaken in his assumptions about his brother. Craft an essay in which you explore the relationship between reality, perception, and betrayal in the novel, choosing one main character’s story arc as your focus. (You may not choose Philippe.) Be sure to avoid plot summary.

The Musketeers often discuss the glory days and fond memories of their youth, but at the time the novel takes place, they are arguably past their primes. What insights does the novel offer us about growing up and growing older? Draft an essay where you focus on two characters in the novel and use their story arcs to explore this question in specific detail. Avoid mere plot summary.

The Man in the Iron Mask is not the novel’s actual title, as it is part of a longer, serialized work titled The Vicomte de Bragelonne. Since Philippe’s time in the novel (as king and as the titular man in the iron mask) is so brief as to be almost incidental to the Musketeers’ stories, craft a persuasive essay in which you select a significant character, theme, or event in the text and argue why that aspect of the novel should feature in the title instead.