Dumas, Alexandre(Dumas père), 1802–70, French novelist and dramatist

Dumas, Alexandre (älĕksäN`drə dümä`), known as Dumas père (pĕr), 1802–70, French novelist and dramatist. His father (an illegitimate son of the marquis de la Pailleterie and a black woman, Louise Cosette Dumas), was a general in the Revolution. Dumas delighted many generations of readers with his highly romantic novels immortalizing the adventures of the Three Musketeers and the Count of Monte Cristo. Largely self-educated, Dumas was a flamboyant youth with a gift for storytelling and a penchant for love affairs. At the age of 20 he obtained a minor post with the duc d'Orléans in Paris, and later he was active in the Revolution of 1830. His first successes were the historical dramas Henri III et sa cour (1829), Christine (1830), Antony (1831), and La Tour de Nesle (1832), notable for its evocation of the Middle Ages. After a number of novels, written independently or in collaboration, he produced his great triumphs, The Three Musketeers (1844, tr. 1846) and its sequels—Twenty Years After (1845, tr. 1846) and The Vicomte de Bragelonne (1848–50, tr. 1850?)—and The Count of Monte Cristo (1845, tr. 1846), which in its dramatic version was made famous by James O'Neill. Although these historical novels and their successors, written with the aid of numerous collaborators, especially Auguste Maquet, are scorned by critics, who find them lacking in style and characterization, they have had enormous popularity and have been translated into nearly every language. Among his other works are Queen Margot (1845, tr. 1845), The Lady of Monsoreau (1846, tr. 1847), The Forty-Five (1848), The Black Tulip (1850), and The Journal of Madame Giovanni (tr. 1944). Dumas père's incredible output of novels, travel works, memoirs, and historical studies made him wealthy, but he spent more than he earned on a horde of pensioners at his home, "Monte-Cristo," near Saint-Germain. His memoirs (1852–54) end with the year 1832. He was interested in Italian unification, and among his activities was a part in Garibaldi's expedition in 1860.

Bibliography

See studies by F. W. Hemmings (1980) and C. Schopp (1988).

Dumas, Alexandre(Dumas fils), 1824–95, French dramatist and novelist

Dumas, Alexandre, known as Dumas fils (älĕksäN`drə dümä`, fēs), 1824–95, French dramatist and novelist, illegitimate son of Dumas Père. He was the chief creator of the 19th-century comedy of manners. His first important play, La Dame aux camélias (1852, tr. 1856), known in English as Camille, was a sensation. It was based on a partly autobiographical novel of the same title, which he had published in 1848. Portraying a love affair of a courtesan, the play became the vehicle of many famous actresses, and it was the basis of Verdi's opera La Traviata. Another successful play, Le Demi-Monde (1855, tr. 1858), aroused much discussion because of its portrayal of the disreputable world of French society. In later plays Dumas preached a revolt against romantic morality, the excesses of the wealthy, and bourgeois puritanism and propounded social and psychological questions. His stage works are notable for skillful construction, though the characterizations are somewhat lacking in vitality. His novels include Tristan le Roux (1850) and Diane de Lys (1853). Among his best plays are also The Money Question (1857, tr. 1915), Le Fils naturel [the natural son] (1858), Les Idées de Mme Aubray (1867), L'Étrangère [the strange woman] (1876), and Denise (1885). His early essays, Entr'actes (1878–79), are mostly on social subjects. In 1874 he was elected to the French Academy.

Bibliography

See study by H. S. Schwarz (1927, repr. 1971).

Dumas, Alexandre

known as Dumas père

Alexandre Dumas.

(credit: Gramstorff Bros.)

(born July 24, 1802, Villers-Cotterêts, Aisne, France—died Dec. 5, 1870, Puys, near Dieppe) French playwright and novelist. Dumas's first success was as a writer of melodramatic plays, including Napoléon Bonaparte (1831) and Antony (1831). His immensely popular novels, set in colourful historical backgrounds, include The Three Musketeers (1844), a romance about four swashbuckling heroes in the age of Cardinal Richelieu, and its sequel Twenty Years After (1845); The Count of Monte Cristo (1844–45); and The Black Tulip (1850). His illegitimate son Alexandre Dumas (1824–95), called Dumas fils, is best known for his play La Dame aux camélias (1848), the basis of Giuseppe Verdi's opera La Traviata and later of several films titled Camille.