1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Today's Saturday Classic is our episode on Alexandre 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,119 Speaker 1: Duma Pere, who got a name drop in our episode 3 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 1: on the loudon Possessions back in October. Tracy has been 4 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: meaning to bring out this classic since then, but listen, 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: time makes fools of us all. But it's here, it 6 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: is now. This originally came out on February twenty seventh, 7 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, So enjoy. Welcome to Stuff you missed in 8 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:40,239 Speaker 1: History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to 9 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,559 Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Polly Frye. 10 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,839 Speaker 1: Earlier we talked about General Tomat Alexandre Duma, who was 11 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: the son of an aristocrat and an enslaved woman from 12 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: the French colony of Sandomang which is now Haiti. One 13 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: of his children was Alexander Duma, known today as Alexander 14 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: Duma Peer to distingue him from his own son, who 15 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: also had the same name, because we wanted to be 16 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,640 Speaker 1: really confusing with this trio of men in this family. 17 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: Alexander Dumat Peer, of course, wrote such classics as the 18 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:15,399 Speaker 1: Three Musketeers and the Count of Monte Cristo, and both 19 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: of those works sequels and eight Marie Antoinette romances, and 20 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:22,959 Speaker 1: a bunch of other novels, in plays and essays and 21 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:27,759 Speaker 1: travel books and memoirs, and a dictionary of cuisine, hundreds 22 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: and hundreds of works. The man was prolific. He did 23 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: so much and so much happen in his life that 24 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 1: it's really impossible to do justice to every single aspect 25 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 1: of it in one episode of the show, and having 26 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: multiple episodes seemed like it was getting super excessive in 27 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: terms of the dumat family. So today we're going to 28 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: talk about the upbringing that led Alexander Dumah to become 29 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: the writer that he was, along with some of the 30 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: highlights and themes of his later life and work. In 31 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: my head, I'm now like, oh, you should we should 32 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 1: start a podcast just called Duma and it's just their 33 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: family and all of its yeah, all of its high 34 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: drama and fascinating twists and turns. So Alexandre Duma was 35 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 1: born on July twenty fourth, eighteen oh two, in the 36 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: town of Ville Courtree in northern France. His father, as 37 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: we just said, was General alex Duma. His mother was 38 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: Marie Louise Elizabeth le Bouret, daughter of an innkeeper, and 39 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:26,799 Speaker 1: the two of them met when alex was billeted at 40 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: that end during the French Revolution. Alexandre had one surviving 41 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: older sister and another who died before he was born. 42 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: According to his father, he weighed ten and a half 43 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: pounds and was eighteen inches long at birth. Duma's childhood 44 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 1: was quite difficult. Although his father had been in command 45 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:47,839 Speaker 1: of huge parts of the French military, which we talked 46 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: about in that previous episode, he had fallen out of 47 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:54,919 Speaker 1: favor with Napoleon long before being captured and imprisoned in 48 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: a dungeon in Naples for nearly two years. Once he 49 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,119 Speaker 1: was released, he was injured an ill, and he still 50 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: couldn't collect a pension or back pay, so the family 51 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:08,080 Speaker 1: fell into poverty. Alexandle spent his early childhood in the 52 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,239 Speaker 1: company of his father, who regained some of his former health, 53 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: but not enough to return to active duty. He heard 54 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: all kinds of stories about his father's dramatic exploits in 55 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: the army. Alex Duma had also been fond of performing 56 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: various feats of strength, some of which he could still manage, 57 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: and young Alexandla was fascinated by them. His father had 58 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: been a war hero and one of the most prominent 59 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: men of color in the French military, but Alexandra's perception 60 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: of him went even beyond that, into someone who was 61 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: larger than life and almost mythic dom. I described it 62 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: this way, quote I adored my father. Perhaps at so 63 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: early an age, the feeling which today I call love 64 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: was only a naive astonishment at that herculean stature and 65 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: that gigantic strength I'd seen him display on so many occasions. 66 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: Perhaps it was nothing more than a childish pride and admiration. 67 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: But in spite of all that, even today, the memory 68 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: of my father, in every detail of his body, in 69 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: every feature of his face, is as present to me 70 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: as if I had lost him yesterday. Alex Duma died 71 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: on February twenty sixth, eighteen oh six, probably from stomach cancer. 72 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: Alexandla was approaching his fourth birthday, and as his father's 73 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: condition worsened, his mother sent him to spend the night 74 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: with cousins who lived nearby, so that he would not 75 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: be traumatized if his father died during the night. On 76 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:34,040 Speaker 1: the night of his father's death, Alexandla woke his cousins 77 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:35,919 Speaker 1: and told them he was going to go open the 78 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: door for his father, who had come to say goodbye. 79 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 1: In the morning. When he was told that God had 80 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: taken his father to heaven, Alexandra answered that he was 81 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: going to go to heaven himself for revenge. With his mother, 82 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: a widow without much to live on, Alexandra had very 83 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 1: little structure to his childhood. Marie Luise tried to scare 84 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: a widow's pension and was so persistent about it that 85 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 1: Napoleon Bonaparte finally told the general who had been bringing 86 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 1: it up with him on her their behalf quote, I 87 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:07,839 Speaker 1: forbid you to ever mention that fellow to me again. 88 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 1: So Alexander's mother spent her time working to try to 89 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: make ends meet and to pay for his older sister's education. 90 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 1: Alexandra briefly spent some time enrolled at a private school, 91 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:20,160 Speaker 1: and his sister would teach him while she was home 92 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: on school breaks, but beyond that, in his early years, 93 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,719 Speaker 1: Alexandra didn't have much formal education. He loved to read, 94 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: and he loved to talk about what he read, and 95 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: he took a few years of violin lessons that he 96 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: said left him not even able to tune the instrument. Occasionally, 97 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 1: his mother tried to enroll him in a school or seminary, 98 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: but this never lasted very long, with Alexander running away 99 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: or refusing to go back more often than not. In 100 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: eighteen fourteen, when Alexander was twelve, his mother finally got 101 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: access to a widow's pension and used it to open 102 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: a tobacco shop. A year later, he managed to catch 103 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:59,919 Speaker 1: a glimpse of Napoleon Bonaparte in person. Dema described seeing 104 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: him pass through town both before and after the Battle 105 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 1: of Waterloo in eighteen fifteen, which was of course pivotal. 106 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: He wrote, quote, I confess I had an intense desire 107 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:13,039 Speaker 1: to see this man, who, in making his heavy hand 108 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: felt throughout France, had in a peculiarly hard fashion, ground 109 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: down a poor adam like myself, lost among thirty two 110 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: millions of human beings, whom he continued to crush while 111 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: forgetting my very existence. In eighteen sixteen, alexandle meant two 112 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: other young men who would start him on the path 113 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: to becoming a writer. One was Adolf ribingd Luvin, the 114 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:40,720 Speaker 1: son of a Swedish nobleman who moved into the area 115 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: around Ville Courterree The other was Amedel de la Pence, 116 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: who was an officer an Adulfe wanted to be a 117 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: playwright and had connections to the theater scene in Paris. 118 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 1: Amedee knew German and Italian and offered to teach Duma 119 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: these languages in his spare time. Although Alexander didn't have 120 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 1: a lot of schooling, he did have very neat and 121 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:03,839 Speaker 1: almost flowery handwriting, which let him get an apprenticeship with 122 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:07,040 Speaker 1: a notary in eighteen eighteen. He did a lot of errands. 123 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: He copied documents by hand. It was a job that 124 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: he described as intolerable if he had had to pay 125 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: attention to what he was copying, But since he could 126 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: copy without thinking about the words themselves, he was free 127 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: to just let his mind wander. This job was what 128 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: allowed Duma to take his first trip to a Paris theater. 129 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: A client gave him and his fellow clerks a gratuity, 130 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: and they decided to go in together and catch a 131 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: very early stagecoach to Paris. There they saw an adaptation 132 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: of Hamlet by Jean Francois Ducie. This was a formative 133 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: experience in Duma's life. He came home in a state 134 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: of amazement, and he wrote to the theater to send 135 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: a copy of the play so he could study it 136 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: over and over. For the next few years, Duma's life 137 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: was very much the same. He did some studying, he 138 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: hung out with his friends, he worked for the notary, 139 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: and he started trying his hand at writing his own 140 00:07:56,400 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: poems and plays. He also pursued various young young women 141 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 1: along via Colechre. His father had always been described as 142 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: exceptionally handsome, and the same was true of the young Alexandra, 143 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: who had blue eyes, relatively fair skin, and hair that 144 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: he called molefuey tropical or my tropical tangle. He was also, 145 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: by his own admission, very vain, and by everyone else's admission, 146 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: he was extremely popular with women. The biggest detriment to 147 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: all of this in his youth was that the family 148 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 1: had so little money that his clothing tended to be 149 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: too small and in pretty poor repair, and that made 150 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: him the target for mockery among the more mean spirited 151 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:38,560 Speaker 1: of them. During these years, Napoleon, who had been at 152 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: the root of so many problems for the Duma family, 153 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: was forced off the imperial throne of France, exiled, returned 154 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 1: from exile and exiled again before dying in British custody 155 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 1: on the island of Saint Helena on May fifth, eighteen 156 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: twenty one. But apart from that one sighting of Napoleon 157 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:00,320 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifteen, Duma felt fairly removed from what was 158 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: happening on the national stage. Eventually demonstrated trying to make 159 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: his way to Paris on a more regular basis. He thought, 160 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:09,439 Speaker 1: if he could just get to the city, he might 161 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: be able to earn enough money to support himself and 162 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 1: his mother, and we will talk about how he got there. 163 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:26,199 Speaker 1: After a sponsor break. As I noted, before the break 164 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:28,880 Speaker 1: in the early eighteen twenties, Alexander Dumat made up his 165 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: mind to start visiting Paris as often as he could, 166 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,080 Speaker 1: with the mind to eventually moving there, but he really 167 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:37,440 Speaker 1: had to scrounge for money to make these trips. On 168 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: one occasion, he and a friend went together hunting rabbits 169 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:43,400 Speaker 1: and partridges along the way so that they could sell 170 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 1: them once they got to Paris and pay for their 171 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: food and lodging. This required the two of them to 172 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 1: outsmart the gamekeepers who were in charge of the land 173 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,560 Speaker 1: that they were illegally hunting. On They only had one 174 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: horse between them, so one had the gun and the 175 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: other state on the horse to take the quarry and 176 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 1: ride off with it before the gameskeeper could follow the 177 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,160 Speaker 1: sound or the shot and find them. They did make 178 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:08,160 Speaker 1: it to Parison back, but Duma got fired from a 179 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:10,800 Speaker 1: new notary job that he'd gotten just a few months before. 180 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: He had taken this trip while his boss was away, 181 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 1: planning to go and return without him knowing, but instead 182 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:20,440 Speaker 1: his boss got back a few hours before he did. 183 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 1: I feel like that's a classic sitcom scenario yet playing 184 00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 1: out in the early eighteen hundreds in France. Yeah, this 185 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 1: is one of the many things, Like, so many things 186 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 1: come up that just sound like this could be a 187 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,640 Speaker 1: little scene from one of his books. After his mother 188 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:37,960 Speaker 1: sold some property to settle the family's debts, Duma convinced 189 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:40,560 Speaker 1: her to let him sell some engravings that his father 190 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: had brought home while serving in the military, and then, 191 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:46,080 Speaker 1: according to his memoir, he tried to build on the 192 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:49,000 Speaker 1: fifty francs that he had gotten for these engravings. He 193 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: took his money to the local coffeehouse and started playing 194 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: billiards against a family friend named Monsieur Cartier, with the 195 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: loser buying the winner to glasses of absence. They weren't 196 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: ranking the absence, they were just using this to basically 197 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: keep score. They kept doubling their bets over the course 198 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:09,640 Speaker 1: of five hours, until according to Duma, he had won 199 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: six hundred glasses of absinth that was worth about ninety francs, 200 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: which he took in lieu of all that alcohol. I 201 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:18,679 Speaker 1: don't know, there's something, you know, you could have done 202 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: a split payment that was say, that was enough to 203 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: pay for about a dozen round trip tickets to Paris, 204 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: and Duma made frequent trips back and forth before moving 205 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 1: there in eighteen twenty three. He had few resources when 206 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 1: he got there, though. His biggest asset was a collection 207 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:38,719 Speaker 1: of letters of introduction that his mother had written to 208 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,240 Speaker 1: various old friends and military buddies of his late father, 209 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 1: and one of these was General Maximilian Sebastian Foy. Foy 210 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:50,320 Speaker 1: wanted to help, but he very quickly figured out that 211 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:53,200 Speaker 1: Duma really did not know how to do anything. His 212 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:56,679 Speaker 1: haphazard schooling and his self study, which he wasn't all 213 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,319 Speaker 1: that dedicated with, had left him without a working knowledge 214 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 1: of almost any subject, and his ample slacking off at 215 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 1: the notary jobs he'd had had left him without any 216 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:09,079 Speaker 1: practical skills there either. His one strong point was that 217 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: very attractive, ornate handwriting. This really brought it home for 218 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: Duma that he had been wasting his youth. After seeing 219 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:19,959 Speaker 1: Foy's reaction to finally figuring out one thing he could do, 220 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:24,199 Speaker 1: that thing being right neatly, he said, quote, my head 221 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:28,160 Speaker 1: fell on my breast. My shame was insupportable. The only 222 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: thing I possessed was good handwriting. This diploma of incapacity 223 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 1: well became me a beautiful handwriting. So someday I might 224 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: become a copying clerk. This was my future. I would 225 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:46,079 Speaker 1: rather cut off my right arm. Fortunately, though, the General 226 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:48,800 Speaker 1: did know somebody in a very high position who needed 227 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:52,559 Speaker 1: a clerk. That was the Duke d'orleon, who would later 228 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,720 Speaker 1: become King Louis Philippe. But in a way this really 229 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,080 Speaker 1: added insult to injury, because not only was Duma's only 230 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:02,400 Speaker 1: job skill this good handwriting, but the people back home 231 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,160 Speaker 1: were astonished that he had managed to find a position 232 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: with a Duke, of all people, after spending all those 233 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 1: years not particularly applying himself to anything. So not only 234 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:15,040 Speaker 1: did he have a job, he didn't want. People were 235 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,480 Speaker 1: shocked that he had gotten it. He consoled himself with 236 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:20,440 Speaker 1: the fact that now at least he had a salary 237 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,679 Speaker 1: of twelve hundred francs. Of course, his ambition was not 238 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:26,479 Speaker 1: to be a copyist, even if it was the copyist 239 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:30,199 Speaker 1: for a duke. Fortunately, though, one of his supervisors was 240 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:34,080 Speaker 1: sympathetic to his ambitions of becoming a playwright and advised 241 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 1: him on a course of self study and a focus 242 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:41,560 Speaker 1: for his creative work. His supervisor's advice, study the history 243 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:44,839 Speaker 1: of France, which in his opinion, wasn't getting nearly enough 244 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:47,960 Speaker 1: attention in the world of French literature and theater, and 245 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 1: then write about that. Through this advice and this recommended 246 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: course of self study, Duma came up with a goal 247 00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 1: for himself. He wanted to do for France what Sir 248 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: Walter Scott had done for Scotland. Was particularly inspired by 249 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 1: Scott's Waverley novels, which include Ivanhoe and Rob Roy along 250 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 1: with twenty others. Those books were a major milestone in 251 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 1: the development of historical fiction as a genre in European literature, 252 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: and so that's what Duma set his mind on doing, 253 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: writing historical fiction set in France and making that popular 254 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 1: with the French public. At first, though his focus was 255 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 1: really on writing this historical fiction through plays and not novels. 256 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:32,600 Speaker 1: Duma went to the theater as often as he could 257 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: and embarked on a study of classic works of literature, 258 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:39,960 Speaker 1: including during downtime at work, he started making friends with 259 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 1: notable people in the literary, theatrical and artistic circles of Paris, 260 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: including people like Charles Naudier, who was connected to numerous 261 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:51,520 Speaker 1: writers in the French Romantic movement, and Victor Hugo, author 262 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:54,160 Speaker 1: of Les miss Robe and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. 263 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:57,840 Speaker 1: And Duma started a relationship with a young woman named 264 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,960 Speaker 1: Marie Catherine la Bay, with whom he had a son, 265 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,440 Speaker 1: who was also named Alexandra, on July twenty seventh, eighteen 266 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: twenty four. The two of them never married, but Duma 267 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 1: paid for their lodging and visited them often as after 268 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:15,120 Speaker 1: their romantic relationship ended. Duma also started selling short comic 269 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: sketches to theaters to earn some extra money to try 270 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: to keep them all afloat. His first serious attempt at 271 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: a play was called Christine and was about previous podcast 272 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,680 Speaker 1: subject Christina of Sweden. He submitted it to a theater 273 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: company which accepted it, but even after a long series 274 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: of revisions, they didn't ultimately perform it. Instead, Duma's first 275 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 1: full length play to be staged was Henri the Third 276 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 1: and His Court, which debuted on February eleventh, eighteen twenty nine, 277 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 1: at the Committee Francaise, which was one of France's state theaters. 278 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:49,680 Speaker 1: Just a few days before the play's debut, Duma's mother 279 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,360 Speaker 1: had a stroke, so he had to divide his time 280 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,680 Speaker 1: between the theater and her bedside, including stepping out of 281 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 1: the theater to go check on her during that first performance. 282 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: Just before the play opened, he also invited the Duke d'urbillon, 283 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: who politely declined, saying that he had another engagement. Duma 284 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 1: convinced the Duke to come and to bring his whole 285 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 1: retinue with him. A lot of Duma's friends were also there, 286 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:17,520 Speaker 1: including Victor Hugo, possibly helped by having so many people 287 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: who he knew and liked an audience, The reception was 288 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: overall extremely positive. There was a lot of loud applause 289 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:28,800 Speaker 1: in the theater and generally pretty favorable reviews afterward, and 290 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:31,560 Speaker 1: this performance has been cited as the start of a 291 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: shift in French theater away from the classical and toward 292 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:38,560 Speaker 1: the romantic, with the play itself a drama rather than 293 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: a classic tragedy. But of course the acclaim was not universal. 294 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 1: A number of more classically minded established playwrights objected to 295 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 1: its more romantic sensibilities in staging and the fact that 296 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: it was melodramatic instead of tragic. Some of these playwrights 297 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:58,480 Speaker 1: circulated a petition denouncing the theater's management for allowing such 298 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 1: a play to be staged and advocating that France not 299 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,200 Speaker 1: allows such work to be performed at any of its 300 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:08,359 Speaker 1: national theaters. Henri the Third was also criticized for being 301 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: against the monarchy, and it spawned a huge debate about censorship. 302 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: This was the first of many many plays in a 303 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:19,320 Speaker 1: career that was truly prolific, and did involve the staging 304 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:24,479 Speaker 1: of Christine. Not long after, but almost immediately, Duma's output 305 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:27,200 Speaker 1: slowed down just a little as he became a revolutionary. 306 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:29,879 Speaker 1: We will talk about that after a quick sponsor break. 307 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:42,399 Speaker 1: In addition to writing and co writing a massive amount 308 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,920 Speaker 1: of work during his lifetime, Alexander Duma was, like his father, 309 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,880 Speaker 1: a revolutionary, although not on the exact same scale as 310 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,720 Speaker 1: his father. So my Alexander Duma had been firmly on 311 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:56,639 Speaker 1: the liberty, equality fraternity side of the French Revolution and 312 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:00,360 Speaker 1: was a staunch defender of the French Republic. Had many 313 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,199 Speaker 1: of these same leanings which came to the fore in 314 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:07,879 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty. The July Revolution or the Revolution of eighteen 315 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:10,840 Speaker 1: thirty was one of a series of revolutions that swept 316 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:15,480 Speaker 1: through Europe between eighteen thirty and eighteen thirty two. In France, 317 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:18,240 Speaker 1: it was in response to a series of ordinances issued 318 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:21,920 Speaker 1: by King Charles the tenth. In these ordinances, the King 319 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,960 Speaker 1: dissolved the Chamber of Deputies and called for new elections 320 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 1: to be held in September. But he also changed the 321 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 1: laws so that most of the electorate lost their right 322 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:33,760 Speaker 1: to vote, and he suspended the freedom of the press. 323 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:36,919 Speaker 1: People were of course very upset by this. Duma had 324 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: been on the verge of leaving for a trip to Algier, 325 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 1: which France had just annexed when these four ordinances were issued, 326 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: so instead of going on his trip, he sent his 327 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:48,480 Speaker 1: servant to retrieve his gun from the gunsmiths and to 328 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:51,640 Speaker 1: buy him some ammunition, and then, as the revolution grew 329 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:55,679 Speaker 1: more violent. He joined the demonstrators at the barricades after 330 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 1: hearing the Marquis de Lafayette, who has been name dropped 331 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:01,160 Speaker 1: in so many podcast at this point I can't even 332 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:03,439 Speaker 1: keep up after hearing him say that they did not 333 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:06,880 Speaker 1: have enough ammunition. Duma also planned and helped carry out 334 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:10,359 Speaker 1: a successful powder raid at the magazine at Suisson. The 335 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:13,240 Speaker 1: fighting went on from July twenty seventh to the twenty ninth, 336 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:17,760 Speaker 1: after which Charles abdicated and his successor was King Louis Philippe, 337 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,679 Speaker 1: former Duke d'Orleans, described as the King of the French 338 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:24,880 Speaker 1: rather than the King of France, but Duma's prior relationship 339 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:27,600 Speaker 1: with the king did not serve him well. The King 340 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:30,720 Speaker 1: told him to stick to poetry, not politics, and Duma 341 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:33,440 Speaker 1: rebutted that a poet's point of view could be prophetic. 342 00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:37,640 Speaker 1: Louis Philippe abruptly dismissed him, and Duma resigned his position 343 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,800 Speaker 1: at the library of the Palais Royal, where Louis Philippe 344 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:44,640 Speaker 1: had appointed him while still a duke. A similar series 345 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: of revolutions took place in eighteen forty eight, which overthrew 346 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 1: Louis Philippe Duma was part of this uprising too, and 347 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:54,679 Speaker 1: then afterward he tried unsuccessfully to run for parliament to 348 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:58,040 Speaker 1: return to the eighteen thirties. Though on March fifth, eighteen 349 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:01,479 Speaker 1: thirty one, Duma and belcreuse I had a daughter together, 350 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 1: who they named Marie Alexandrine. The next year he took 351 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:08,280 Speaker 1: a trip to Switzerland, and he published a travelog from 352 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: his time there in eighteen thirty three. This was the 353 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:14,720 Speaker 1: first of many travels, sometimes for pleasure, but often to 354 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: escape criticism, political disputes, the ire of the monarch or debt. Yeah, 355 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 1: one of the articles that I read leading after this 356 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:26,160 Speaker 1: was basically like when the going got tough. Tuma left 357 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:30,240 Speaker 1: in the eighteen thirties, he started experimenting with writing stories 358 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,160 Speaker 1: and novels rather than just plays, and in eighteen thirty 359 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 1: six a new development in the world of publishing really 360 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:38,960 Speaker 1: shifted what he was doing. Until that point, newspapers in 361 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:42,639 Speaker 1: France had sold annual subscriptions, but that year a paper 362 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:47,159 Speaker 1: called La Press started selling individual issues, and with individual 363 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:51,399 Speaker 1: issue sales came the opportunity for serialized novels that were 364 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:54,199 Speaker 1: published one bit at a time from one issue to 365 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,480 Speaker 1: the next. Something we're familiar with today that at the 366 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: time was truly groundbreaking. This was hugely successful both for 367 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:06,159 Speaker 1: Duma and for the newspaper. He started writing novels that 368 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,800 Speaker 1: would be published serially, with installments ending with cliffhangers to 369 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:13,920 Speaker 1: encourage people to buy the next issue. Other publications and 370 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: writers started following the same model. Serialized writing drove a 371 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: dramatic increase in newspaper sales, and that increase lasted for decades. 372 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 1: In eighteen forty Duma married Aida Ferrier. They would be 373 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:29,440 Speaker 1: together for about the next four years, and they spent 374 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:31,879 Speaker 1: most of that time living in Florence because it was 375 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: cheaper than Paris. Many of Duma's most famous works were 376 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: written between eighteen forty four and eighteen fifty four, including 377 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 1: The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. This 378 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:45,880 Speaker 1: was his most prolific decade as a writer, with most 379 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,240 Speaker 1: of the work featuring exciting stories full of heroic characters 380 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,919 Speaker 1: that play out against a backdrop of French history. His 381 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,520 Speaker 1: massive output during this time was not solely his own work, 382 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:59,800 Speaker 1: though he had researchers and collaborators who were part of 383 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: it as well. They would often sketch out the book's 384 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 1: outline while Duma filled in all the details in the dialogue, 385 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:09,920 Speaker 1: or they would provide background research. The most well known 386 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 1: of these was Auguste Maquette, who took Duma to court 387 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:16,439 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty six and eighteen fifty eight, claiming that 388 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:21,160 Speaker 1: his contributions to eighteen of Duma's novels was significant enough 389 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:23,760 Speaker 1: that he should be listed as the co author. While 390 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:27,159 Speaker 1: the court did order Duma to pay Maquette some of 391 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:30,400 Speaker 1: the money that he was owed, they left the attribution 392 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,399 Speaker 1: of the books as it was. There is still a 393 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 1: lack of consensus of like how much actual work these 394 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:42,919 Speaker 1: various assistants were doing. Alexandle Duma's success led to ongoing 395 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,439 Speaker 1: problems with money. He was making an enormous income for 396 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:49,320 Speaker 1: the time. The average workers pay when he was living 397 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:52,240 Speaker 1: was about three francs a day, but some years Duma 398 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 1: was making more than eighty thousand francs. But he spent 399 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:59,639 Speaker 1: lavishly and often without any kind of workable plan. He 400 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:03,240 Speaker 1: launched two different newspapers, both of which later folded. He 401 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:07,280 Speaker 1: started construction on Chateau de Monte Cristo in eighteen forty six, 402 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:09,640 Speaker 1: and when he ran out of money, that was sold 403 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:13,240 Speaker 1: at auction. In eighteen forty seven, he opened the Teatra 404 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 1: Historique in Paris, which was bankrupt within three years, leading 405 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:20,679 Speaker 1: him to be prosecuted for his debts. He fled to 406 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: Belgium and then Russia and then Sicily, and then back 407 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:28,480 Speaker 1: to Paris to finally settle his bankruptcy. His travels and 408 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 1: his spending habits did not stop there though. In the 409 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:35,120 Speaker 1: late eighteen fifties he went to England, Germany, Russia and Italy, 410 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:38,160 Speaker 1: and then in eighteen sixty he bought a yacht called 411 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:41,400 Speaker 1: the Emma, and he used that yacht to follow Giuseppa 412 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:45,639 Speaker 1: Garibaldi's expedition of the one thousand in eighteen sixty. It 413 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,200 Speaker 1: wasn't just that he was following this expedition in a yacht, 414 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,200 Speaker 1: the yacht itself was full of champagne and fine food 415 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: as well, and this made it a huge and kind 416 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:57,119 Speaker 1: of weird disparity between Duma and the yacht and the expedition, 417 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:01,280 Speaker 1: which had almost no money, almost no training, and rusty rifles, 418 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:03,360 Speaker 1: but still at the same time managed to take down 419 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 1: the Bourbon kingdom of the two Sicilies in southern Italy. 420 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 1: That is a lot to try to sum up there 421 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:10,160 Speaker 1: was an episode on that in the archive. I thought 422 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 1: about replaying it as a Saturday Classic, but it is 423 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:15,320 Speaker 1: pretty short and I haven't found anything to pair it with. 424 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,000 Speaker 1: So you can go find that on our website if 425 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:21,119 Speaker 1: you're interested in learning more about that sort of information 426 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:23,879 Speaker 1: dump I just had. Also aboard the Emma was a 427 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,080 Speaker 1: woman named Emily Cordier, with whom Duma had a daughter, 428 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:33,159 Speaker 1: Mikaela Kleayly Josepha Elizabeth in eighteen sixty. So all this together, 429 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:37,000 Speaker 1: the spending lots of money, the having a number of 430 00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:41,200 Speaker 1: children with a variety of different women, is general behavior. 431 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,480 Speaker 1: All of that made Duma a frequent target of satire 432 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: and derision, especially as he got older. Newspaper cartoonists depicted 433 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:53,040 Speaker 1: him as this rotund inept and very vain person with 434 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:57,000 Speaker 1: an increasingly astonishing tangle of hair. Like his father, he 435 00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 1: was fond of dueling, and his critics made fun of 436 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:03,560 Speaker 1: him for that too, as with is the episode on 437 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:05,080 Speaker 1: his father. There's part of me, it's like, what is 438 00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:09,080 Speaker 1: wrong with you? Get your act together? But also he 439 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: produced a lot of delightful things, so it's not my place. 440 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,960 Speaker 1: Sometimes these criticisms were totally warranted. After the expedition of 441 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,399 Speaker 1: the one thousand, Giuseppe Garibaldi named Duma the director of 442 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:24,560 Speaker 1: excavations and museums. Dumad took that as an opportunity to 443 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:28,239 Speaker 1: try to insert himself as an influencer in Naples, and 444 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: he was so relentlessly mocked for it that Garibaldi rescinded 445 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 1: his appointment after merely a few days. Historians diverge on 446 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:38,920 Speaker 1: the role that racism may have played in all of this, 447 00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:44,320 Speaker 1: and in Duma's life. Obviously, racism existed. Honore de Balzac, 448 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:48,360 Speaker 1: for example, called Dumat that negro, and these caricatures, as 449 00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:52,440 Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier, often really played up things like Duma's hair, 450 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: which was very distinctive and sometimes large. There's also a 451 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:01,000 Speaker 1: widely reported anecdote in which somebody was despaired, uragingly talking 452 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:05,119 Speaker 1: about Duma's race, and he walked over to them and said, quote, 453 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,159 Speaker 1: my father was a mulatto, my grandfather was a Negro, 454 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:11,520 Speaker 1: and my great grandfather a monkey. You see, sir, my 455 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 1: family starts where yours ends. But it wasn't something that 456 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,680 Speaker 1: Duma really talked about in his own memoirs, and comparatively 457 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 1: few of his works focus on black characters. Most notable 458 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:26,880 Speaker 1: is George, which we talked about in our prior episode, 459 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,399 Speaker 1: in which the titular character is described as mulatto and 460 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:34,199 Speaker 1: leads a slave uprising. Aljenoux, which is set in the 461 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:38,000 Speaker 1: French Revolution, calls for the abolition of slavery. There's a 462 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:42,119 Speaker 1: lot more along the lines of general injustice than racism specifically. 463 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 1: Earlier in his life, Duma had described himself and his 464 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:48,720 Speaker 1: process this way quote. My dramatic work and my efforts 465 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:52,439 Speaker 1: at historical writing had developed two principal qualities, those of 466 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:56,320 Speaker 1: dialogue and of narrative. And these are qualities which, speaking 467 00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:58,920 Speaker 1: with my usual frankness about myself, I may say that 468 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:02,360 Speaker 1: I possess in a superior degree. But at this time 469 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,440 Speaker 1: I had not yet discovered the existence of two other qualities, 470 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:10,040 Speaker 1: no less important, lightheartedness and a lively amusing style. As 471 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 1: a rule, people are cheerful and lighthearted because their digestion 472 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:15,920 Speaker 1: is in good order and they have nothing to bother them. 473 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:19,680 Speaker 1: But in my case this condition is a persistent one, 474 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,840 Speaker 1: not indeed making me insensible to sorrow, which, whether affecting 475 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:27,119 Speaker 1: my friends or myself, moves me deeply, but rendering me 476 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,680 Speaker 1: proof against all the worries, cares, and conflicts of daily life. 477 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:33,199 Speaker 1: But toward the end of his life duma was no 478 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:37,480 Speaker 1: longer free from cares and worries. He became increasingly wistful 479 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:41,439 Speaker 1: and anxious. In eighteen fifty seven, he had a conversation 480 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,480 Speaker 1: with his son Alexandra, who found him awake at night. 481 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:47,600 Speaker 1: The elder Alexandla said that his stomach hurt, and that 482 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,879 Speaker 1: when that happened, he walked. He said, when it got worse, 483 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,560 Speaker 1: he read. The younger Alexandla asked, and what about when 484 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:57,600 Speaker 1: it gets too painful to read? And his father answered, 485 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:01,040 Speaker 1: I work. In eighteen seventy, at the age of sixty eight, 486 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 1: Dumas was broke and he moved in with his son, 487 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:06,200 Speaker 1: who was now a respected writer in his own right, 488 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 1: and told him quote, I have come to die in 489 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:12,200 Speaker 1: your home. He did die on December fifth of eighteen 490 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:15,040 Speaker 1: seventy and was buried in his hometown of Ville Coltre. 491 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:18,800 Speaker 1: By the time of his death, Dumas had not been forgotten, 492 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:22,720 Speaker 1: but he wasn't exactly honored either. During his lifetime, he 493 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 1: had written at least three hundred works, including Lugram Dixiew 494 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,960 Speaker 1: Dee Guisine, which was published three years after he died, 495 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,280 Speaker 1: and his novels and plays were often adored by the public. 496 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:36,000 Speaker 1: They were popular and commercially successful, but in the eyes 497 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:40,360 Speaker 1: of the academic establishment, they weren't all that worthwhile. His son, 498 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 1: for example, was admitted to the Academy Francese or French Academy, 499 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:48,640 Speaker 1: while Alexandle duma Perier never was. His work was considered 500 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:53,239 Speaker 1: too low brow. Today, though, several of Duma's works are 501 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 1: considered among the classics of French literature, and they've been 502 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: translated into more than one hundred languages and adapted over 503 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,719 Speaker 1: and over and over and over for the stage, TV, radio, 504 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 1: and film. In two thousand and two, Duma's body was 505 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:10,560 Speaker 1: exhumed and he was reinterred at the Pantheon in Paris, 506 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 1: alongside people like Emile Zola and Jean Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, 507 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 1: Victor Hugo, and other notable figures like Louis Braile and 508 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 1: Marie Curie. At the reburial, there was a parade of 509 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,840 Speaker 1: people in costume and the casket was carried by four 510 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:27,960 Speaker 1: musketeers and covered in a drape that said in French 511 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,840 Speaker 1: all for one and one for all. French President Jacques 512 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:35,480 Speaker 1: Scharac described it as quote repaying an injustice which marked 513 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,680 Speaker 1: Dumas from childhood, just as it marked the skin of 514 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:42,240 Speaker 1: his slave ancestors. I watched some footage of this on 515 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:48,640 Speaker 1: the internet yesterday. I was surprisingly affected by it. I don't, like, 516 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:52,120 Speaker 1: I don't feel the most gigantic emotional attachment to the 517 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:54,480 Speaker 1: Three Musketeers or anything like that. But I was just 518 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:59,920 Speaker 1: watching this funeral procession with Alexander Duma's casket, just bawling 519 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:03,960 Speaker 1: at my desk. I totally get that. Yeah, it choked 520 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 1: me up a lot. This also did happen over the 521 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:11,680 Speaker 1: extremely strong objections of Via Coltree. They were not happy 522 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:15,720 Speaker 1: about exhuming him. They called it an insult to his memory. 523 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 1: The mayor was kind of like, well, after I approved this, 524 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:22,320 Speaker 1: I realized that I really regret it. It was very 525 00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 1: upsetting for the place that he had grown up and 526 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:28,160 Speaker 1: was originally buried. And the Chateau de Monte Cristo that 527 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:30,720 Speaker 1: we talked about him working on and not quite finishing, 528 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,280 Speaker 1: was eventually restored. It is now a museum. In the 529 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 1: late nineteen eighties, a copy of Le Chevalier de Saint Armine, 530 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:41,240 Speaker 1: which is the last cavalier was unearthed at the BiblioTech 531 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,520 Speaker 1: Nacionale in Paris, and that was published in two thousand 532 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:52,880 Speaker 1: and five. Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. 533 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:54,800 Speaker 1: If you'd like to send us a note, our email 534 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:59,520 Speaker 1: addresses History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and you can 535 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:03,000 Speaker 1: subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 536 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:05,280 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.