The Man in the Iron Mask [antikvár]

Introduction Alexandre Dumas was born in 1802 at Villers-Cotterets in France. One of the most famous French writers, he wrote over 250 books which became popular all over the world. He died in 1870. The Man in the Iron Mask is the last part in a series of books that feature the Musketeers (Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan). Previous books of the Musketeers' adventures were The Three Musketeers (1844) and Twenty Years After (1845). All these books were and still are very popular, as their main ideas about friendship, relationships and values such as faith, honour, loyally and justice are always appealing. The Man in the Iron Mask is set in the 17th century, during the reign of Louis XIV. Most of the characters are real people of the historical era, but the basis of the story is a legend that attracted a lot of interest during Dumas' time. "The man in the iron mask" was a mysterious prisoner in the Bastille, a famous prison in Paris, whose identity was kept a secret. Dumas' book is based on the hypothesis that the prisoner was Louis XIV's identical twin brother, Philippe, who was kept in prison to avoid claims to the throne. Aramis tries to replace the arrogant king with his brother, but his plan is revealed and he finds himself chased by his best friend D'Artagnan, who is captain of the King's musketeers. The tale of a mysterious masked prisoner in the Bastille has intrigued many writers and historians, who offered various suggestions about the true identity of the man behind the mask. Several films were based on Dumas' book. The earliest, a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks was filmed in 1939, and the most recent was filmed in 1998, with Leonardo DiCaprio starring as the royal twins.