Thursday, June 01, 2017

Don't Shoot

Let me admit to some ignorance--I've never read The Three Musketeers.  But I've seen it on film.  Man have I seen it on film.  At least five versions.

So here's my question.  Where are the muskets?  For guys whose name is built around it, all they ever seem to do is fight with swords.

PS  It's called The Three Musketeers, but the main character is d'Artagnan, who joins the titular three (Athos, Porthos and Aramis, for those keeping score).

Wouldn't a better title be The Fourth Musketeer?

It may not seem like a big deal, but I once saw a guy lose a lot of money on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire because of this confusion.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Lawrence King said...

My guess:

1. Dumas used the name "musketeer" because that was the actual tltle used by the Musketeers of the Guard. In real life, while these musketeers did wear swords, their primary weapon was the musket.

2. Dumas filled his novel with swordfights rather than gunfights because they are exciting and romantic.

Similarly, I'm sure there's an exciting American movie about U.S. Marines in which there are no water scenes, perplexing foreign filmgoers who know that the word "marine" means "of the sea."

10:45 PM, June 01, 2017  

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