Among the most widely read and translated of all French authors, Alexandre Dumas lived and worked in the 19th century. A playwright, journalist, and travel writer, Dumas is likely best known for his historical fiction, much of which was initially published in serialized form. Along with The Count of Monte Cristo, his most enduring works are the three books that make up his D’Artagnan Romances: The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne, the closing section of which is known as The Man in the Iron Mask (1850).

Plot Summary

The story begins at the Bastille, a French prison. Aramis, a high-ranking Catholic Church official and former Musketeer, arrives to hear the confession of a mysterious prisoner. He quickly learns that there is nothing for the man to confess since he does not fully understand why he was originally imprisoned. Through a series of increasingly personal questions, Aramis tells the prisoner, Philippe, that he is the twin brother of the King of France, Louis XIV, and that his identity has been kept secret by his lifelong imprisonment. Aramis tells Philippe of his plan to break him out of prison and, since Philippe and Louis are identical twins, replace Louis with Philippe. Aramis hopes to use Philippe’s position to bolster his own ambition of becoming Pope. Philippe agrees.

Aramis plans to enact his plan the night of a big party at a chateau owned by Fouquet, the surintendant of finances. King Louis XIV is displeased by how lavish the party is, and one of his financial advisors, Colbert, seizes the opportunity to frame Fouquet for stealing royal funds. Louis XIV sends D’Artagnan to arrest Fouquet, but he guards him for the night instead. That same night, Aramis and Porthos disguise themselves and kidnap Louis XIV, delivering him to the Bastille. In the morning, Aramis tells Fouquet what he has done, expecting him to be a willing accomplice. Instead, Fouquet rides to the Bastille to free Louis XIV. Aramis and Porthos flee to Belle-Isle, and Philippe is moved to another prison on an island, where he is forced to wear an iron mask for the rest of his life.

Louis XIV moves his court to Nantes, seizing Fouquet’s money to do so, and he has D’Artagnan arrest him upon arrival. Athos, another former Musketeer, lives on a nearby estate with his son Raoul. Raoul is heartbroken over his failed engagement to Louise la Valliere, who has since become King Louis XIV’s mistress. Raoul joins a military expedition to Africa, hoping to die in battle. King Louis XIV orders D’Artagnan to capture Porthos and Aramis for their crimes. Upon realizing there is no way for him to do his duty and still protect his friends, D’Artagnan resigns. In the ensuing battle at Belle-Isle, Porthos and Aramis kill dozens of men in the siege. As they try to escape, Porthos dies when a cavern collapses. Aramis uses his connections with the Church to travel to Spain, where he becomes the Spanish ambassador to France. D’Artagnan convinces Louis XIV to pardon Aramis. Raoul dies in Africa, and Athos dies of grief shortly thereafter. Four years later, D’Artagnan leads King Louis XIV’s army in Holland and is killed by enemy cannon fire just as he is promoted to Marshal of France. At the novel’s conclusion, Aramis is the only living Musketeer.

There is an historical basis to the story of The Man in the Iron Mask. An unidentified prisoner was arrested in around 1670 and spent time in several French prisons, including the Bastille. His actual name was never definitively known, although some scholars believe he might have been Eustache Dauger, though there are no records to confirm this. Whoever the mysterious prisoner was, he remained with one jailer for 34 years and died known by the name of Marchioly during the reign of Louis XIV. His face was kept hidden by a velvet cloth. In his writings about the prisoner, philosopher and writer Voltaire referred to the mask as made of iron and speculated that the prisoner was Louis XIV’s illegitimate older brother. Dumas’s novel likely takes some inspiration from Voltaire’s writings on the matter, specifically the iron mask and the blood relation to the king.