Born in 1802, Alexandre Dumas was the son of Thomas Alexandre Dumas, who took part in the French Revolution of 1789 and rose quickly to the rank of general. General Thomas Alexandre Dumas, a mulatto, campaigned with Napoleon's army in France, Italy, and Egypt. He was a genuine adventurer, as is the main character in The Three Musketeers. Unfortunately, General Dumas's military career was cut short, and he died in destitute conditions when his son was four years old. With little formal education, Alexandre Dumas began working at age fifteen as an office boy. He left home for Paris at the age of twenty-one to seek his fortune as a writer.
Soldiers of fortune. During the 1600s, a young Frenchman's best opportunities to improve his circumstances were in the city of Paris. One of the few ways for a young man to change his social station if he was from a poor province such as Gascony (the home of the main character in the novel) was to travel to Paris and join some sort of military outfit as a career soldier.
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