The Three Musketeers: Foreshadowing 6 key examples

The joke one of the other musketeers makes about Aramis's delay in committing himself to the priesthood has to do with the fact that it seems to be taking a long time (by royal standards) for the queen to become pregnant. If Aramis is waiting for that to happen, there is a chance he will spend his whole life talking about becoming a priest rather than actually becoming one. The musketeers are jokesters in certain respects, but the subject of an heir to the French crown is touchy because it has such major political consequences. If the king and queen do not produce an heir, the French crown will be vulnerable to outside grabs for power. Even Porthos (the musketeer most played for comic relief) is uncomfortable joking about this issue. But Aramis pushes the joke even a step farther by suggesting that perhaps the queen will have a child with the Duke of Buckingham. Ostensibly, it might appear as though Aramis is changing the subject to a state visit following Porthos's call for more sobriety on the matter of an heir. But, as Dumas notes, his "sly laugh gave a scandalous meaning to the apparently simple remark." Porthos goes on to reprimand his friend for bringing up the possibility of an affair between the queen and the duke.

The reader does not have much context yet for Aramis's comment on the queen and duke's relationship. But this joke plants the seed for suspicion about the two of them. As the book goes on, it becomes clear that their affair is an open secret. Porthos's concerned response to the joke also foreshadows the grave consequences of the affair. Within the world of the book, the duke's interest in the queen is the main cause of the conflict between England and France. The combination of levity and gravity in this scene among the musketeers sets the tone for the book's overall attitude toward the nobility of both countries: they are at once ridiculous and terrible for letting their petty squabbles determine the lives and deaths of so many ordinary people.

Porthos compares servants to women because, according to his logic, both need to be "taught to behave as you want them to." The solution d'Artagnan comes to is beating Planchet as "advance payment" until he comes into real money again. Dumas seems to intend this exchange as a comical moment, but it also demonstrates the cruelty d'Artagnan is learning to embrace as a means to power among the musketeers. Instead of accepting that Planchet will only be able to work for him when d'Artagnan can give him wages, d'Artagnan insists that he must find a way to subject Planchet to his will permanently. It is not just domestic work Planchet provides for d'Artagnan; clearly, he also gives him a sense of superiority and upward mobility by remaining permanently "beneath" the young Gascon.

Porthos frames the power that servants offer to their bosses in terms of the power women offer to men. In this framework, women are objects to be controlled so that they don't run amok and "misbehave." Unfortunately, this has been a widely-held viewpoint for much of history, so it serves as a clarifying frame of reference for what Porthos is trying to say about the importance of controlling servants' behavior. But the main antagonist of the novel will turn out to be Milady, a woman who both Athos and d'Artagnan fail to "control." Porthos's advice thus proves important not only in d'Artagnan's relationship with Planchet, but also in the overall plot (as misogynistic as it is).

The duke tells the queen not to scoff at his memories of the few nights they have shared because they are all he has to sustain himself. He compares each memory to a diamond, and the collection of memories to "the treasure in my heart." This metaphor is comical because he is trying to get the queen to understand his love by comparing it to something she surely understands: riches. The duke also comes across as a bit ridiculous for claiming that he has "only memories." He is in fact very wealthy and has what many people would kill for: land and a title.

Still, the main joke is that, later in the chapter, the duke convinces the queen to give him a token of her love. What she gives him is a set of real diamond jewelry that was originally a gift from the king. As it turns out, the duke would have been better off sticking with his imaginary diamonds. The cardinal gets wind of the queen's gift to the duke. Jealous of her affections, he encourages the king to throw a ball and ask his wife to wear the diamonds. The duke and queen must then scramble to cover up the fact that she just gave the diamonds away. With the help of d'Artagnan and the musketeers, the queen and the duke successfully hide their affair this time around. But the duke makes dangerous enemies of the cardinal and Milady in the process.

Athos first assumes that the sapphire's resemblance to the one he gave his wife long ago must be a strange coincidence. He becomes increasingly unsettled and suspicious as d'Artagnan tells him more details about the ring and the woman who gave it to him. Milady has managed to pass herself off as an Englishwoman because of her remarriage to an Englishman, but d'Artagnan reveals here that she is originally from France—as was Athos's wife. Athos eventually asks to examine the ring and is disturbed to find that it fits him just as the old one did. He gives it back but again asks to examine it for a scratch he remembers on the old ring. Again, d'Artagnan's ring matches the one from Athos's memory. D'Artagnan eventually concludes that Milady must have somehow come across the same ring Athos once lost. Athos does not tell his young friend much about the significance of the old ring, simply telling him that he "gave it away during a night of love." Of course, it would not be unheard of for a ring to find its way back to its original owner by coincidence if it was pawned or given away enough times. Still, Athos's vagueness and the intense emotions that appear on his face throughout this scene all but guarantee that d'Artagnan and the reader will find out more about this ring and its significance as the story goes on.

The cardinal does not mean to protect Milady by physically covering her with his cloak. Instead, what Dumas means is that the cardinal imagines that he will have to use his position of power within the church and the government to protect her from the consequences of her past crimes. The red cloak, which he wears as part of his uniform, is a metaphor for that power.

But while the cardinal is ready to use his "red cloak" to protect his operative no matter what her past crimes are, there are other powerful people who are determined to see her punished. One is Lord de Winter, who currently has her in custody. The red cloak in particular foreshadows the appearance of another figure in a red cloak: the executioner. Milady drove the executioner's brother to crime, and he later died by suicide. When Athos invites the executioner to join him and his friends in their final pursuit of Milady, the executioner is all too ready to don his red cloak and join the hunt. It is this red-cloaked man who swings the sword to behead Milady in Chapter 66. The twin red cloaks suggest that the cardinal's power is outmatched by the determination and fellowship of the men determined to bring Milady to justice (or their version of it) for her past crimes.

The man turns out to be the brother of another man Milady manipulated. That man found himself unwittingly drawn deep into criminal behavior, and he eventually died by suicide. His brother, who also happens to be an executioner, is an old acquaintance of Athos. As a matter of honor, Athos has recruited him to share in the group's revenge against Milady.

Of course, none of the others know this backstory yet. Nor does the reader. However, the musketeers and Lord de Winter trust that Athos knows what he is doing. As for the reader, literary conventions suggest that this man will turn out to be important. For one thing, his mask suggests that at some point, there will be an unmasking. His "big red cloak" suggests that his character is wrapped in both blood and revenge. Indeed, this man ends up beheading Milady in a highly dramatic and disturbing strike of the sword.

The dramatic irony in this moment not only builds suspense, but it also demonstrates the deep sense of camaraderie and brotherhood that is driving the characters onward in their battle against Milady. The original band of "three musketeers" has grown to encompass d'Artagnan and even Lord de Winter. Now, yet another man is joining their ranks. Most of the characters do not even need to know the details of each other's quarrels with Milady to join forces. They are almost startlingly eager to bond with their fellow men over mutual hatred of a woman. The severity of the crimes they know Milady has committed is enough to convince all of them that she has surely committed more atrocities.