“The Three Musketeers” (post 1) by Alexandre Dumas: The musketeers have pseudonyms and secret histories like typical patients in a textbook on multiple personality

This Novel

“D’Artagnan…did his best to learn the real identities of Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, for each of these pseudonyms hid an aristocratic name” (1, p. 75)…Despite all his efforts, d’Artagnan was unable to learn anything more about his new friends. He decided that for the present he would have to believe whatever was said about their past and hope for more extensive and reliable revelations in the future. Meanwhile he regarded Athos as an Achilles, Porthos as an Ajax, and Aramis as a Joseph (1, p. 77).

Textbook

“During initial interviews of patients who later proved to have MPD…I find that it is difficult to obtain a coherent history…This reflects the fact that…memories of their life history…are divided up among a number of alternate personalities” (2, p. 72), (of which the regular personality is either unaware or considers secret). Of course, the names of alternate personalities are pseudonyms.

Comment:I do not expect these characters to turn out to have multiple personality, per se. The above probably reflects the fiction writer’s multiple personality trait. Please search “Dumas” and “pseudonyms” in this blog for relevant past posts.

1. Alexandre Dumas. The Three Musketeers. Trans. Lowell Bair. New York, Bantam Classic, 1844/1984.

2. Frank W. Putnam, MD. Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder. New York, The Guilford Press, 1989.