The Man In The Iron Mask

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1850

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Chapters 42-44Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 42 Summary

At Belle-Isle, Aramis and Porthos walk along the beach, concerned that all of their fishing boats went out two days ago, and none have returned. Porthos reveals that he sent the last two boats out to find the others, but those have not returned either. Porthos is unhappy because he misses France, especially his life at his estates. Aramis chastises him for sending away the last two boats because they could have left if he had not done so. Aramis lies to Porthos, telling him they are to hold Belle-Isle against the false king who plans to sell it to England. They see the arrival of a fleet of French military vessels on the horizon. Aramis orders Porthos to sound the alarm, sending the artillerymen to their battle stations. A messenger comes ashore before they can fire with a note from D’Artagnan detailing his orders to take Belle-Isle. Aramis orders the messenger to return to the ship and bid D’Artagnan to come ashore. Porthos demands an explanation from Aramis; he sits him down to provide it.

Chapter 43 Summary

Aramis confesses that he deceived Porthos, telling him the whole truth of the plan Porthos naively helped carry out. Porthos is upset by these revelations but has little time to fully understand the situation before D’Artagnan arrives. The three friends embrace and fervently discuss how to get Aramis and Porthos out of their present situation. D’Artagnan returns to his ship, intending to hold a council to help him decide how to move forward, but he receives orders from King Louis, who anticipated his plan to deliberate with his friends and his staff, forbidding him from doing either before Belle-Isle had been overtaken.

Chapter 44 Summary

Since the king has given another musketeer orders in secret to present to D’Artagnan, he determines that a viable way to save his friends is to leverage that suspicion into a formal resignation. D’Artagnan resigns his post, issuing as his final command a full retreat of the blockade. He claims it is to protect the king’s troops, but it also doubles as an opportunity for Aramis and Porthos to escape. At this moment, the same soldier presents him with a second secret order, stating that if he resigns his position, no musketeer is permitted to follow any of his final orders and that he should be escorted back to Paris as a prisoner. D’Artagnan and two officers head back for the shores of France in a canoe. As D’Artagnan contemplates the new commander’s orders, the canoe touches down on French soil just as he hears the first shots of the siege on Belle-Isle in the distance.

Chapters 42-44 Analysis

These chapters perfectly encapsulate how seriously D’Artagnan takes the oath he and his friends made to each other. D’Artagnan has repeatedly demonstrated that he will follow orders from his king, but if he thinks the order is wrongfully given or a dishonorable one, he will find some way to circumvent it and protect the person he has been sent to arrest or harm. With Fouquet, D’Artagnan gave him time to destroy evidence, and he also told King Louis that Fouquet would not escape if he were the one guarding him, but if the king made him guard Fouquet, he would do a bad job on purpose so that Fouquet could escape. D’Artagnan will follow orders, but he does so in his own way, a way that protects his target from unnecessary dishonor or harm. At Belle-Isle, D’Artagnan quickly thinks of several ways to save his friends, including resigning his position as captain of the musketeers. However, King Louis has thought two steps ahead of him and planned for even D’Artagnan’s most desperate, last-ditch efforts.

On the shore, Aramis finally tells Porthos the whole truth. All this time, Porthos has believed that they were first on a mission from the king, then that they were riding to secure Porthos’s new dukedom, and then that they were defending Belle-Isle from an imposter king who wanted to sell it to the English. Porthos believed everything Aramis told him—not because he was stupid or naïve, but because he fully trusted and believed in his dear friend, and Aramis took advantage of him. Unfortunately, these explanations come too late for Porthos to do anything to save himself; even if they did, it is highly unlikely Porthos would turn over Aramis to save himself, given how highly he values their friendship. Much like D’Artagnan, Porthos is ready and willing to do whatever it takes to help his friends.