The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers

by

Alexandre Dumas

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Cardinal Richelieu Character Analysis

Cardinal Richelieu is the religious leader of France who wields enormous power. He is a cunning man who will go outside the bounds of traditional morality to get his way. However, he is not wholly evil, and he has great respect for d’Artagnan and the musketeers. Additionally, he treats both the king and M. de Tréville as his rivals, and many of his schemes are attempts to gain power over them.

Cardinal Richelieu Quotes in The Three Musketeers

The The Three Musketeers quotes below are all either spoken by Cardinal Richelieu or refer to Cardinal Richelieu. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Friendship and Loyalty Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

Panics were frequent in those times, and few days went by when an event of this kind was not recorded in the archives of one town or another. Noblemen fought among themselves; the king was at war with the cardinal; the Spanish were at war with the king. And then, besides all this secret or open warfare, there were robbers, beggars, Huguenots, wolves, and lackeys, who were at war with everyone. The townsmen always took up arms against robbers, wolves, and lackeys, often against noblemen and Huguenots, sometimes against the king, but never against the cardinal or the Spanish.

Related Characters: Cardinal Richelieu, King Louis XIII
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

Athos’s arrival had caused a sensation in the anteroom, for his wound was known to everyone despite all efforts to keep it a secret. The door had remained ajar, and Tréville’s words were greeted by a joyous hubbub. Two or three musketeers, carried away by enthusiasm, drew back the door curtain and looked into the study. Tréville was about to rebuke them sharply when he felt Athos’s hand tighten in his own and saw that he was about to faint.

Related Characters: Athos, Aramis, Porthos, Cardinal Richelieu, M. de Tréville
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

And, as His Majesty had predicted, the cardinal was furious, so furious that for a week he did not come to the king’s card game. This did not prevent the king from greeting him graciously whenever they met, and saying in his most sympathetic tone, “Tell me about those two poor guards of yours, Bernajoux and Jussac. How are they doing?

Related Characters: D’Artagnan, Cardinal Richelieu, King Louis XIII
Page Number: 71
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

Although his triumph over such a mediocre man as Bonacieux could scarcely be counted as a great victory, the cardinal savored it for a moment; then, as if a new thought had just occurred to him, he smiled, held out his hand to the draper, and said, “Stand up, my friend. You’re a good man.”

Related Characters: Cardinal Richelieu (speaker), Milady de Winter , Madame Bonacieux
Page Number: 146
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

The king’s animosity against the queen was deftly nurtured by the cardinal, who was much warier of women than of men in matters of intrigue.

Related Characters: Cardinal Richelieu, King Louis XIII, Queen Anne, The Duke of Buckingham
Page Number: 150
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 41 Quotes

The cardinal, as is well known, had been in love with the queen. We cannot say whether his love had a simple political goal or whether it was one of the deep passions that Anne of Austria aroused in those around her, but in any case we know that the duke of Buckingham had won out over him before the beginning of this story and that in later circumstances […] the duke had outwitted him.

Related Characters: Cardinal Richelieu, Queen Anne, The Duke of Buckingham
Page Number: 406
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 44 Quotes

“Monseigneur,” Milady interrupted, “I’ll trade you a life for a life, a man for a man; rid me of this one and I’ll rid you of the other.”

Related Characters: D’Artagnan, Athos, Cardinal Richelieu, The Duke of Buckingham
Page Number: 438
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 47 Quotes

“The bearer of this letter has acted under my orders and for the good of the state.

Richelieu”

Related Characters: Cardinal Richelieu (speaker), D’Artagnan, Athos
Page Number: 457
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 51 Quotes

“We are conspirators, Monseigneur,” said Athos, “but as you saw the other morning, we conspire against the enemy.”

Related Characters: Athos (speaker), D’Artagnan, Cardinal Richelieu
Page Number: 502
Explanation and Analysis:
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Cardinal Richelieu Quotes in The Three Musketeers

The The Three Musketeers quotes below are all either spoken by Cardinal Richelieu or refer to Cardinal Richelieu. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Friendship and Loyalty Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

Panics were frequent in those times, and few days went by when an event of this kind was not recorded in the archives of one town or another. Noblemen fought among themselves; the king was at war with the cardinal; the Spanish were at war with the king. And then, besides all this secret or open warfare, there were robbers, beggars, Huguenots, wolves, and lackeys, who were at war with everyone. The townsmen always took up arms against robbers, wolves, and lackeys, often against noblemen and Huguenots, sometimes against the king, but never against the cardinal or the Spanish.

Related Characters: Cardinal Richelieu, King Louis XIII
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

Athos’s arrival had caused a sensation in the anteroom, for his wound was known to everyone despite all efforts to keep it a secret. The door had remained ajar, and Tréville’s words were greeted by a joyous hubbub. Two or three musketeers, carried away by enthusiasm, drew back the door curtain and looked into the study. Tréville was about to rebuke them sharply when he felt Athos’s hand tighten in his own and saw that he was about to faint.

Related Characters: Athos, Aramis, Porthos, Cardinal Richelieu, M. de Tréville
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

And, as His Majesty had predicted, the cardinal was furious, so furious that for a week he did not come to the king’s card game. This did not prevent the king from greeting him graciously whenever they met, and saying in his most sympathetic tone, “Tell me about those two poor guards of yours, Bernajoux and Jussac. How are they doing?

Related Characters: D’Artagnan, Cardinal Richelieu, King Louis XIII
Page Number: 71
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

Although his triumph over such a mediocre man as Bonacieux could scarcely be counted as a great victory, the cardinal savored it for a moment; then, as if a new thought had just occurred to him, he smiled, held out his hand to the draper, and said, “Stand up, my friend. You’re a good man.”

Related Characters: Cardinal Richelieu (speaker), Milady de Winter , Madame Bonacieux
Page Number: 146
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

The king’s animosity against the queen was deftly nurtured by the cardinal, who was much warier of women than of men in matters of intrigue.

Related Characters: Cardinal Richelieu, King Louis XIII, Queen Anne, The Duke of Buckingham
Page Number: 150
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 41 Quotes

The cardinal, as is well known, had been in love with the queen. We cannot say whether his love had a simple political goal or whether it was one of the deep passions that Anne of Austria aroused in those around her, but in any case we know that the duke of Buckingham had won out over him before the beginning of this story and that in later circumstances […] the duke had outwitted him.

Related Characters: Cardinal Richelieu, Queen Anne, The Duke of Buckingham
Page Number: 406
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 44 Quotes

“Monseigneur,” Milady interrupted, “I’ll trade you a life for a life, a man for a man; rid me of this one and I’ll rid you of the other.”

Related Characters: D’Artagnan, Athos, Cardinal Richelieu, The Duke of Buckingham
Page Number: 438
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 47 Quotes

“The bearer of this letter has acted under my orders and for the good of the state.

Richelieu”

Related Characters: Cardinal Richelieu (speaker), D’Artagnan, Athos
Page Number: 457
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 51 Quotes

“We are conspirators, Monseigneur,” said Athos, “but as you saw the other morning, we conspire against the enemy.”

Related Characters: Athos (speaker), D’Artagnan, Cardinal Richelieu
Page Number: 502
Explanation and Analysis: