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Motif
Explanation and Analysis—Milady the Predator:
Dumas regularly uses similes comparing Milady to animals and non-human creatures, especially predatory or frightening ones. One example of this motif occurs in Chapter 37, when d'Artagnan first discovers the fleur-de-lis branded on her shoulder:
“My God!” he cried out, letting go of the negligee.
He then sat silent and motionless on the bed. But from his exclamation Milady realized what he had seen. Now he knew her secret, the terrible secret that no one else knew.
She turned on him like a wounded panther.
Here, as in many other instances, Dumas compares Milady to a large cat ready to turn lethal at any moment. The fact that she is "wounded" by d'Artagnan's discovery makes her all the more dangerous. If Milady didn't have anything to hide, she would not be nearly so motivated to hunt down d'Artagnan, Athos, and their friends. But because Milady is vulnerable to them, she becomes obsessed with striking back.
In addition to large cats, Dumas repeatedly compares Milady to a snake. Like cats, snakes have the power to kill with their bite. The fact that they can be venomous makes them a fitting comparison for her given her preferred murder weapon: poison. Additionally, the biblical significance of snakes allows Dumas to emphasize Milady's innate corruption. In Genesis, a serpent tempts Eve into eating the fruit God has forbidden her and Adam to eat. According to many versions of the story, giving into the snake's temptation is what ultimately leads to humans' expulsion from the Garden of Eden and their first experience of mortality. Comparing Milady to a snake underscores her status as a dangerous temptress who is always trying to lead unsuspecting characters (especially men) to their ruin.
While the animals Dumas chooses to compare Milady to have their own symbolic meanings, the overall effect of the motif is to dehumanize her. For example, in Chapter 45, Dumas uses a simile comparing Milady to a corpse:
Pale as a corpse, Milady tried to cry out, but her tongue was frozen, and she was able to make only a hoarse sound that bore no resemblance to human speech. Pressing her back against the dark tapestry on the wall, with her hair disheveled, she was a living image of terror.
The "living image of terror," Milady neither looks nor sounds like a living human in this moment. She pales and gets tongue-tied because Athos has pulled a gun on her. Instead of emphasizing her very reasonable fear, Dumas instead describes how she turns into something like a reanimated corpse, an image that inspires fear in onlookers. By regularly comparing Milady to non-human, threatening creatures, Dumas discourages the reader from sympathizing with her. Her two-dimensional villainy makes her an easy antagonist to hate, which helps propel the swashbuckling action forward to its triumphant conclusion.
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