# VI: D'Artagnan in His Fortieth Year explained — Twenty Years After

> Chapter companion for Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas.

## What happens

D'Artagnan reflects on his life since the events of The Three Musketeers, feeling lonely and adrift after his friends Athos, Porthos, and Aramis have left him. He has become a typical soldier, finding comfort in a relationship with a Flemish innkeeper in the Rue Tiquetonne. After being wounded in the Franche-Comté expedition and presumed dead, he returns to Paris to find the innkeeper's husband has reappeared. D'Artagnan confronts the husband, a Swiss man, and asserts his claim. Later, his former servant Planchet arrives through the window, seeking his help.

## Themes in this chapter

### Aging and Change

D'Artagnan reflects on the passage of time and how his friends have left him, leading to a sense of loneliness and a change in his character from a refined youth to a typical soldier focused on material comforts.

### Friendship and Loyalty

D'Artagnan's reminiscences about Athos, Porthos, and Aramis highlight the importance of their friendship in shaping his character, and his current isolation underscores the loss of that bond.

## Character check-ins

### D'Artagnan

Now in his fortieth year, D'Artagnan feels isolated after his friends have left him. He has become a typical soldier, focused on material comforts, and is involved with a Flemish innkeeper. He returns from the Franche-Comté expedition after being wounded and presumed dead.

### Athos

Mentioned as having left D'Artagnan to retire to a property near Blois. D'Artagnan speculates he may have become an idiot from drinking.

### Porthos

Mentioned as having left D'Artagnan to marry an attorney's wife. D'Artagnan recalls a letter from Porthos dated from the Château du Vallon.

### Aramis

Mentioned as having left D'Artagnan to take orders and become an abbé. D'Artagnan recalls a letter from Aramis about a duel in the Place Royale.

### Planchet

D'Artagnan's former servant, now an honest citizen with a house of his own, enters D'Artagnan's room through the window seeking his help.

### Pretty Madeleine

The Flemish innkeeper of the Rue Tiquetonne, with whom D'Artagnan has had a three-year relationship. She wishes to marry him, but he refuses. She later appears with a Swiss man she plans to marry.

## Key lines

> Years have elapsed, many events have happened, alas! since, in our romance of The Three Musketeers, we took leave of d'Artagnan at No. 12 Rue des Fossoyeurs.

Many years and events have passed since we last saw D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers.

_The narrator marks the passage of time since the previous novel._

> D'Artagnan had not failed in his career, but circumstances had been adverse to him.

D'Artagnan succeeded in his career, but faced difficult circumstances.

_Summarizes D'Artagnan's mixed fortunes._

> From that day d'Artagnan felt lonely and powerless, without courage to pursue a career in which he could only distinguish himself on condition that each of his three companions should endow him with one of the gifts each had received from Heaven.

After his friends left, D'Artagnan felt alone and lacked the motivation to advance in his career, which had depended on the unique qualities of each friend.

_Explains D'Artagnan's dependence on his friends for success._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/twenty_years_after_se/chapters/vi-d-artagnan-in-his-fortieth-year
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/twenty_years_after_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/twenty_years_after_se/chapters