Alexandre Dumas is one of the most prolific and popular French writers of all time. He was a first-class dramatist and historical novelist and the king of storytellers. He wrote over 1200 volumes in his lifetime, made up of 250 plays, novels, travelogues and memoirs; he was among the first writers in France to use the possibilities of the

roman feuilleton

(serialised novel). He is especially known for

Le Comte de Monte Cristo

,

Les Trois Mousquetaires

and

La Reine Margot

, novels that are filled with swordfights, beautiful women, heroic men, cloak-and-dagger episodes and narrow escapes. Yet, there is another dimension to his writings: no other French writer of the nineteenth century has depicted scenes of political intrigues, vengeance, perversion, graphic eroticism, poisonings, torture,…

3099 words

Citation: Tirven-Gadum, Vina. "Alexandre Dumas (père)". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 September 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1345, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1345 Alexandre Dumas (père) 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.