Comment on A Cabal of Paris

  1. ysande on Chapter 1 Mon 31 Dec 2018 03:07PM UTC

    I think wee 3M Aramis liked being in the shadows; i think it helped him feel Important and Smug and like he was the one who was really in control, while the rest of the world was just foolishly ignorant. And I think like we said, it’s feeling powerless that he loathes the most, so this was a good antidote for that. But by 20YA his scheming has led him to a place where he doesn’t feel powerless anymore, so he doesn’t need the trappings of secrecy and intrigue anymore, because he can straight up deal in power plays and intrigue and that brings him more power and makes him both more secure and more gleeful.

    Also I love that you researched old words for this! :) I really love Dumas’ style and I think you’re pulling it off beautifully.

    I did not know before this that Descartes was at La Rochelle, and now that I do, I like to think that at least a fraction of Descarte’s philosophy was influenced by Aramis, even if their “discussions” led Descartes to espouse the exact opposite of what Aramis would have said! Like maybe this quote:

    'Whenever enyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it.'

    was pointedly aimed at Aramis after Aramis got murderously angry at a slight insult one day and Descartes is just like whoa, dude, chill out

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    1. Donna_Immaculata on Chapter 1 Mon 31 Dec 2018 05:25PM UTC

      Oh yes, absolutely. And I do admire how Dumas wrote him and his involvement in the key intrigue in 3M, because even though we know that he is involved, we don't really realise to which extent. He smiles mildly and excuses himself with treatises that he has to write for his friend the curate (in Latin), while running errands for Marie all around Paris. By the time he's established himself in his den in the Jesuit cloister, he feels secure enough to flaunt his plotting for everyone to see.

      I like the idea of Descartes being influenced by Aramis. He was big on the duality of body and mind (or mind and matter), and duality is what Aramis is all about.

      was pointedly aimed at Aramis after Aramis got murderously angry at a slight insult one day and Descartes is just like whoa, dude, chill out

      Headcanon accepted!

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