Le Chevalier de Maison-Rouge
Encyclopedia
Le Chevalier de Maison-Rouge (translated as The Knight of Maison-Rouge: A Novel of Marie Antoinette or The Knight of the Red House) was written in 1845 by Alexandre Dumas, père
as part of a series referred to as the Marie Antoinette romances. Set in Paris during the Reign of Terror
, the novel follows the adventures of a brave young man named Maurice Lindey who unwittingly implicates himself in a Royalist plot to rescue Marie Antoinette
from prison. Maurice is devoted to the Republican cause, but his infatuation with a beautiful young woman leads him into the service of the mysterious Knight of Maison-Rouge, the mastermind behind the plot.
Alexandre Dumas based events in the novel on "the affair of the carnation", an attempt by the Marquis de Rougeville to communicate with Marie Antoinette by hiding a secret message in the petals of a carnation. According to the biography La vie d'Alexandre Dumas père by J. Lucas-Dubreton, Dumas had originally titled the work Le Chevalier de Rougeville, but changed the title to Le Chevalier de Maison-Rouge after receiving a complaint from the son of the Marquis de Rougeville.
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Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
as part of a series referred to as the Marie Antoinette romances. Set in Paris during the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
, the novel follows the adventures of a brave young man named Maurice Lindey who unwittingly implicates himself in a Royalist plot to rescue Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
from prison. Maurice is devoted to the Republican cause, but his infatuation with a beautiful young woman leads him into the service of the mysterious Knight of Maison-Rouge, the mastermind behind the plot.
Alexandre Dumas based events in the novel on "the affair of the carnation", an attempt by the Marquis de Rougeville to communicate with Marie Antoinette by hiding a secret message in the petals of a carnation. According to the biography La vie d'Alexandre Dumas père by J. Lucas-Dubreton, Dumas had originally titled the work Le Chevalier de Rougeville, but changed the title to Le Chevalier de Maison-Rouge after receiving a complaint from the son of the Marquis de Rougeville.
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French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
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