Character Thursday: Cardinal Richelieu

Alright. This is perhaps my first time choosing an antagonist for my Character Thursday. I write this based on two novels of D'Artagnan Romances: The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After. I choose this character because he appears only in the first, and all people remember him on the second. The other characters, on the contrary, still develop, so I must wait until I finish them all before I can judge Aramis, D'Artagnan, or Raoul. And perhaps I will write more about the dear count, Athos.

Cardinal Richelieu is introduced as an ambitious, lusty person in the first novel. There is a rivalry between him and the king as to who has the best guard. Out musketeers prove that the king wins, in that respect only. The Cardinal rules France. He is even more powerful than the king himself.

The novel hints that he loves the queen, Anne of Austria, who doesn't share the same feeling towards him. Besides the Queen, Richelieu also has two other women mentioned in the novel as his lovers. As Aramis, he's not really faithful to his call as a 'man of God'.

Portrait of the Cardinal by
Philippe de Champaigne (1640)

As a politician, however, he excels. The Musketeers don't like him at all, and refuse to serve under him, but even Aramis admits (sincerely or not) that he is “the most illustrious politician of times past, of times present, and probably of times to come” that would “extinguish the sun if the sun incommoded him.” But France seems to be peaceful during his reign, at least compared to what it becomes under Mazarin, as stated in Twenty Years After.

Being an enemy of the Four Inseparables doesn't make him act unjustly to them. He applauds the courageous action of Athos and his companions in Bastion St. Gervais, and rewards them for their deeds. Later, when he meets the four having a council together, Athos pays a sharp sarcastic statement to him. But instead of killing him, he just goes away, murmuring that he would be happy to have the four. Who wouldn't? Lastly, when D'Artagnan comes to him with Milady's carte blanche, he tears the paper, but he doesn't seem angry towards the young soldier, but instead he promotes him to be a lieutenant. So to a certain degree, he's still a gentleman.

The sequel, Twenty Years After, makes it clear that our friends respect Richelieu, despite their private experiences with him.They even praise him as a great Cardinal. From the second novel, I learn not to judge people too rashly, too hastily. That's my character for this week, what about yours?

PS: This character analysis is solely based on the novel, and not from the real person. I have done no research about Armand Jean du Plessis, and therefore cannot say anything in or out favour of him.

---------------------------------------------

Character Thursday

Adalah book blog hop di mana setiap blog memposting tokoh pilihan dalam buku yang sedang atau telah dibaca selama seminggu terakhir (judul atau genre buku bebas).

- Kalian bisa menjelaskan mengapa kalian suka/benci tokoh itu, sekilas kepribadian si tokoh, atau peranannya dalam keseluruhan kisah.

- Jangan lupa mencantumkan juga cover buku yang tokohnya kalian ambil.

- Kalau buku itu sudah difilmkan, kalian juga bisa mencantumkan foto si tokoh dalam film, atau foto aktor/aktris yang kalian anggap cocok dengan kepribadian si tokoh.

Syarat Mengikuti :

1. Follow blog Fanda Classiclit sebagai host, bisa lewat Google Friend Connect (GFC) atau sign up via e-mail (ada di sidebar paling kanan). Dengan follow blog ini, kalian akan selalu tahu setiap kali blog ini mengadakan Character Thursday Blog Hop.

2. Letakkan button Character Thursday Blog Hop di posting kalian atau di sidebar blog, supaya follower kalian juga bisa menemukan blog hop ini. Kodenya bisa diambil di kotak di button.

3. Buat posting dengan menyertakan copy-paste “Character Thursday” dan “Syarat Mengikuti” ke dalam postingmu.

3. Isikan link (URL) posting kalian ke Linky di bawah ini. Cantumkan nama dengan format: Nama blogger @ nama blog, misalnya: Fanda @ Fanda Classiclit.

4. Jangan lupa kunjungi blog-blog peserta lain, dan temukan tokoh-tokoh pilihan mereka. Dengan begini, wawasan kita akan bertambah juga dengan buku-buku baru yang menarik