Alexander Dumas the son lived a long creative, eventful life, in which there was a place for literary work and stormy novels. We know him for the work âLady with Camelliasâ. The great Giuseppe Verdi composed the opera La Traviata, taking as a basis the novel written by Dumas son. She led to a quarrel between the composer and the writer, as the musician did not consider it necessary to ask permission to use the novel as a libretto.
Frivolous father
Twenty-two-year-old frivolous Alexander Dumas the father served in the office of the Duke of Orleans, as he had a wonderful handwriting. For some time he connected his personal life with the seamstress Katrina Labe, pretty, neat and calm. When the poor thing began to stir up in the morning, this very upset young Alexander, since he was not ready for either marriage or the appearance of a child. Extra material and physical worries he did not need. July 28, 1824 Catherine gave birth to a boy, who was christened in honor of his father, - Alexander. She treated the baby with great tenderness and love. But the father by this time was in search of new muses for inspiration. He remembered his son only seven years later, sued him, adopted him, and at nine years old sent him to a boarding school to receive an education. Katrina Labe, in order to have money for living, began to contain a small reading room.
Growing up
The boy suffered from being an illegitimate son for so long. When he grew up and turned into a young man, then, as a shrewd person, he figured out his fatherâs frivolous, vicious nature. Dumas the son began to perceive his father as a great friend, a great writer and a bad father. Resentment passed, and relations between them improved. Charming, good-natured, generous when the money was made, that was Alexander Dumas the father, and his son fell in love with him as an unreasonable child, and not as an adult wise man for years, who often did not have a ridiculous sum of a hundred francs at home. They loved each other, but, unfortunately, they could not live together, as they often quarreled. It will last a lifetime. The young man decided that he would be well off. He also had a literary gift, but was determined to write differently.
Appearance
He was a handsome tall young man with broad shoulders and a dreamy look. Posture betrayed his proud nature. At twenty, he was full of strength and health, his light brown curly hair opened his face with the right attractive features.
The bills to the tailor for the cloth-covered fashion coat, for the snow-white tie and the pique vests brought from England remained unpaid, but that did not bother him. Dumas-son was arrogant, pungent and rained from him, but behind such a âfacadeâ hid the sensitive nature that he received from his mother.
Alfonsina Plessis
In the fall of 1844, at the theater, he saw in the box everyone recognized the beautiful courtesan. This divine vision resembled a porcelain figurine: tall, dark ringlets along a white-pink face, scarlet cherry lips that covered perfect teeth, eyes as if made of black enamel, narrow waist. This excellence was complemented by an exquisite white satin outfit, diamonds and gold. In Paris, the most brilliant men taught her good manners and ability to maintain a conversation.
He called himself
Marie Duplessis and was the most elegant woman in the capital. Her house was a fortress made of camellias, odorless flowers, which fans filled up with her. Why did the rich landlady choose a poor young man as close friend? He skillfully picked up the key to the suffering female soul, and it opened to him. He comforted her when he saw tears under the mask of fun. He respected the woman in her, and for his sake she left all the rich fans. But his poverty and her frivolous attitude to money led to separation in a year.
Marie's death
Alexander went on a long trip and did not know that his lover's health was rapidly deteriorating. She was only twenty-three years old, and she was dying of consumption. She sold all her jewelry to be healed, but nothing helped. February 3, 1847, Marie died. Dumas the son learned about this when he returned to Marseille from Algeria. He read all the letters of Marie with deep love that did not leave his heart, and wrote the novel âLady with Camelliasâ.
Dumas-son made the heroine of the novel the fallen woman Margarita Gauthier, but the main characterâs attempts to turn her to virtue, the visit of her loverâs father, renunciation of him, so as not to ruin the brilliant future of a young man, the sale of jewelry, horses and all other luxuries of the repentant woman, Alexander invented.
A touching romantic romance was a huge success, especially among women. Those who knew Marie finally realized that, while selling herself for money, the unhappy endlessly suffered from sincere feelings that were not dependent on money.
After 4 years, the author was asked to write a play based on the novel, which turned out to be exceptionally long. The action on the stage began at 18 oâclock and ended only in the late night, at 3 oâclock. After the premiere, ardent fans filled the author with bouquets of flowers, women cried and hugged him.
So in 1852, Alexander Dumas Jr. became very popular in France. Now everyone knew his name. He treated women with great respect and did not hide from them that he wanted not easy relationships that did not oblige him to anything, but was striving to create a real friendly and strong family.
Lady with pearls
Dumas the son received all the pleasure from the ladies of the world. In high society, ladies behaved strictly with the writer. Dumas the son, whose personal life could not get into a serious, prudent rut, at the age of 25 met a young Russian lady from St. Petersburg, who spent time in Paris free from her annoying spouse. This was Countess Lydia Nesselrode.
Her mother-in-law was worried if the charming head of her daughter-in-law would spin. She spent countless money on pleasures and luxurious toilets, and then she wanted to charm a fashion writer. Naturally, he did not resist and was subdued. Lydia loved pearls and wore it in a hairstyle of black hair, on a delicate neck, on lovely arms and received from her lover the nickname "lady with pearls." This connection has been the subject of discussion and gossip.
Lydia was immediately summoned to Russia. Dumas went after her. But he returned due to lack of money, and Lydia did not send not only letters, but also notes. She just forgot about him. In 1852, he learned about this from another Russian beauty - Princess Nadezhda Naryshkina, who was destined to occupy a large place in his life. In the meantime, he wrote a novel in which he settled with the unfaithful Lydia, and called it âLady with Pearlsâ.
Escape to Paris
Hope was given to marry a very young man to the old prince. At 26, she fled from him to Paris and did not forget to take jewelry and her daughter with her, explaining that the Russian climate is harmful to her health. She, keen on the writer, asked the prince to give her a divorce, but her husband refused. This was supported by his emperor. For six years, the three of them lived in the villa that Naryshkina bought.
During this period, the writer often quarreled with his father, reproaching that he had brought him up poorly. On this subject he wrote the plays âThe illegitimate sonâ, âThe Prodigal Fatherâ, and at the same time he saw his best friend in his father . At the same time, he poorly understood his princess with eyes of the color of a sea wave: the conditions that nurtured them were too different. They had a daughter, Maria Alexandrina, in 1860. In 1864, when the old Naryshkin died, they got married, and they had another daughter, Zhannina, in 1867.
After that, the character of Nadezhda Ivanovna became impossibly suspicious and disgusting. She suspected the handsome husband of treason and made scandals. In the end, the writer was tired and really made an affair on the side, not divorcing his wife. And in 1870 there was no Dumas father. The son buried him in his homeland in Villa Kotra, which the author of the novels of the cloak and epee loved very much.
Emé Decle
She grew up in a wealthy bourgeois family and received a good upbringing. Her father, a lawyer, went broke, and her daughter decided that she could shine on the stage. But the work did not go, then she became a kept woman, because she was not interested in beauty. Witty, which all Paris quoted, she again returned to the theater and traveled almost all of Europe. She conquered Italy, Brussels. For the first time she met Dumas at a costume ball. Dumas saw her play abroad and believed that she was talented and beautiful.
He insisted that they take her to the troupe in Paris. The debut was triumphant. On the basis of common interests (as before, Dumas the son wrote works for the theater), they fell in love, although they hid it from themselves. When Aimee did not have performances, then she lived alone outside the city. Her company consisted of a poodle, a parrot and an old servant Caesarina. Independence weighed on her, but she did not want illegal connections.
The playwright morally supported her. He gave her a role in the play âThe Wedding Guestâ, wrote for her âThe wife of Claudiusâ, âPrincess Georgesâ. In his books, he tried to solve moral problems between a man and a woman. His pamphlet on this subject made a lot of noise. Now a new play has been written for DeclĂ© "Mr. Alphonse." But she felt sick, her doctors found signs of cancer. When she died in 1874, she was buried all over Paris.
The play was staged, another actress played in it, and the language was enriched with the new word "gigolo", which began to mean a man living at the expense of a woman (corrupt man, pimp).
French Academy
During his lifetime, Alexander Dumas the son became a wealthy man and a recognized classic. It remained the case for small. He was persuaded to apply to the Academy. In 1875, February 11, he was counted among the "immortals".
He was quite worthy of such a title. Here are the works written by Alexander Dumas the son. The books Tristan Red (historical novel), Regent MĂŒstel (novel), novels The Lady with Pearls, The Case of Clemenceau, Doctor Servan, The Novel of a Woman touched upon significant social issues and explored the souls of the heroes. Together with
Georges Sand, he wrote The Marquis de Villiers and ceded his rights to her. In addition, he worked a lot and successfully as a playwright. In this capacity, his talent was highly appreciated by both the public and his father. He was also an excellent publicist who issued many topical brochures.
Last marriage
At the end of his life, Alexander Dumas, the son, decided on a second marriage with Madame Henrietta Escalle, with whom he had relations with 1887. She was forty years younger than him. They were married after the death of Naryshkina in July 1895, and four months later he passed away.
Conclusion
He is buried in the Montmartre Cemetery in Paris, a hundred meters from Marie Duplessis, the only woman he loved. He remembered her all his life and cruelly repented of his first marriage.