The Man in the Iron Mask Theme of Memory and the Past

Throughout the novel, the four friends are haunted by their past as four young and courageous men. The past in The Man in the Iron Mask is thus held dear as it embodies the age of romantic chivalry – an age which is clearly slipping away.

1. To what extent does reading The Three Musketeers help you understand The Man in the Iron Mask?
2. How is the past evoked in The Man in the Iron Mask? How is it typically characterized? For Raoul? For the four best friends?
3. In what ways, if any, is the present considered just as great as, or better, than the past?

Aramis draws on his shared past with his friends in order to manipulate them.

Raoul lives in and dwells on the past even more so than his surrogate fathers, the four best friends.