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CHAPTER I
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY


Introduction


Because morality is changing over time since the creation of moral principles stems only from within a person, not as a distinct, detached reality, and each person is the source and definer of his or her subjective ethical code and each has equal power and authority to define morality the way he or she sees fit, the Examination and Discussion of the Moral Philosophies and Situations of the Characters and the Setting, respectively, in the novel, The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas, should be analyzed and compared to the moral standard of today.

A. Statement of the Problem

Moralities often include rules and regulations that do not have obvious reasons for existing, i.e., no immediate harmful results of transgression are apparent. This is sometimes because the harmful effects of such actions are largely indirect, but real nonetheless. Alternatively, the morality may derive from historical circumstances no longer common or relevant society. Either way, the need for the particular aspect of morality may be questioned. It is not unusual for wide scale changes in views on morality to occur, especially by younger generations in society. At times, this questioning extends to the society in general, even to the extent of liberalizing laws which prohibited certain behaviors.
1. What are the moral beliefs that are favored upon by the Three Musketeers in the story?
2. What kind of behaviors do the major characters believe to be morally acceptable and morally unacceptable?
3. Why did the author portray the church and state opposing each other in terms of power over the government?
4. What religious belief presented in the story is universally accepted?
5. What moral belief is portrayed by the characters as unique since it is existent only in the novel?
6. Why did the author use dueling as a means to settle fights among in the story?
7. What are the moral beliefs that are favored upon by the antagonists in the story?
8. What are the religious beliefs that are favored upon by the secondary characters in the story?
9. How do the major characters portray their moral belief?
10. Why did the author portray the characters as very conservative?


B. Significance of the Study

Often moral change is associated with an excitement and fervor that these quotations do not convey. One thinks of the abandonment of witch trials, the rejection of judicial torture, the long fight for religious liberty, the abolition of slavery, the reversal of the prohibition of usury, the agitation for contraception and women’s rights, the lifting of the prohibition of divorce, and the struggle for civil rights.


C. Scope and Limitations of the Study

The scope will concentrate on the fact that the morals of today and the morals in the Dumas’ time are two different moral standards. History will be discussed in terms of moral differences in different times. Religious culture will be analyzed as well as the way the monarch rules the kingdom. However, politics will not be given too much emphasis. The morality in ruling and the political systems play a greater role in this analysis.

The boundaries of the study are that the examination will be limited to matters of morality. Questions pertaining to political, historical or biographical matters will not be