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The lasting fame of French writer Alexandre Dumas, known as Dumas pere,

b. July 24, 1802, d. Dec. 5, 1870, is assured by such historical novels as The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo.

Paradoxically, he exerted his greatest influence on literature through his early plays, key works in the definition of French romanticism.

By human, if not artistic, criteria, his prodigious output, the sheer energy of his writing, and the hyperbolic force of his personality were matched only by such contemporary giants as Honore de Balzac and Victor Hugo.

Dumas's youth reflects the turbulence of the early 19th century.

His father, a general fallen out of favor with Napoleon, left the family in financial difficulty at his death in 1806.

 Young Dumas's education was rudimentary.

He began clerking in 1818 and eventually worked for the duke of Orleans, who later became King Louis Philippe.

During the 1820s, Dumas, like so many budding romantics, fell under the spell cast by the plays of Shakespeare and the novels of Sir Walter Scott.

The influence of these English language models of theatricality and historical evocation can be seen in the melodramatic situations of Henri III et sa cour (Henry III and His Court, 1829), the first truly romantic melodrama produced by the Comedie Francaise.

 For Antony (1831; Eng. trans., 1880), the dramatist found that a contemporary setting and situation could also serve romanticism.

Dumas's literary strengths were expressed flamboyantly in dramatic conflicts, sudden reversals, and coincidences so thrilling that the audience had no time to examine the plot's logic.

 His ability to create suspense is exemplified in La Tour de Nesle (1832; Eng. trans., 1846).

With the publication of The Three Musketeers (1844; Eng. trans., 1846) Dumas embarked on a novel cycle that covered nearly 50 years of French history in the 17th century.

This cycle included Twenty Years After (1845; Eng. trans., 1846) and the story "The Man in the Iron Mask" from Le Vicomte de Bragelonne (1848-50; Eng. trans., 1851).

The Count of Monte Cristo (1844-45; Eng. trans., 1846) dealt with the Napoleonic period.

 The Valois novels (1845-48) explored the 16th century. Dumas's extravagant tastes forced him to maintain a hectic writing pace.

His frequent use of collaborators (chiefly Auguste Maquet) inspired controversy as to the extent of Dumas's authorship, but recent scholarship has authenticated his contributions.

If his boast of having written 1,200 volumes is a gross exaggeration, an edition of his complete works containing 301 volumes (published and edited by Michel Levy, 1862-89) is irrefutable proof of his unflagging energy.

That energy animated his journalistic enterprises, his extensive travels, and his adventures, including participation in Garibaldi's campaign in Sicily in 1860. Scandals and financial vicissitudes plagued his last years.

 He died in the home of his illegitimate son, the playwright and novelist Alexandre Dumas.

The historical novels, upon which much of Dumas's reputation rests, profited from the precedents set by Scott, Balzac, and Hugo.

Dumas was particularly adept at the development of plot against a sharply etched, picturesque background. Despite their length, the novels speed along at breakneck pace, and generations of readers have been enmeshed in the unfolding narratives. Both the novels and plays, so appealing as popular literature, have also won critical esteem for their inventiveness, an element characteristic of romantic art.

Charles Affron