mykepagan t1_itlsn2l wrote on October 24, 2022 at 4:18 PM

I cannot vouch for the truth of this, but Steven Brust wrote a series of fantasy books that openly mimicked the Count of Monte Cristo. In his afterword, he claimed that Dumas wrotein this particular formal, redundat, and flowery fashion in no small part because his patron paid him by the word. This may have been Brust being cheeky, but I think he was seriouus.

HappyFailure t1_itltwrb wrote on October 24, 2022 at 4:27 PM

I talk about this series up above, and yes, Dumas was paid by the line. (Not unusual for the time, Dickens was similarly paid by the word.)