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The Black Tulip

Name: The Black Tulip
Author: Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre Dumas

1850 · 19th Century · Novel · French

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Abstract

Written: 1850
Setting: 1672; The Hague, Dort, the fortress of Loewestein and Haarlem
Author: Alexandre Dumas; trans. anonymous (19th-century English version)
Country: France
Language: French
Genre: Historical adventure novel
Form: Prose novel in 33 chapters
Recommended: Grades 7–12

Background. Dumas wrote this short romance in 1850, setting it in the Dutch Republic during the crisis of 1672, when the statesmen John and Cornelius de Witt were murdered by a mob and William of Orange came to power.

Plot. Cornelius van Baerle, godson of Cornelius de Witt and a devoted tulip grower, is denounced by his envious neighbor Boxtel and imprisoned for life in Loewestein. The jailer's daughter Rosa helps him grow the black tulip for which Haarlem offers a hundred thousand guilders, and he teaches her to read. Boxtel steals the flower, but Rosa appeals to William of Orange, who restores it to its rightful grower; Cornelius is freed and marries Rosa.

Structure. A compact novel of 33 chapters, opening with a violent historical scene and narrowing to the prison cell and the garden.

Themes. Envy, patience, honest work, love that grows in hardship, the value of learning to read, and lawful justice set against mob violence. The de Witt brothers, William of Orange and the 1672 lynching at The Hague are historical, while van Baerle, Rosa, Boxtel and the Haarlem prize for a black tulip are fictional, so the opening chapters are a good place to separate record from romance.

Significance. One of Dumas's most accessible novels, often read by younger students and admired for its blend of history and romance. Unlike the musketeer cycles it stands entirely on its own, needing no earlier volume, which makes it a sensible first Dumas.

Main characters

Cornelius van Baerle: A gentle, wealthy tulip grower
Rosa: The jailer's daughter, brave and resourceful
Isaac Boxtel: A jealous rival tulip grower
Gryphus: Rosa's harsh father
William of Orange: The young stadtholder who judges the case
Cornelius de Witt: Statesman murdered by the mob

Summary

The Black Tulip is a short historical novel by Alexandre Dumas, published in 1850 and set in the Netherlands in 1672. It opens with a historical event, the murder of the statesman John de Witt and his brother Cornelius by a mob at The Hague, while the young William of Orange rises to power. Cornelius van Baerle, a wealthy and peaceful tulip grower of Dort and the godson of Cornelius de Witt, has been given a packet of papers by his godfather to keep, without knowing what it contains. His jealous neighbor Isaac Boxtel, also a tulip grower, has been spying on him and denounces him as a traitor. Van Baerle is condemned to death, but the sentence is changed to life imprisonment in the fortress of Loewestein. There he meets Rosa, the daughter of his harsh jailer Gryphus. Rosa cannot read, so Cornelius teaches her, and together they secretly cultivate the bulbs of a black tulip, a flower that the Horticultural Society of Haarlem has offered a hundred thousand guilders to whoever first grows. Boxtel follows the bulb, steals the flower, and claims the prize. Rosa travels to Haarlem and appeals to William of Orange, who uncovers the truth. The tulip is named for Rosa, Cornelius is freed, and the two marry. The book is a romance of patience, honesty and love that grows in confinement, and its picture of mob violence and political justice gives it depth. It is suitable for grades 7-12, though the opening scene of the de Witts' murder is violent and teachers may want to prepare younger readers. The novel also introduces students to the Dutch Republic of the seventeenth century, its prosperous merchant towns, its passion for rare flowers and its bitter political quarrels, and it makes a good first Dumas for readers not yet ready for the long musketeer novels. Discussion can return again and again to the contrast between Boxtel, who wants the tulip for money and fame, and Cornelius and Rosa, who love the flower itself and each other.

Virtues in this work

Hope: Cornelius keeps hope alive in prison, even when it costs him or her dearly.
Fortitude: Rosa braves her father and travels to Haarlem to seek justice.

Plot or Argument

The Hague, 1672
A mob murders John and Cornelius de Witt; Cornelius had left papers with his godson.
Dort
Van Baerle grows tulips while his neighbor Boxtel spies on him and denounces him.
Loewestein
Imprisoned, Cornelius meets Rosa, teaches her to read, and grows the black tulip with her help.
Haarlem
Boxtel steals the tulip; Rosa appeals to William of Orange, justice is done, and the lovers marry.

Characters

Cornelius van Baerle, protagonist
A gentle, wealthy tulip grower.
Rosa, heroine
The jailer's daughter, brave and resourceful.
Isaac Boxtel, antagonist
A jealous rival tulip grower.
Gryphus, jailer
Rosa's harsh father.
William of Orange, prince
The young stadtholder who judges the case.
Cornelius de Witt, godfather
Statesman murdered by the mob.

Lessons

Envy
Boxtel's envy of his neighbor leads to spying, false accusation and theft. Dumas shows envy destroying the envious man.
- What does Boxtel want?
- How does envy change him?
- What does the tenth commandment teach about coveting?
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Patience in prison
Cornelius, wrongly imprisoned, finds purpose in caring for the tulip and teaching Rosa.
- How does Cornelius bear his imprisonment?
- What does Rosa gain from learning to read?
- How can suffering be used for good?
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The mob and justice
The opening murder shows a crowd acting without law, while the ending shows a ruler judging fairly.
- Why does the mob kill the de Witts?
- How is William's judgment different?
- Why does justice need law?
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Context

The novel is set in 1672, the Dutch 'disaster year', when France invaded the Netherlands and the de Witt brothers were murdered at The Hague, and it draws on the Dutch tulip-growing tradition.

Composition

Dumas published La Tulipe noire in 1850; like many of his novels, it was written with the help of Auguste Maquet.

Reception

It has remained one of Dumas's most popular shorter novels and is often read by younger students.

Justice Law Love Desire Nature / Landscape Crime / Punishment Virtue Ethics

Comparisons

The Count of Monte Cristo
Both heroes are wrongly imprisoned through a rival's denunciation; compare Dantès's revenge with van Baerle's patience.
The Three Musketeers
Dumas's best-known adventure, written on a larger scale.

Quotes

“Rosa watched over her tulip as a mother over her child, or a dove over her eggs”

— Alexandre Dumas, The Black Tulip, Chapter 23, trans. Anonymous 19th-century translation.Quote card

Kidnapped, Lesson: Courage that grows
Courage that grows. David begins as a cautious young man who cries in the dark; in the round-house he fires into the attackers and later walks into Edinburgh to testify. Courage in the book grows by being exercised.
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Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed Pascal locates human dignity in thought: a vapour can kill a man, but he knows that he dies.
Fragments, DK 91 (Bywater 41)
You cannot step twice into the same rivers; for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you. The most famous image of flux, preserved by Plato and Plutarch in varying forms.
Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking, Lesson: Temperament shapes philosophy
Temperament shapes philosophy. Lecture I argues that philosophers are moved by temperament as much as by evidence, and that most people are a mixture of tender- and tough-minded. Knowing one's own temperament can make a thinker more honest about where his reasons come from. James does not say temperament settles what is true.
Uncle Vanya, Act I
Man is endowed with reason and the power to create, so that he may increase that which has been given him, but until now he has not created, but demolished. Astroff explains to Helena why he plants trees and grieves over the felling of the forests.

“Van Baerle was one of the tulip-growers who were struck with the idea; Boxtel thought of it in the light of a speculation”

— Alexandre Dumas, The Black Tulip, Chapter 6, trans. Anonymous 19th-century translation.Quote card

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For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

The mob at the Buytenhof.
Boxtel spying from his window.
Rosa's reading lessons.
The flowering of the tulip.
The scene at Haarlem.

Key terms and names

Stadtholder: The chief official of the Dutch Republic; William of Orange held the office.
Guilder: The Dutch unit of money.
Bulb: The underground bud from which a tulip grows.
Loewestein: The fortress where Cornelius is imprisoned.

Seminar Questions

Comprehension Why is Cornelius arrested?
Comprehension How does Rosa help him?
Comprehension How is Boxtel exposed?
Interpretation What does the black tulip mean to Cornelius and to Boxtel?
Interpretation Why does Dumas begin with the murder of the de Witts?
Big Question Is it better to suffer injustice patiently or to fight it?

Faith Connections

Exodus 20:17 (Scripture)
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house; Boxtel's envy breaks this commandment.
Romans 5:3-4 (Scripture)
Tribulation worketh patience; Cornelius grows in patience in prison.
Proverbs 14:30 (Scripture)
Envy is the rottenness of the bones; Boxtel is consumed by it.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Envy and mob passion produce injustice, but patience, honesty and lawful judgment set it right; therefore the patient and honest are vindicated in the end.

Rhetorical device: symbolism. The black tulip, grown in prison, stands for hope and love that flourish in hardship.

Debate: Resolved: that Rosa was right to defy her father.

Memory Work

Rosa watched over her tulip as a mother over her child, or a dove over her eggs
Chapter 23, trans. Anonymous 19th-century translation. A vivid image of Rosa's care for the flower.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Explain how the black tulip changes the lives of Cornelius, Rosa and Boxtel.

Comparison with The Count of Monte Cristo: Compare the wrongful imprisonment of van Baerle and of Edmond Dantès.

Creative Prompts

Classroom
Research the Dutch tulip trade and present what made rare tulips so valuable.
Essay
Compare Cornelius van Baerle and Isaac Boxtel as tulip growers and as men.
Dialogue
Write Rosa's speech to William of Orange.