Dec 12, 2020
“Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise” Victor Hugo wrote those words with the benefit of hindsight. Not only being fully aware of the events that transpired before and during the revolution but also of the horrors of the Napoleonic conquests, the Bourbon restoration, the failed student rebellion and the rise of the 2nd Empire to that point. I would like to think that he really meant it, in fact, I must believe it. Because 2 centuries later and the world suffers from similar issues. In a world in which Ayn Rand is considered a legitimate philosopher, the world’s disdain for
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poor people has clearly not wavered. I needed this introduction to illustrate that the topic of the French revolution holds a permanent space in my brain as well as my heart. How did the show do with said topic? Well, let’s find out, shall we?
From a writing perspective, it did such a great job of illustrating that some of these people are victims of circumstance to an extent. Like obviously it’s not completely grey because the peasantry are starving while Marie Antoinette is walking around with boat hair but when it’s the only life you know it’s kind of hard to care about things you're somewhat purposefully kept ignorant of. Monarchy is built to support and perpetuate itself. But I digress, my point is that it does its job of making me sympathise with Marie Antoinette despite my disdain for inheritance-based positions of wealth and power and not just her there is the humanization of characters like Jeanne Valois despite the fact that she’s portrayed as a villain. The show, however, can be somewhat inconsistent in this regard as it does need villains and nuance is hard. Why is this important you ask? Portrayals of certain people as carton villains just detract from the overall story. Like if you paint certain nobles as the "bad ones" Instead of actors in a system that exploits others. Some of which may or may not be abusing their power and doing extra harm it just sends the wrong message. Plus, since the anime seems to be able to balance and show that reality for long stretches of times it just feels jarring and inconsistent when it abandons that approach. Though maybe that problem is more in my head than on the screen. Completely self-serving people do exist though it certainly doesn’t make for very compelling writing.
I do feel like I might be getting ahead of myself though. After all the anime starts at the birth of our main character Oscar François de Jarjayes, what despite the male name and the performative genderism Oscar does, in fact, largely identify as a woman, now the intricacies of what the flip-flops of that mean are frankly beyond the scope of review but it is something the anime harks on a lot so it deserves a mention not to mention something I found rather interesting. I’ll be honest it took me a while to warm up to the main cast, Oscar and André, the other character we’re almost immediately introduced to (servant/stable boy for the Jarjayes) both have their moments that bred nothing but contempt from me. From improperly thought out decisions to downright heinous actions (I am looking at you André), which would be fine after all these moments make the bittersweet redemption that much more tragic and satisfying. The problem comes that they seem to coincide with these weird periods of lulls in the story because those moments tend to revolve around them as characters, but they are the main characters, I hear you say, and yes that is indeed true, however, the overall story of the French revolution is so intrinsically powerful that it does overpower that character status. That said, one is bound to experience some sort of catharsis when you see the characters dawn the same foresight into the situation you already knew all along. Oscar throughout the course of the show grew from a character I mildly disliked to one of my favourite ever written.
In fact, it is quite funny that what started off as annoyance became my reprieve from the misery that is 18th century France. Oscar and André play perfectly into the themes of love that is not meant to be, quite like say the Queen and Fersen another real-life figure, one the show also paints as a victim of circumstance. Speaking of the Queen, Marie Antoinette, in real life known as ‘Madame Déficit’ is another character whose portrayal I praised. I was averse to her based on real-life lore but it's hard not to have sympathy for the young Dauphine. Daughter of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, Antoinette was used as a bargaining chip to broker peace between the Kingdom of France and the HRE. Women, even those in power lacked the same amount of autonomy as men do, and while Marie was groomed and indoctrinated into the system we do see other nobles, Oscar included realise the inherent injustice of the system that keeps them at the top. While, post King Louis' ascension to the throne one can see Antoinette’s desire to maintain the status quo, arming the French army against their very own people, dismissing reform from the inside, and the dismissal of Necker both in the show and in real life was seen as the King being done negotiating. The proceeding riots and the storming of the Bastille, is one of in this humble reviewer’s opinion, crowning achievements of humanity. It was a fitting end to the story. The show currently pointed out how it stands out and there is a reason why France celebrates July 14 every year as Bastille Day.
Ultimately ‘The Rose of Versailles' is about love. Unrequited love, impossible love, parental love, queer love, sibling love, love of friendship and finally the love for your nation. Nowadays nationalism is closely tied to Authoritarianism and policies of racial supremacy but it's prudent not to overlook that nationalism is essentially what gave way to national identities being French is what led to the French revolution. It was not a feeling of superiority. It was a desire for egalitarianism and equality, the nationalism that led to the revolution was not a love for the flag or the landmass. It was a love largely combining all the previous types of love, it was a love for your fellow man. It was a desire to stop the suffering, not for your own sake, but for the sake of everyone around you. Was it a flawed and perhaps even corrupted love? Sure, but as the anime shows many times that’s all types of love, yet we cannot give up love despite it all, as the anime itself will remind you at the end of every episode “If to love is to suffer, I shall suffer any amount.” But like Hugo said "to love another person is to see the face of god"
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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