Mangaka Riyoko Ikeda’s seminal creation, The Rose of Versailles, a historical romance set in the backdrop of the last decades of the French monarchy, will forever be regarded as a game-changer in the shoujo subgenre, especially even back in the 70s, how the series was able to break the shackles of gender conformity to address feminist perspective, freedom of choice through the ideals that inspired revolution. From having a longstanding cultural impact on generations of otakus to introducing one of the most remarkable female characters in manga literature, The Rose of Versailles has proved to be a timeless work of fiction that never undercuts the dread of reality. However, after going through Netflix’s latest anime movie adaptation of 14 volumes of the manga series, I think the most ardent fans will agree that the choice of medium was not suitable in the least. The narrative feels quite rushed, and characters, despite being interesting, don’t get the time to develop nearly enough to leave an emotional impact on the audience through their arc. The visuals are quite good, with the juxtaposition of the gorgeous affluence of royalties and the bleakness of the lives of common people being shown in stark contrast. The musical numbers are ambitiously animated, providing the dreamy romantic quality to the narrative, but all the major positives such as these get nullified by the overall narrative treatment.
Spoilers Ahead
Marie and Oscar: Freedom of Women in 18th Century French Aristocracy
The Rose of Versailles begins with a teenager, Mary Antoinette, arriving in France in 1770, whose fate as the French Dauphine has been decided by her mother, Austrian Queen Maria Theresa, and French King Louis XV, in order to strengthen the existing relation between two nations through royal union, especially in a time when Europe’s political scene is growing unstable. When Mary comes of age, she will be crowned as the Queen of France as the wife of Louis XVI. As her stagecoach moves through the roads of Paris amidst a cheering, celebrating crowd, Mary is instantly intrigued by the dainty yet commanding presence of Oscar Francois de Jarjayes, one of the French Royal Guards of her same age, and gets surprised to learn that she is, in fact, a girl.
Youngest daughter of Royal Commander General Augustin de Jarjayes, Oscar is raised like a man to fulfill her father’s expectation, as reflected through her gender non-conforming choice of attire, and became expert in every skill contemporary men take pride in learning. As a future royal commander, Oscar gets assigned the duty of protecting Mary—and as the years go by, the duo become good friends. Oscar’s childhood friend and confidante, Andre Grandier, is the grandson of her nanny, and despite him coming from a commoner background, Mary never let their friendship get maligned by social expectations.
Busy in royal duties and other related affairs, Louis XVI isn’t able to provide her time and attention to Mary, who, still in her youth, tries to find a sense of freedom by spending extravagantly, attending masques and balls with her aristocrat friends. Eventually, Mary gets acquainted with the charming Swedish Count, Hans Axel von Fersen, and both of them fall for each other. Their affair doesn’t go unnoticed by Oscar, who tries to convince Mary to keep up a good impression for the people in vain. The socioeconomical divide between aristocracy and the commoners is increasing day by day, and Oscar wishes Mary would become more mindful about it. Following the death of Louis XV, Mary and Louis XVI are crowned as Queen and King, and having barely passed their teenage years, neither of them is mature enough to shoulder such a huge responsibility. After remaining busy with his country’s affairs, Axel returns to France with the intention of finally distancing himself from Mary as he decides to choose a bride for himself—but both of them inevitably end up rekindling their romance once again. It doesn’t take long for gossip about their affair to spread in royal court, and this time Oscar takes a stern approach by confronting Mary about her infidelity, reminding her of her responsibility to maintain the reputation of royalty as the Queen. Mary, on the other hand, retorts by mentioning that she expected Oscar, of all people, to sympathize with her predicament, given that as a woman, she too is bearing burdens of responsibilities of others’ expectations without having a chance to even express what she truly wants. Mary’s reaction makes Oscar question her belief; truly, she has been totally oblivious to the fact that beyond her image of a queen, Mary as a person might have emotional needs and desires. This leads Oscar to finally realize that she has kept herself cloistered in expectations and responsibilities as well, never truly exploring her feminine side—which is why she tried her best to suppress the feelings she has for Axel von Fersen. While speaking with Axel, Oscar is taken aback by his love for Mary, as knowing their secret affair has no future, Axel pledges to never marry—a promise he kept till the end. Oscar, never having the opportunity to express her feelings, fantasizes about attending a ball with Axel after getting acquainted with her feminine self.
Growing Dissent in Public: Oscar’s Shifting Perspective
Around the same time, the ongoing war of independence in America resulted in French royalty emptying further their treasury, and as usual, the common people had to bear the brunt of a dwindling economy while the royalty remained totally negligent to the sordid plight of the masses. The anti-imperialist, equality-advocating ideologies preached by freethinkers start to fan the flames of public outcry against the royal families, and Mary, being the queen of foreign ancestry, becomes a soft target. On one occasion, Oscar bears witness to the growing disparity between classes as he intercepts a situation where a duke is seen trying to shoot a poor kid to death for stealing food. The angry mob gathered at the place and launched an attack on the present nobles, and as the crooked duke flees, the people decide to let out their frustration on Oscar and Andre instead. To save Oscar, Andre takes the assault by the mob on himself, and in the process, loses an eye. A news reporter, Bernard Chatelet, manages to control the mob by reminding them their goal to abolish feudalism and monarchy must not entail the propensity to violence. Oscar was already exposed to ideals of freedom, justice, and equality, and at present, Andre’s predicament makes her reassess her understanding of the existing system. Oscar decides to relinquish her duty as a royal guard to take up arms as a French guard instead—in order to be there for the common people, to help them in order to mitigate the rising tension, and by extension, protect royalty in the process. Position in the Royal Guard is often passed on through generations, which raises the question of their efficacy among the French Guard, which comprises mostly of commoners. Taking her new position as a French Guard Captain, Oscar faces a hurdle in the form of soldiers who refuse to obey nobility and have issues taking orders from a woman. Oscar proved her mettle by showing her fencing skills and defeating one of the swordsmen in the French Guard, thereby commanding the respect of the soldiers. In time, Oscar proves herself to be a protective, caring leader to her troop, commanding much admiration from her soldiers in the process.
In the meantime, Louis XVI learns about Mary’s infidelity through an anonymous letter, which even mentions that one of their children was actually fathered by Axel von Fersen. An apologetic Mary seeks forgiveness from her husband, mentioning that her affair with Axel never got to that stage to begin with. Louis XVI, who never really thought himself to be deserving of someone like Mary, acknowledges never being able to give her the love she so deserved. On the other hand, Oscar is surprised to see French Guard Commander Girodelle asking for her hand in marriage and starts contemplating a life she has thus far ignored. Andre, who loved and admired Oscar, fears losing her once and for all after learning about her prospect of marriage and tries to poison her—only to realize the gravity of his actions, change his decision, and become guilt-ridden in the process. Oscar finally becomes aware of Andre’s feelings towards her, and promptly refusing Girodelle’s proposal, she requests Andre to be by her side forever. However, Oscar doesn’t commit to any romantic feelings as she pledges to dedicate herself to the French Guard.
Why Did Oscar Choose To Join The French Revolution?
French royalty increases tax on commoners to deal with the collapsing economy and chooses to alienate delegates of commoners in the general assembly—drawing ire of the downtrodden in the process. The royalty brings in troops from all over the country to prepare for the escalation of growing unrest. Oscar, now completely sympathetic and supportive of the commoners’ plight, notices a tone of resentment in Mary’s words as she asks Oscar to quit French Guard and take back her position in Royal Guard to distance herself from the vulgar words of commoner delegates. Oscar respectfully declines her proposal, conveying her allegiance with the neglected, oppressed ones—and this turns out to be the last time Oscar and Mary meet. Till the end, Mary remained unaware of her privileges and completely out of touch with reality.
As an all-out revolution becomes inevitable, Oscar finally reciprocates Andre’s feelings for her, not knowing that he is gradually losing the sight of his remaining eye as well. The day when the revolutionaries stormed inside Tuileries Palace, marking the beginning of the violent conflict against monarchy, Oscar led her French Guard to protect commoners from the Royal Guard. It is not difficult to understand why Oscar, despite being a noble and a close friend to Queen Mary herself, doesn’t let her background and burden of social expectations define her. The ideals of the French Revolution resonated with Oscar’s search for identity and wish to obtain personal freedom. Also, the fact remains that due to her lover, Andre, belonging to a commoner background, she was able to show empathy for their righteous cause and realized the need for change. Oscar leads the French army from the front, and Andre sacrifices his life to save Oscar during the violent conflict. It doesn’t take long for Oscar to join her lover, as moments after witnessing the Fall of Versailles. While Oscar met an honorable end, Mary’s final moments were harrowing—as the world already knows what happened at the end of the French Revolution. With the abolition of monarchy, Mary and Louis XVI were executed in the guillotine, and Axel von Fersen met a brutal end at the hands of a mob in Sweden. However, Oscar’s dream of commoners attaining equality and peace remained a fantasy, as the Reign of Terror gave way to the uprising of a megalomaniac named Napoleon, rendering the republic ineffectual for quite a long while.
In the post-credits scene of The Rose of Versailles, a rose garden in Versailles comes into focus, with different shades and colors of rose shrubs expressing their individual brilliance, acting as a reminder of those who believed in freedom of expressing oneself and sacrificed their lives for the sake of it.
