AN HISTORICAL COMMENTARY OF EDMOND 
 ROSTANDS L’AIGLON 
 
 BY 
 
 RUTH LORENA LEWMAN 
 A. B. James Millikin University, 1915 
 
 THESIS 
 
 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the 
 
 Degree of 
 
 MASTER OF ARTS 
 IN ROMANCE LANGUAGES 
 
 IN 
 
 THE GRADUATE SCHOOL 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 1921 
 

 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 THE GRADUATE SCHOOL 
 
 J HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY 
 
 SUPERVISION BY R uth Lorena Lewma n 
 
 ENTITLED An Historical Commentary of .Edmond Rostand's 
 
 L’A-iglon 
 
 BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR 
 THE DEGREE OF Mas ter of Arts _____ 
 
 Recommendation concurred in* 
 
 
 Committee 
 
 on 
 
 Final Examination* 
 
 ^Required for doctor’s degree but not for master’s 
 

 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/historicalcommenOOIewm 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 I. Rostand and the Drama 1 
 
 II* Historical Background of 1 'Aiglon 9 
 
 III. The Duke of Reichstadt in History 16 
 
 IV. The Duke of Reichstadt in Rostand's Drama 29 
 
 V. Metternich 48 
 
 VI. Historical Hotes 53 
 
 Bibliography . 6g 
 

 
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I. ROSTaND and the drama. 
 
 Edmond Rostand, poet and dramatist, was born at Mar- 
 seilles on ixpril 1, 1868. His father was a man of wealth and cul- 
 ture, and a classical scholar. Edmond went to school in Marseilles 
 and later in Paris where he studied law. although he received the 
 degree of licencid , his main efforts were directed to literature. 
 Very early he showed a taste for poetry and in 1890 brought out 
 ■ lQS Musardises . That same year he published a little comedy, les 
 Pierrots . Subsequently appeared les Romanesques (1894), la 
 Princesse Lointaine (1895 ) , la Samaritaine (1897 ) , Cyrano de Ber- 
 gerac (1897), I’aiglon (1900), and Chantecler (1910). after I’^ig - 
 on account of his poor health, he built a home in the Pyrenees 
 where he lived most of the time until his death, December 2, 1918. 
 In 1890 he married Rosemonde Gerard, who was also a poet. In 1901 
 he was elected to the French academy, and in 1911 he became com- 
 mander of the Legion of Honor. 
 
 ”Les Musardises are the poems of a young man expressing 
 his feeling for the need of spiritual and emotional freedom. He 
 delighted in light and air, color and contour. He reveled in the 
 rapid alternation of feelings involved in the change of mood and 
 the mingling of the sentimental and the witty: 
 
 1 Je vais jouant du triste et du gai tout ensemble... 
 
 Mais toujour s ce pendant qu’il [his heart] fait sa plainte 
 
 sourde , 
 
 Sifflote mon esprit, ce galoubet moqueurl’ 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
More than all he showed how he prized the power of the spirit and 
 the heart to protect him against material realities and the mockery 
 of disillusion: 
 
 'Ce qu'il faut pouvoir, ce qu'il faut savoir, 
 
 C'est garder son r§ve... 
 
 C'est d'avoir des yeux qui voyant le laid, 
 
 Voient le beau quand meme; 
 
 C'est savoir rester, parmi ce qu’on hait 
 Aveo ce qu'on aime.' 
 
 While developing them further, Rostand always remained true to 
 these early characteristics. In his later work we find an imagina- 
 tion kindled by the senses, and sometimes even serving to stimulate 
 as*" 
 
 thenr,a need of emotion both gay and sa*d, and the unfailing con- 
 viction that living is made worth while only by man's disinterested 
 devotion to his dreams." We find his more important dramas work- 
 ing out this early ideal. Garder son reve , voir le beau quand 
 m Q me are the purpose and achievement of his heroes. 
 
 His whole idea as a writer was absolutely irreconcilable 
 to the prevailing love of blague in France, which was insupportable 
 to him. He was disgusted with the cynicism, sensuality, and mock- 
 ery that seemed the only representation of French literature. The 
 determinism and naturalism of Sardou, Augier, and Dumas fils were 
 alike distasteful to this immaterial singer of dreams quand m§me. 
 
 He was more advanced than the old in drama, more conservative than 
 
 1 
 
 Spiers, a. G. H. , in the Introduction of his edition of 
 Cyrano de Bergerac , pp. x-xi. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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 the new, and belonged to no particular achool. Respite the pre- 
 vailing materialism, there was a current in music, painting, 
 philosophy, and literature which had already started to make a 
 closer contact between the soul and the exterior world on the one 
 hand and imagination on the other; and to make an appeal to the 
 emotions and the feelings rather than to the mind. It is evident 
 that Rostand belongs to this current, both by his protest against 
 materialism and disillusionment, and by his praise and observance 
 of the lyric life. 
 
 There was harmony between this protest and praise, and 
 the manner in which Rostand composed his dramas. His intentions 
 and aspirations gave birth to a new technic. Ho dramatist of 
 Rostand's ability and popularity has succeeded in producing plays 
 composed so exclusively of lyric idealism. In his Discours on the 
 needs of the modern stage he said, "II feut un thdatre ou, exaltant 
 avec du lyrisme, moralisant avec de la beautd , consolant avec de 
 la grace, les poetes, sans le faire expr&s, donnent des lepons 
 d'ame." There is a definite philosophy, a certain principle of 
 human action, underlying all his work. He has endowed his main 
 characters with definite traits, yet he doesn't believe he can de- 
 termine exactly the eifect of the contact of these characters. 
 
 He believes in the power of suggestion, especially of contagion. 
 "All his typical heroes are exuberant, borne along by the urge of 
 an inner pressure to glorify material aspirations. They do not 
 argue, they do not prove, they have no tangible well defined action 
 upon... the character acting opposite them, yet their influence on 
 those about them is great , and in each play there appears by the 
 
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 side of the hero another personage ... turned away from a conven- 
 tionally material or frivolous conception of life by association 
 
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 with this hero and the human appeal of his enthusiasm." Even in 
 failure, his heroes are optimistic, triumphant. They live as 
 ideals, for Rostand has made his work an appeal to our mind, feeling, 
 and imagination. He has transfigured reality. His dominating 
 power is his imagination, the imagination of interpreting things, 
 not of inventing them. He has made his heroes radiant with an 
 ideal life; he has endowed them with a keenness of thought, a nobil- 
 ity of feeling, a beauty of action which we all experience in our- 
 selves in our best moments. 
 
 Eor Rostand, life is a reflection of the soul and he 
 makes the soul the heroine of his theater. His works have a sub- 
 lime, emotional, thrilling, transporting power. Eor indeed his 
 world is transported to a spiritual plane. There is something al- 
 most holy in the way Rudel, Cyrano, Chantecler, and the due de 
 Reichstadt transcend the material with their infectious idealism. 
 These personages give courage to meet life with exaltation of soul. 
 Their spirit has dominated the misery of life and adorned it with 
 the magic of their ideal. ^.11 material grosaness, physical or 
 moral ugliness, all the evil one does or experiences disappears in 
 the land of story, in these dream characters, in the brilliant 
 thoughts of these great spirits. At bottom, we find in his work 
 the cult of wise gayety, of courageous effort, of enthusiastic 
 
 1 
 
 Spiers, a. G. H. , in the Introduction of his edition of 
 Cyrano de Bergerac , pp. xvii-xviii. 
 
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 faith, of idealistic love, and of heroic sacrifice. Opposed to 
 these noble conditions of the soul is the opposite condition. 
 
 There is always this contrast of the ideal and the material, with 
 the triumph of the ideal. That is the Chanson de Rostand . Rostand 
 teaches the soul without seeming to do so as a dogmatic dictator. 
 
 In his masterpieces he spoke directly to the conscience, the spirit, 
 and the religious life of man. There was universal acclaim of his 
 work, which only proved that under all the materialism and self- 
 ishness and baseness of the human race, there is a Soul. The 
 world over, his dramas have awakened in theater-goers a sympathy 
 for that which is altruistic and idealistic, and a dislike for the 
 selfish and the material. 
 
 Garder son rgve , voir le beau quand meme . This is as 
 true of lea Romanesques as of l'^iglon , of la Princesse Lointaine , 
 as of Chantecler or Cyrano . Percinet and Sylvette continue to 
 love each other with all the romance of their adventurous court- 
 ship , even after they have learned that their adventures were 
 planned by their shrewd fathers, who hoped by this means to bring 
 them together; they will keep their dreams, quand meme . Similarly 
 Chantecler insists quand m§me on believing to the end in the use- 
 fulness Ox his mission, .although he is disillusioned when he 
 
 1 
 
 _ _ Literary criticism is not all enthusiastic about Rostand. 
 
 Emile Paguet was bored with much of 1 1 Aiglon . Although he could 
 see its good points, he objected to the long speeches, the repeti- 
 tion of ioeas, and the lack of development in the characters; see 
 his Propos de Thdatre , vol. 4, pp. 354-360. Haraszti also gave 
 _some_ unfavorable criticism; for that on l'Aiglon in oarticulsr. see 
 his Edmond Rostand , pp. 148-192. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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learns his Growing cannot wake the dawn, he takes heart in the fact 
 
 that at least he can rouse mankind to greet the sun. Underlying 
 the whole allegory of Chantecler is the call to faith and enthusiasm,: 
 the indomitable courage of the worker, the glory of singing, and 
 the aspiration that makes it glorious, together with the everlasting 
 triumph of idealism over disillusion. Chantecler is the intense 
 idealist whose mission is light and truth. His soul is aglow with 
 deep human sympathies and his great purpose is to dispel the night. 
 
 He learns the greatest of all truths, that "it is the struggle for, 
 
 rather than the attainment of the ideal which must forever inspire 
 
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 the honest idealist." He learns too, that 
 
 "II faut un rossignol tou jours dans la foret, 
 
 Et dans l'£rae une foi si bien habitude, 
 
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 Qu’elle y revienne encore apr&s qu’on l'a tude." 
 
 La Princesse Lointaine is the story of Rudel, an ultra-romantic 
 idealist, who turns his heart to the far-away princess to escape 
 from a world which he finds impossible to love. He lives his life 
 in quest of this ideal, ever faithful to the ideal of the princess 
 
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 whom he does not see until just before he dies. In contrast to his 
 intense idealism is opposed the materialism of Squareiafioo and 
 Erasme. The story is symbolic of the "eternal aspiration of man- 
 kind toward the ideal; he loves it on the strength of what he 
 
 1 
 
 Goldman, The Social Significance of the Modern Drama , 
 
 p. 142. 
 
 2 
 
 Chantecler , act IV., Sc. 7; Cf. Suberville, le Thdatre 
 d ’Edmond Rostand , p. 75. 
 
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 imagines it to be, he risks all he possesses to attain it, but his 
 strength fails as he nears the goal, and at the very moment he is 
 about to reach it, death lays him low. Happy, nevertheless, he who, 
 like Rudel, sees his dreams realized for one instant, even though 
 
 it be the last, and who dies carrying away on his lips the kiss for 
 
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 which he has given his life.’* In Cyrano de Bergerac he has created 
 a character which, although chosen from history, has become an ideal. 
 His soul is hidden behind a grotesque physical exterior. He loves, 
 but is ugly and suffers because his desires can never be realized. 
 There is the conflict between the soul and the physical. Cyrano is 
 successful, even in his failure, for Roxane realizes it is the soul 
 of Cyrano , not of Christian, which she loves. Cyrano is love and 
 chivalry, poetry, mirth, and courage; he is also poverty, want, 
 abandonment, and worldly failure. This hero of dreams and immater- 
 ial aspirations becomes a man after our own hearts; and ’’there lin- 
 gers with us a sufficient glimmer of his vision to shed, temporarily 
 
 at least, a new light upon life and change our sense of the relative 
 
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 values of our own skepticism and Rostand's idealism." 
 
 In I 'iiiglon , too, Rostand has presented us with a char- 
 acter dominated with a passion he cannot realize. The due de Reich- 
 stadt is an. idealist of the first order struggling against a destiny 
 
 1 
 
 Quoted from Gaston Paris by Borgerhoff, in the Intro- 
 duction of his edition of la Pr incesse Lointa ine , pp. vi-vii. 
 
 2 
 
 Spiers, a. G. H., in Introduction of his edition of 
 Cyrano , p. xxv. 
 
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 he oannot conquer* Metternich represents the opposing force, the 
 physical. It is he who constantly forces the duke to think of his 
 Austrian heritage of weakness, he who makes the Austrian environment 
 so difficult for the prince. The soul of the duke triumphs even 
 in the face of the defeat of his ambitions. He will die in expia- 
 tion of the losses made for his father's success since he cannot 
 
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 live to regain his father's power. 
 
 Cf. chapter IV of this study for further discussion. 
 

 
 
 
 
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II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF L'aIGLON. 
 
 The familiar and ever interesting story of Napoleon's 
 regime with its roots in the French Revolution, and of the later 
 reactionary program of Metternich in Austria as the practical dic- 
 tator in Europe, makes the historical background of Rostand's 
 drama l'Aiglon. The hero is Napoleon's son. the Duke of Reich- 
 stadt, whom history curtly mentions as a "young prince, half-Habs- 
 
 burg and half-Bonaparte, who was destined to drag out a weary and 
 
 1 
 
 futile existence among enemies and spies." Napoleon, the obscure 
 Corsican with his peculiar genius and power had come into France 
 at an opportune time and had taken the lead in perpetuating the re- 
 forms of the French Revolution. The old regime of absolutism and 
 social injustice, poverty and suffering of the masses had been shat- 
 tered. The Republic had been declared in 1792. France was then 
 for a time in anarchy. The European powers, afraid, had joined in 
 coalition against her. Republican efficiency had dispelled the 
 trouble, and, in order to silence the enemies of the republic, had 
 brought on the Reign of Terror in 1794. In 1795 the first Republican 
 Constitution had been drawn up and the executive power vested in a 
 board of five directors which lasted until 1799. 
 
 In 1796 Napoleon, until this time not conspicuous in 
 politics or in war, married Josephine de Beauharnais, the widow of 
 a revolutionary general and an intimate friend of one of the Direc- 
 
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 Hayes, vol. 1, p. 555. 
 

 
 
 
 
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 tors. This marriage ”betuered his chanties of indulging his fond- 
 
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 ness for politics and his genius for war.” In 1796 and 1797 
 Napoleon's successful campaign into Italy made him suddenly the 
 most talked of man in Europe; applauded by the people, feared by the 
 government. As respect for the Directors decreased, trust in Na- 
 poleon's strength increased. The Directoire planned the Egyptian 
 Campaign in 1798, which sent Napoleon to Egypt, although this cam- 
 paign was not deoisive, it was spectacular, and he gained immensely 
 in personal reputation. During this time a second coalition against 
 Prance had been made, and the French were hard pressed. On his 
 return France was no longer prosperous and victorious, but bankrupt 
 and defeated. His trip to Paris was a triumphal procession and it 
 was only a step to the overthrow of the Directory, the establish- 
 ment of the Consulate, and his election as First Consul in 1799, 
 which virtually ended the war and supplanted democracy with mili- 
 tarism. 
 
 Certain characteristic qualities of the young general, 
 
 as well as the opportunity offered at that time in French politics, 
 
 were responsible for his remarkable success. "His supreme quality, 
 
 the quality which endeared him to the French masses as did no other 
 
 quality, was that of untiring industry; laborious, self-initiated, 
 
 £ 
 
 self-guided, self-improving industry.” He was thoroughly con- 
 
 1 
 
 Hayes, vol. 1, p. 514. 
 
 E 
 
 Sloane , W. M. , ”The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte , ”vol. 4, 
 
 p. £47. 
 

 
 
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 vino ed of his own abilities, ambitious, selfish, egotistic, always 
 planning how he might become world-famous. He was a keen observer 
 and a clever critic. He was a politician to the extent of being 
 unscrupulous. But he was human, a man of the people, and made him- 
 self the idol of his soldiers. 
 
 From 1799 to 1814 the history of Europe was the history 
 of France, the biography of Napoleon Bonaparte. From 1799 to 1804 
 the country remained a republic, during which time Napoleon consoli- 
 dated his power and fashioned the nature of the lasting gains of 
 the Revolution. "He took the revolutionary ideas of political, 
 civil, and religious emancipation: with these he commingled both his 
 own sound sense and the experience of advisers from every class, 
 
 realizing as much of civil liberty and good order as appears to have 
 
 1 
 
 been practical at the moment." From 1804 to 1814 France was an 
 empire, maintained by military force, during which period Napoleon, 
 self-crowned Napoleon I, emperor of the French, by means of war, 
 conquest, annexation, or alliance spread the ideas of his country 
 far and wide. 
 
 He reached the pinnacle of his fame in 1808, and was 
 emperor of an enormous territory with practically all of Europe at 
 his feet. A third coalition begun in 1805 had not been able to 
 overthrow him. Although Great Britain remained mistress of the sea, 
 she lost on land. In 1805 Napoleon's army administered an over- 
 whelming and humiliating defeat to austria at Austerlitz. In 1806 
 
 1 
 
 Sloane, vol. 4, p. 260. 
 

 
 
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 they defeated Prussia at Jena, in 1807 Russia at Priedland, and in 
 1808 they defeated Sweden. Prom then on, his power began to show 
 signs of waning. He met his first serious opposition in Spain when 
 the people resisted and precipitated the Peninsular war which 
 lasted until 1813. Austria took heart from this and rebelled, only 
 to suffer another humiliating defeat at Wagram in 1809. This was 
 a hard-fought, bloody battle, which, though not a rout like 
 Austerlitz, was sufficiently decisive for Austria to accept an 
 armistice and sign a treaty, by the terms of which she lost heavily 
 in territory and in money. Shortly afterward, Napoleon secured 
 a divorce from Josephine and arranged a marriage with Marie Louise, 
 the daughter of Emperor Prancis I of Austria. The first marriage 
 would have been completely happy had there been an heir. It was 
 frankly to secure an heir that Napol9on married Marie Louise in 
 1810. He hoped also that this alliance would conciliate Austria, 
 but though outwardly friendly, Austria remained hostile at heart. 
 When at last a son was born, all of Prance rejoiced. The father's 
 joy and pride were unbounded. The child received the proud appel- 
 lation of King of Rome. 
 
 Meanwhile the reaction against Napoleon increased. In 
 1812 relations with Russia were broken, and Napoleon suffered a 
 terrible reverse that w T inter in his retreat after having occupied 
 Moscow, jx final coalition which included Austria precipitated the 
 crucial Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813, vrhich marked the 
 collapse of Napoleon's power outside of Prance. Not content with 
 
 peace ,_ but_ seeking_ a decisive victory, Napoleon pressed on only 
 
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 Marie Louise (1791-1847). 
 
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 to be finally defeated, when the Austrians invaded France in 1814. j 
 It was only after much stubborn fighting that Napoleon finally sur- 
 rendered. At Paris he signed a personal treaty by which he abdi- 
 cated his throne and renounced all rights to France for himself and 
 his family, and, in return, was guaranteed full sovereignty of the 
 island of Elba, and an annual pension of two million francs for 
 himself; the Italian duchy of Parma was conferred upon the Empress 
 Marie Louise and pensions of two and one half million francs were 
 promised for members of his family. The Bourbons were then restored 
 in France with Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI, as Xing. 
 
 At Elba, Napoleon, although supreme ruler, felt practically 
 an outcast; letters to his wife and son were intercepted, and his 
 revenue held back. Filled with these grievances, and aware that 
 France was discontented with the Bourbons and that the nations were 
 quarreling among themselves, Napoleon planned his escape. On March 
 1, 1815 he landed at Cannes with an army of eleven hundred men. 
 
 From there he set out for the North, and was joined on the way by 
 hundreds of the peasantry. By the time he reached Grenoble he was 
 received with great enthusiasm by everyone, even the soldiers of 
 
 I 
 
 the Xing. From there to Paris, his way was easy. The people 
 thronged to his side; for them he was the apostle of nationality J 
 
 and popular sovereignty over France. The Xing's forces deserted J 
 
 him, and he fled the country. Napoleon immediately turned to the 
 business of internal affairs, but was interrupted by the specter of 
 foreign war. The European dynasties forgot their differences and 
 joined to extirpate the Napoleonic rdgime as a measure of self- 
 
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 defense. They rushed troops against the French, and on June 18, 
 
 1815 at Waterloo, Napoleon was defeated. His reign of a Hundred 
 
 Days was ended a few days later, when on June ZZ he abdicated in 
 
 favor of his son, whom he proclaimed Emperor of the French with 
 
 the title of Napoleon II. On July 15 he surrendered himself to the 
 
 English, who sent him, a prisoner, into exile on the island of 
 
 Saint Helena, where he died on May 5, 1831. already at the time of 
 
 his death his history had begun to assume the form of a legend. 
 
 ’’The more his memory was revered as the noble martyr of Saint Helena, 
 
 the more truth withdrew into the background, and fiction stepped into 
 
 the limelight. His holocausts of human life were forgotten, only 
 
 the glory, the unconquerable prowess of his arms was remembered. 
 
 From a selfish despot Napoleon was returning to his mightier, if 
 
 1 
 
 humbler position, as a child of the people.” 
 
 The era from 1815 to 1830 in Europe is known as the era 
 Z 
 
 of Metternich. This statesman was of a distinguished family and 
 had risen rapidly to a position of great political importance, not 
 only in Austria where he was prime minister with free sway under 
 Francis I, but in all of Europe, where thanks to his well-planned 
 and careful diplomacy, he became practical arbiter after Napoleon's 
 withdrawal. In 1814-5 he had dominated the Congress of Vienna 
 which had assembled to settle territorial problems. The Quadruple 
 alliance of 1815 organized to preserve peace and order had been 
 wholly under his dictation. From the first he had disliked the 
 
 1 
 
 Hayes, p. 573. 
 
 a 
 
 Metternich (1773-1859). 
 
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 French Revolution and hated Napoleon. His whole influence was 
 consequently lent to the conservative and reactionary side in an 
 effort to stem the ideas of the Revolution and perpetuate the old 
 rdgime . 
 
 In France the Bourbon king, Louis XVIII, sat on a rather 
 insecure throne between two antagonistic parties, the Royalists 
 and the Liberals, .at his death in 1824 after a reign of modera- 
 tion, the ultra-Royalis ts , who had been gradually increasing in 
 power, became dominant with a decidedly reactionary program when 
 Charles X, brother of Louis XVIII, became king. The reactionary 
 rule of the new king soon became exceedingly unpopular. Men of 
 business, Napoleonic veterans, and Liberal idealists arrayed them- 
 selves against his rdgime. Incensed, Charles issued the July or- 
 dinances which brought on the July Revolution of 1830 and caused 
 his abdication in favor of his grandson. This ended divine-right 
 monarchy in France. Republican and Liberal bourgeoisie were about 
 to have an armed conflict when Louis-Philippe was acclaimed king. 
 This reign is known as the Orleans monarchy, .although he belonged 
 to a collateral branch of the Bourbons, he did not share their 
 political principles. The tricolor replaced the white flag, and 
 popular sovereignty the theory of monarchical absolutism. 
 

 
 
 
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III. the DUKE OF REICHSTADT IK HISTORY. 
 
 H 
 
 Let us now turn to the personal history of the little 
 King of Rome, for whom such a glorious future had been planned, hut 
 
 who was destined to play such a negligible part in the affairs of 
 
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 the world. 
 
 When Napoleon had been sentenced to Elba, Emperor Francis 
 had asked that Marie Louise and her son be brought to Austria, ac- 
 cordingly they went to Schoenbrunm, where they lived as members of 
 the Imperial household of Francis I. Marie Louise's position was 
 a very difficult one. She had been the victim of the political am- 
 bitions of two ruthless emperors; she had been sacrificed by the 
 one to favor his country, bought by the other to bear him a son, 
 and incidentally, ally him with Austria. At first she was accused 
 of planning secretly with her husband. Political intrigue strove 
 at estranging her from Napoleon, and succeeded. She was, in her 
 father’s eyes, and in the eyes of Metternich, not an Austrian Arch- 
 
 1 
 
 The material for this history of the duke is taken from 
 Wertheimer, The Duke of Reichstadt. The table of contents is as 
 follows: 
 
 I. Napoleon's Second Marriage 
 
 II. Birth of King of Rome 
 
 III. Dow/nfall of the Empire 
 
 IV. Prince of Parma 
 
 V. Attempted Abduction of Prince 
 
 VI. Napoleon II 
 
 VII. The Duke of Reichstadt 
 
 VIII. The Duke of Reichstadt 's Education 
 
 IK. The Political Situation of The Duke of Reichstadt 
 K. Illness and Death 
 KI. Characteristics 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 duchess, daughter of Emperor Francis, but the wife of Napoleon, who, 
 though in exile, was most dangerous to the welfare of all of Europe. 
 Count Neipperg, appointed especially to watch her correspondence and 
 see that she did the will of Metternich and Francis, soon won her 
 favor and entirely supplanted her husband, ia.ll means were used to 
 foster their intimate relationship in order to make it impossible 
 for her to act without his entire sanction, which would always ac- 
 cord with the views of her father. Later, she was secretly mar- 
 ried to Neipperg and lived afterwards in Parma, most of the time 
 separated from her son. 
 
 Her interests were like a ball, tossed about at the will 
 of the allies. Intrigue after intrigue endangered her property. 
 
 She put herself and her child wholly into the hands of her father, 
 trusting him entirely . But Metternich was absolutely unscrupulous 
 concerning Marie Louise’s interests. All of his political moves 
 in the socalled interests of the peace of Europe were made at no 
 matter what cost to the interests of Marie Louise and her son. She 
 was gradually deprived of everything that would remind her of her 
 former position, of everything French, even of her title. Finally 
 she was bluntly told that her son could not succeed her to the Duchy 
 of Parma. She was too completely dominated to rebel, and acceded, 
 sacrificing her son's interest out of filial duty; for to her, the 
 universal good ranked higher than private interest. 
 
 Austria, step by step, divested the child of his title, 
 striving to reduce him to the rank of any private citizen without 
 political importance. However, Marie Louise did insist upon assur- 
 ing her son's future position as a rich private gentleman. In 1818 
 

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 she succeeded, and a decree was passed declaring him to be the Duke 
 of Reichstadt, and insuring him considerable property and a good 
 income. The severest measures were taken to separate him from all 
 of the Napoleonists and their followers. 
 
 Some of the enemies of the Napoleonic dynasty wanted the 
 young prince's political identity eradicated. There were sugges- 
 tions made that he should be forbidden marriage, or that he should 
 be consecrated to the Church. Austria was fair, however, in the 
 education provided for the young prince. Although she robbed him 
 of his heritage and made him, who should have been brought up a 
 Frenchman, into an unwilling Austrian, she did it in all sympathy 
 and kindness. Every effort was made to serve the best interests 
 of Europe and Austria, and at the same time make of the young 
 prince a respectable, well-trained, capable man who could be happy 
 as a private citizen. 
 
 The little Napoleon was a beautiful and attractive child 
 of exceptional precocity. He was very impressionable, and had an 
 especially retentive memory and a vivid imagination, characteristics, 
 perhaps, which had much to do with his future unhappiness. Though 
 the child was only five when the last French influences were re- 
 moved, his mind was full of the stories that had been told him of 
 the glories of his father’s court, .at this time, three tutors 
 were chosen to guide the boy’s education; Count Maurice Dietrich- 
 stein, a military man whose parents belonged to the narrow social 
 circle of the court; Foresti, a man of firm character; and Collins, 
 who was endowed with a special capacity to approach a child's 
 understanding. 
 

 
 
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- 19 - 
 
 Dietrichstein set himself the task of obliterating all 
 impressions the prince might have of his former existence, that he 
 might not carry with him an exaggerated idea of the virtues of a 
 nation to which he could no longer belong. It was desired to de- 
 stroy early in life any illusions he might have acquired about his 
 political future, hie trichstein endeavored to do this as kindly 
 and carefully as possible, but the task proved to be quite diffi- 
 cult, for the prince had remembered too much. His mind had been 
 filled by his nurse and attendants with stories of his father's 
 glory. He was not naturally disposed to candor, and under this new 
 influence he grew very distrustful, shy and reserved. The con- 
 sciousness which he retained of lost glory and of misfortune 
 robbed him of the ease and careless happiness which should belong to 
 the life of a child. He grew to look upon one not French as an 
 anemy. Every effort was made, however, to save him from being an 
 unhappy alien in the country where he henceforth had to live. 
 Dietrichstein wished him to assimilate, untrammelled by past in- 
 fluences, the education which seemed oest fitted to give him hap- 
 piness in the future. 
 
 It is impossible to dispute the excellence of the educa- 
 ;ion given to the young Uapoleon, nor the fact that it was cal- 
 culated to make him a capable man. Ho methods were neglected to 
 levelop his great gifts, with the avowed intention that they should 
 >e devoted to the service of his new fatherland. The prince was 
 . rather difficult pupil to deal with. He was often refractory, 
 •bstinate, unruly, not a diligent student, and abhorring all com- 
 'Ulsion and restriction. His mind was as mature as that of a child 
 

 
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- 20 - 
 
 twice his age, and although he disliked lessons, he displayed a 
 keen interest in everything read to him, and developed rapidly. 
 
 One difficulty at first was that he was forced to learn in German. 
 However, so well did he do it, even though unwillingly, that later 
 he had to take pains to bring back his French. 
 
 His tutors had sought to avoid over pressure, but they had 
 tried to lead the prince to treat his work seriously. He was made 
 ready for the Gymnasium and passed the examinations for entrance 
 when he was ten years old. It was the year in which his father 
 died, and he was much saddened. In 1824 Collins died and was re- 
 placed by Obenaus, a man of considerable learning, who, with a 
 whole-hearted devotion, gave himself up to his difficult task, the 
 chief aim of which was to give his pupil the mental and spiritual 
 direction which corresponded best with his birth and prematurely 
 developed talents. He really endeavored to make a capable man of 
 the prince. Out of lesson hours he tried to influence the develop- 
 ment of his pupil to good purpose. The duke’s imagination, which 
 was continually at work, drew his mind away from actuality to far- 
 away regions from which he could extricate himself only by a great 
 effort, already he dreamed of the great deeds which he would some 
 day accomplish; and to him, enthusiast that he was, regular and 
 quiet study, with its constraints, was pain and torment. However, 
 he listened with great interest to the lectures of Obenaus upon 
 history, statistics, and the like. 
 
 In 1829 the period of his father's history was to be given. 
 The history professor made great preparations for this critical 
 

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 task. Without passion, but with weight and dignity, Obenaus wished 
 to relate to the prinoe all the events which interested him so 
 greatly, and touched him so closely, and to dampen his ardor with 
 the needful cool-headedness. It was unanimously decided by Metter- 
 nich and the tutors to picture Napoleon to the duke as the victim 
 of "his unbridled lust of conquest.” It was desired that he should 
 learn the story of his father as he acquired mature judgment, so 
 that, surrounded as he was by the benevolent care of his grand- 
 father, he would learn it in such a way that he would be consoled 
 for the apparent losses he had suffered. His grandfather, especially, 
 wished that the duke should revere the memory of his father, whose 
 great qualities, like his faults, should serve the duke as an 
 example of what to emulate and what to avoid, so that he might 
 escape the same unhappy consequences. Metternich, though he always 
 talked of Napoleon in such a way as to vindicate Austria's atti- 
 tude, did not treat his memory from a harsh and hostile point of 
 view. Until death, the young Napoleon cherished the glorious 
 traditions of his father as his most cherished possession. How- 
 ever, this impassioned love for his father, and his dreams of his 
 own vanished greatness came rather from the first accounts of his 
 loyal French nurse and attendants and his own vivid imagination. 
 
 All through the prince’s youth he had been zealously 
 guarded. There were many rumors of plans for his abduction. In 
 France time had softened the bitter remembrances of Napoleon’s 
 reign; only the glory of it was now recalled. All minds were ren- 
 dered susceptible to the most impracticable rumors, all directed 
 
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to one aim, the restoration of the Empire. The incapacity of the 
 hot-blooded Royalists did more for the Empire than all the propa- 
 ganda of the Bonapartists. Napoleon's death had only served to 
 strengthen the interest in the duke. Although in Vienna they might 
 say there was no Napoleon, only Francis, the Duke of Reichstadt, 
 this made little impression upon the zealous French Bonapartists who 
 were displaying Brisk activity in favor of the enthronement of the 
 
 King of Rome. Many were the adherents of his oarty, who ventured 
 
 1 
 
 into Austria to work for the duke's cause. Had Metternich and 
 Francis I been willing to support him, undoubtedly the crown would 
 have fallen to him. The agitation in his favor was especially 
 strong between 1824 and 1831. 
 
 The young duke was not informed of all this interest felt 
 for him in France. Though he had dreamed constantly of ruling, he 
 did not know that the French, too, were dreaming of his ruling. 
 
 While they were making efforts to get the prince that he might be 
 the ruler for whom public opinion was clamoring, the prince, all 
 unaware of this, was secretly preparing himself for the throne he 
 was hoping to ascend as the son of his father. 
 
 Since it was almost impossible for people to come into 
 immediate contact with the duke, generally accepted opinions have 
 been unjust to him. Those who knew him best, his tutors and Pro- 
 
 1 
 
 Among them was the Countess Camarata the account of 
 whose enterprise Rostand has modified and used to fit his dramatic 
 purpose. 
 

 
 
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 kesch, are to be trusted as giving the most truthful information 
 about him. To judge any great man is difficult, but to judge one, 
 who, though highly gifted, filled only an obscure place in the world, 
 and who died at twenty-one, is more difficult. He had many of the 
 qualities that go to make a great man, but lacked the opportunity 
 to become one. Though he craved power, at the decisive moment he 
 shrank from the use of such means as alone could have assured its 
 attainment. He always found one last insurmountable difficulty, and 
 invariably postponed the fulfilment of an important project until 
 a more favorable time. 
 
 So little information respecting the prince reached the 
 outer world that it was not generally known whether he most resembled 
 Napoleon or the Habsburgs. Some thought one way, some another. 
 However, most of his contemporaries agreed that, although in many 
 respects he took after Marie Louise, it was easy to see the eagle 
 glance and energetic chin of his father. His voice recalled that 
 
 Prokesch was his best friend. In June, 1830, Osten 
 Prokesch, a young general, recently returned from the Orient, was 
 invited to dinner by the emperor. He sat beside the Luke of 
 Reichstadt, and their friendship dates from that time. Each was 
 drawn to the other, Prokesch attracted by the young duke's ap- 
 pealing personality, the duke attracted because he knew Prokesch 
 had defended Napoleon's honor when all the world was calumniating 
 him. They understood each other from the first. Prokesch became 
 the duke's most loyal counselor, devoted companion, and sincere 
 friend. He wrote a biography of the prince. See Wertheimer, pp. 
 394-395. 
 
 2 
 
 Wertheimer, p. 442. 
 
 

 
 
 
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 of his father. Most of his immediate circle stood in awe of the 
 fiery spirit within him and of the kindling ambition which consumed 
 his w'hole frame. He was hot-headed, vehement, and possessed a 
 quenchless thirst for action. He could not endure any limit im- 
 posed upon his way of thinking, ambition dominated his imagination. 
 Military glory seemed the most desirable thing in the world. He 
 had a great passion for horses and riding. Mounted on a thorough- 
 bred he could forget all his troubles. The troops under the 
 prince felt instinctively that a born leader was at their head. On 
 
 one occasion they broke their usual silence and hailed him with 
 
 2 
 
 ringing cheers. Though he was of such lively nature, he was cour- 
 teous and engaging and kind to his men, and won affection from all. 
 Those who came in contact with the duke praised his rare intellec- 
 tual gifts. His own personality carried weight, and wherever he 
 appeared he attracted attention, not only as the son of the great 
 emperor, but because of his own brilliant qualities. 
 
 While the duke was the center of so much interest, he 
 was showing signs of the illness which caused his death. During 
 his childhood there had been no apparent indications that disease 
 
 1 
 
 Wertheimer, p. 443, says it is wrong to consider the 
 duke a degenerate Ilapoleon because of his Austrian, heredity. This 
 is contrary to accepted tradition about the young duke, for he is 
 generally regarded as a weakling. Wertheimer, however, presents 
 a reasonable thesis, backed by good authorities, that the duke's 
 highly imaginative and susceptible nature is responsible for his de 
 cline. He inherited this nature from his mother, but Wertheimer 
 felt that his environment exaggerated it, and that a different en- 
 vironment might have overcome it. 
 
 2 
 
 Incident used by Rostand in 1 'aiglon , Act. I, Sc. 5. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 would cut him off in his youth. He had been an unusually strong 
 and healthy child, and surprised everyone by his exuberant physique. 
 His abnormally rapid growth later did occasion serious anxiety, 
 because his chest did not develop in the same proportion, the first 
 results of which appeared in 1827. The best medical advice and 
 care were of course immediately given. Many of his one-time plea- 
 sures, fencing, boxing, riding, etc. were forbidden him. Very in- 
 dependent and strongwilled and much opposed to all prudential 
 measures, he thirsted for freedom and independence. He chafed 
 greatly against these restrictions and his governor dreaded nothing 
 as much as his excitable temperament. His mind outran his physical 
 powers and hindered his proper development and recovery. Everything 
 that sympathetic interest could dictate was done for the prince 
 that he might come through these critical years safely. His body 
 seemed wholly incapable of keeping pace with his will. The his- 
 torians generally agree that the physical weakness could have 
 been overcome had he been willing to submit to the measures 
 necessary to heal him. However, disease conquered, and on July 22, 
 1832 he died of tuberculosis. 
 
 The duke had seen very little of his mother and even in 
 the trying months of his illness, she continued to put the in- 
 terests and duties of Parma before those of a mother, so that he 
 received little comfort from her until the very last weeks, when 
 her mother-love finally brought her to him. However, members of 
 the Imperial family were kind to him. His aunt, the archduchess 
 Sophia, took with him the sacrament of the dying and told him they 
 must unite their prayers, he for his recovery, she for her approach- 
 
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- 26 - 
 
 ing confinement. On the last day, after extreme unction had been 
 administered, the priest asked the duke if he should read or pray 
 aloud. The duke requested prayer. He died almost immediately 
 afterv/ard. The Viennese openly displayed the warmest compassion. 
 The French, though conflicting reports are given, are generally 
 conceded to have mourned widely. The grandfather, who had really 
 cherished the boy tenderly, wept bitterly. 
 
 The Austrians were accused of poisoning the prince. 
 However, a post-mortem examination revealed that one lung was en- 
 tirely gone and proved that he had undoubtedly died of tubercu- 
 losis. The only blame that could possibly have been attached to 
 the physicians is that of not having sufficiently emphasized the 
 importance of keeping the duke from over exercise and other re- 
 bellious acts which prevented his recovery. Accusations were also 
 common that the duke's early death was due to moral excesses. 
 Metternich was reproached with having beguiled the duke into these 
 excesses, and for having purposely kindled passions which caused 
 his early decline. The testimony of his best friend, Prokesch, 
 and of his tutors belies these accusations These calumnies were 
 not silenced, unfortunately, but industriously circulated, despite 
 the efforts of friends. Rostand in l'^iglon has drawn false con- 
 clusions. The affair with Fanny Elsler, so often spoken of, was 
 apparently pure fiction. She, herself, denied any intimate rela- 
 tion with the prince. The rumors were originated by frequent 
 
 1 
 
 visits in her home of Prokesch and Gentz who had an office there. 
 
 1 
 
 Gentz was a German publicist, imperial counselor of 
 Austria, passionate enemy of Hapoleon, and an instrument of Metter- 
 
 with JiisjEg.n _the, liberal . aspirations of the peopl e. 
 
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 Prokesch says, "Natural instincts awoke in this youth of twenty. 
 
 He often spoke to me of these feelings, but in a tone of perfect 
 innocence. This he would never have done, had he known closer in- 
 tercourse with women. He was strictly moral. He had impulses, 
 nothing more.” Only two instances are known, in which two coun- 
 tesses, whose names have not been recorded, fascinated the young 
 man by their beauty and amiability. In spite of this, it is dif- 
 ficult to make people believe that he did not indulge in excessive 
 dissipation. 
 
 In the tragedy of this unhappy prince many mysterious 
 influences played their parts, all of which combined to hasten his 
 end before he could give proof of his incontestably great mind. It 
 was not only disease that consumed his energy. His health was 
 equally undermined by a continual struggle against destiny, his 
 false position at the Imperial Court, and his restless yearnings for 
 action and renown. A happy and active youth would have proved 
 beneficial to his development. Should he regard himself as an 
 Austrian or as a French prince? This was the discord which so 
 powerfully agitated his soul. The struggle in his soul against 
 destiny is the dramatic theme which Hostand so happily seized upon 
 for his play, 1 '.aiglon . as a grandson of Emperor Francis whom he 
 truly loved, he wished to be, for Austria, a second Prince Eugene; j 
 on the other hand, he was continually being admonished to remain 
 the son of Napoleon. To emerge triumphant from such a struggle he 
 
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needed a stronger and more resistant nature, one not so sensitive 
 
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 and susceptible. 
 
 The young Napoleon was never in the affairs of the world 
 himself and never accomplished any great deeds, yet he is not 
 without historical importance. All classes of society looked to 
 him as a strong bulwark against the encroaching ruin in political 
 life. His death caused the deepest regret. The French felt them- 
 selves face to face with a very unsettled destiny. His birth had 
 seemed to herald a period of peace; his death was the announcement 
 of a troubled future, heavy with evil and sinister forebodings. 
 Foresti wrote, "It is far better for the duke to have died. His 
 entire position was so artificial, so constrained, so unnatural, 
 his character so perplexing and uncomprehensible , his dangers so 
 many, that contentment and true happiness were impossible for him 
 in this life." 
 
 1 
 
 This lack, this weakness he inherited from his mother. 
 He was thus helpless to master his environment. 
 
 2 
 
 Wertheimer, p. 438. 
 

 
 
 
 
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IV. THE DUKE OK REICHSTaDT III ROSTaND'S DRaMA. 
 
 Rostand prefaces the following statement to l'Aiglon. 
 
 1 
 
 "Grand Dieul ce n'est pas une cause 
 Que j'attaque ou que je defends 
 Et ceci n'est pas autre chose 
 Que l'histoire d’un pauvre enfant." 
 
 This "pauvre enfant" whom he chooses for his hero is an appealing 
 figure. He is the son of Marie Louise and Bapoleon I, the young 
 Uapoleon II, known in Austria as the Duke of Reichstadt, Franz- 
 Carl-Joseph Bonaparte. The main historical facts about the young 
 duke are practically followed by Rostand. However, he has dis- 
 torted and misrepresented historical truth to some extent, and has 
 exaggerated the importance of the duke’s Austrian heritage and of 
 his Austrian environment in order better to produce contrast and 
 dramatic effect. For the duke to have two such things to fight 
 against makes his soul struggle much more acute. Rostand makes no 
 excuse for having thus modified historical fact, any more than 
 Victor Hugo did in Ruy Bias . 
 
 "Qu'un vain paperassier cherche , gratte, s' informe; 
 
 M§;ne quand il a tort, le po&te a raison. 
 
 Mes vers peuvent p6rir, mais sur son horizon 
 
 2 
 
 Wagram verra tou jours monter sa blanche forme." 
 
 1 
 
 The date of the play is 1830-1832. 
 
 2 
 
 Lines taken from those dans la Crypte des Capucins jk 
 Vienne , following the end of the drama, p. 263. 
 

 
 
 
 
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- 30 - 
 
 Following is a summary of the play in aots: 
 
 I. Les Ailes qui poussent . The duke is a virtual prison- 
 er at his grandfather’s court. Metternich tries to keep him in ig- 
 norance of his father's triumphs lest he dream of greatness and 
 trouble the peace of Europe. However, Bonapartists from Paris have 
 gained access to the young prince and conspired with him to seize 
 the throne of Prance. Peeling himself not equal to the task, he 
 puts them off for one year. He is popular in Austria, hut struggles 
 against his destiny, broods over his imprisonment, and dreams of 
 regaining his father's power. 
 
 II. Les Ailes qui hattent . The second act acquaints us 
 
 further with the duke, his aspirations, and discouragements. He 
 is struggling for faith in himself. He had been forced to learn 
 history secretly, now is granted leave to read freely. We are 
 introduced to Flambeau, a member of his father's Imperial army, 
 who is the incarnation of the duke's pride and faith, and becomes 
 his faithful ally. The time is ready for the duke to go to Prance 
 
 after a year's preparation, but he delays again in order to get 
 
 his grandfather's permission. 
 
 III. Les Ailes qui s * ouvrent . He contrives to win over 
 
 his grandfather to his plans, but is checkmated by Metternich, who 
 completely destroys the duke’s confidence in himself as Uapoleon's 
 son, by conjuring up all his Austrian ancestry and pointing out his 
 inherited weaknesses. The duke has had this opposing element to 
 deal with from the beginning of the play, but here the clash is very 
 
 decided. It is one of the most dramatic scenes in all modern 
 
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 drama. By visual means through the mirror in which he contemplates 
 his face, the duke is forced to detect the resemblance to his weak- 
 ling Austrian forefathers. The act ends with Metternich master of 
 the situation and the duke rebellious, the victim of melancholy, 
 and physically overcome with the struggle against this Austrian 
 nightmare. In this act we also see Flambeau. He is played oppo- 
 site Metternich and works upon his imagination so much as to make 
 him believe for an instant that the real Hapoleon is before him. 
 
 IV. Les Ailes Meurtries . These scenes are at a masked 
 ball. The plans are all laid for the duke’s escape. He vacillates 
 between complete discouragement and ambitious enthusiasm. He sud- 
 denly feels his cruelly v;ounded filial love reawakening because of 
 his foolish mother’s flirting, and finally consents to flight. The 
 contrast is made effective here by the play of Metternich who is 
 exulting over the fact that he has crushed the duke’s spirit and 
 ended his aspirations. 
 
 V. Les a-iles bris^es . The first rendez-vous of the 
 flight to France is on the battle field of Wagram. It is here that 
 his soul rose to its greatest height when he gave way to the intoxi- 
 cation of his great hope and wished that he might be guided in the 
 future only by the noblest designs. In the enthusiasm of his sub- 
 lime mission, he failed to consider the inefficiency of his own 
 self as instrument, but only the holy duty he had before him, that 
 of reigning in his beloved France. However, in his anxiety con- 
 cerning the peril of his cousin, the Countess Camera ta , who was 
 impersonating him, he hesitates and delays and is overtaken by 
 Austrian soldiers. Alone in the night on the battle field, he has 
 
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-32- 
 
 a vision of the battle his father had fought there. He hears the 
 groans of the wounded and dying, and is overcome with the realiza- 
 tion of the cost of his father's imperial ambitions. This vision 
 Rostand visualizes by actually putting it on the stage. The duke 
 begs heaven to forgive his attempt to raise again the standard of 
 war. He realizes in the face of defeat that he can make up for the 
 failure to realize his dreams by dying an unforgettable death. He 
 
 will die "de son ame", "d'etre Autrichien" , "d'avoir 6td tud tout 
 
 1 
 
 bas, dans trop de coeurs.” The figures in the vision crying out, 
 "Vive l'empereur" make him realize that all was not paid, that he 
 must complete the price. He is the expiatory hostage and offers 
 himself for the many who died for his father's glory 
 
 "Prends moi] prends moi, Wagram! 
 
 et ranqon de jadis, 
 
 Pils qui s'offre en dchange, h^las, de 
 
 tant de fils, 
 
 iiu-dessus de la brume effrayante 
 
 oil tu bouges, 
 
 El&ve-moi, tout blanc , dans tes mains 
 
 2 
 
 rouges J " 
 
 VI. Les iiiies f erm^es . The eaglet dies in the prime of 
 his manhood, heartbroken at his failure to imitate and avenge his 
 
 1 
 
 1 '.aiglon , V. 5, p. 240. 
 
 2 
 
 1 '.aiglon , v. 5, p. 240. 
 

 
 
 
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- 33 - 
 
 great father; dies carrying the secret of his expiation for the 
 sacrifices made to his father’s glory. 
 
 It is from this great spiritual and physical combat of 
 soul heritage with physical heritage aided by environment, that 
 springs the extreme dramatic virtue of this character. To this 
 inconspicuous figure in history Rostand has given a magnificent 
 r6le . In the duke there is a dual personality, there exists in 
 his life a mortal combat between two souls, between two opposite 
 heritages, between the Habsburg weakling who has the physical at- 
 tributes of his mother’s family and the aspiring heir of his father's 
 power and greatness. Physically, the Habsburg side wins, and his 
 life ends in failure; spiritually it is not so, he dies an expiatory 
 hostage for the sacrifice of lives made to his father's success. 
 
 Legend doesn’t always alter fact, ^.n historical person- 
 nage can not be found wholly in the pages of history; his acts, the 
 reason for his having lived ? must be interpreted. That is the func- 
 tion of the dramatist: interpretation, as opposed to the historian's 
 accurate recital of actual events. And so in 1 '.aiglon there is, 
 if not an absolutely authentic and historical due de Reichstadt, at 
 least the Kapoleon II of whom the people of Prance were dreaming, 
 and who easily might have been. Rostand caught the spirit of the 
 people and has given, not the exact facts, but the soul of the 
 situation. The youth of France did not waste their ardent worship 
 on the poor, weak being at Schoenbrunn, who slowly gave way to the 
 ravages of disease, but rather directed it toward the son of the 
 fallen Emperor, the heir of so much glory and so much misfortune, 
 

 
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-34- 
 
 and to the cause he incarnated, to the destiny which consecrated 
 him* For though he was the son of Marie Louise, unknown and vir- 
 tually a prisoner in Austria, he remained in the heart of the 
 people, the son of Napoleon, who was the son of the people. Ros- 
 tand's character is not quite true to the historical character of 
 l'Aiglon, hut at least he was a possibility and a very real reality 
 in the minds and dreams of the people. Frdddric Masson, the best 
 historian of Napoleon, was of that opinion: ?% I1 faut laisser cette 
 
 vie au myst^re qui 1 * enveloppera tou jours, et plutbt qu'aux indue - 
 
 1 
 
 tions moroses, croire a oe qu'ont chantd les pontes." Rostand has 
 brightened the duke’s pale face with the halo of a victim, a halo 
 which he wears always before those who believe in an immortal justice 
 and merciful providence. Ee has caught the soul of the historical 
 
 a 
 
 phenomenon of Napoleon and has increased not only our love, but 
 our understanding of Napoleonic history. 
 
 There is no psychological development in the duke. He 
 is the same hesitating, vacillating youth at the end he is at 
 the beginning. His life is dominated by a strong passionate love 
 for his father and an intense desire to rule; although he has very 
 indefinite ideas of what ruling involves. Between him and the 
 realization of his dreams stands Metternich, an ever present and 
 all-powerful obstacle. The duke has two selves, one French, one 
 
 1 
 
 Suberville, le Thdatre Franpais , p. 63. 
 
 2 
 
 Ibid ., p. 66. 
 

 
 
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 Austrian. The conflict lies between the two. Environment aids 
 his Austrian self, only his dreams and ideals make strong his French 
 self. Which will conquer? First the one, then the other has the 
 ascendancy. Rostand lets the duke be overcome physically, for he 
 dies of disease and of his struggle against destiny. He is a fail- 
 ure so far as his ideal to rule in France is concerned. Spiritually, 
 however, he has conquered, for his soul has risen to great heights 
 and mastered the situation. He dies an expiatory victim. 
 
 The prince is a dreamer, subject to solitary fits of 
 sadness from which he cannot be aroused. To his mother he seems a 
 young man wholly indifferent to everything — love, nature, music, 
 art, beauty. This is not an entirely accurate estimate, for we 
 see him later deeply appreciative of the beauties of nature--the 
 twilight, the birds, even the flowers appeal to him. He is moved 
 to quote poetry and to admire some music from Beethoven, apparent- 
 ly he has habitually steeled himself against these emotions and wil- 
 fully kept from appreciating such beauty. 
 
 ”Je hais les sons et leur mystere; 
 
 Et devant un beau soir, je sens avec effroi 
 
 1 
 
 ^uelque chose de blond qui s’attendrit en moi.” 
 
 From the first we see clearly defined the struggle between his 
 Austrian and French selves. He is always on the defensive against 
 the Austrian weakness which he has been taught to believe he has. 
 
 His mother, superficial as she is, though she sees how he feels, 
 
 1 
 
 l'Aiglon, I, 13, p. 17. 
 

 
 
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-36- 
 
 oannot understand nor sympathize, and is only hurt that he blames 
 
 her, his Austrian parent, for his weakness. He is gentle with her 
 
 and tries to comfort her and soothe her wounded feelings, but the 
 
 lack of mutual understanding remains. 
 
 Though the duke is being cheated of the truth about his 
 
 father's history, he has found a way to learn it through Fanny 
 
 Elsler, who teaches him chapter by chapter what she has learned. 
 
 He resents keenly the secrecy imposed upon his father's history. 
 
 Likewise he feels the constant surveillance of his every action. 
 
 He knows that Sedlinsky is watching him, and rebels bitterly. 
 
 "Je ne suis pas prisonnier, mais...voila Mais... Pas 
 1 
 
 prisonnier, mais..." Hot a prisoner, but...! He is nervous and 
 easily excited. The circumstances mentioned have developed to the 
 extreme his naturally melancholy and brooding nature. From the 
 books on his table we learn something about how much he broods over 
 his lot, and of what he thinks. Such passages as the following 
 have apparently been read often and pondered on by the young duke: 
 "Leur haine pour Hector n’est encore dteinte: 
 
 Ils redoutent son fils.— -Digne objet de leur crainte! 
 
 Un enfant malheureux, qui ne sait pas encor 
 
 a 
 
 Que Pyrrhus est son malt re, et qu'il est fils d' Hector." 
 
 I'iiiglon , II, 2, p. 70. 
 
 2 
 
 Ibid . , I, 7, p. 24. a quotation from Racine's 
 Andromaque , Act I, Sc. 4. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 • • 
 
 
 
 
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 • * ; 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-37- 
 
 "H£las! je m'en souviens, le jour que son courage 
 
 Lui fit cheroher Achille, ou plutot 1q trdpas, 
 
 II deraancLa son fils, et le prit dans ses bras: 
 
 Ch&re Spouse, dit 11 en essuyant ses larmes, 
 
 J' ignore quel suce&s le sort garde a mes armes; 
 
 1 
 
 Je te laisse raon fils..." 
 
 "Courage, enfant dSchu d'une race divine, 
 
 Tu portes sur ton front ta superbe origine; 
 
 2 
 
 Tout homme en te voyant..." 
 
 These passages so analogous to stories he has heard of his own 
 condition have made a deep impression on him. 
 
 The duke is good looking, always dressed immaculately and 
 in the best of style. He is popular with his men, popular with the 
 ladies, well-liked by all — in short, a social success. Though he 
 receives many letters and much flattering attention from the la- 
 dies, he is generally indifferent to it. He is much attracted to 
 Theresa, yet at first pays little attention to her. He is fond of 
 Fanny Elsler and shows in the scenes with her that he is not in- 
 sensible to the charms of women. At one time he puts it all aside. 
 
 1 'Aiglon , I, 7, p. 24. a quotation from Racine's 
 Andromaque , Act. Ill, Sc. 8. 
 
 2 
 
 Ibid . , I, 7, p. 25. a quotation from Lamartine's 
 Detail me Meditation, last stanza. 
 

 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 « 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 
".Faisons de l'histoire et non pas du romanl" *.t another time, 
 
 at the ball, discouraged, and intoxicated by the music and his 
 
 mood, he makes love to Theresa and arranges a rendez-vous with her. 
 
 He makes desperate love to Panny, too. He had come to the ball to 
 
 seek adventure, to crush his Austrian lips under a burning kiss of 
 
 love. He had resolved in this fit of discouragement to conquer 
 
 ladies’ hearts as his father had conquered nations. Suddenly he 
 
 saw the empty game he was playing, j * revulsion of feeling came 
 
 over him, and he was his best self once more, no longer ,? l*§tre de 
 
 voluptfi, Ce blondin d'une grace perverse. C'est de nouveau le 
 
 2 
 
 jeune homme ardent et douleureux. ” 
 
 The prince is young, slender, and blond. He is pale and 
 wan with the Austrian pout and frail physical build. 
 
 3 
 
 "Comme il est pale. II n'a pas l'air de vivre!" 
 
 He is apparently in good physical condition at first, although he 
 coughs a little. Throughout the play we see this weakness develop- 
 ing. His physicians are anxious. Precautionary measures are taken, 
 but the youth rebels against direction. Every unusual effort over- 
 whelms him physically. We see him burning with fever, fainting with 
 weakness, and we are not surprised that it leads to death. The 
 
 1 
 
 1 ’iiiglon , II, 6, p. 82. 
 
 2 
 
 Ibid . , IV, 7, p. 177. 
 
 3 
 
 Ibid . , I, 8, p, 25. 
 

 . 
 
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-39- 
 
 Napoleonic qualities which keep him in rebellion against his Aus- 
 trian weakness are not invisible to those associating with him. 
 
 There is in his bearing, his sparkling eye, his forehead, the fury 
 of his gestures, the general intensity of his energy, much that re- 
 minds one of Napoleon. Rostand makes good use of this dramatic 
 conflict of physical heritage. The physical contrast is best 
 brought out in act III, where Flambeau, dressed in his uniform of 
 the French grenadier, on guard in the prince’s room, is surprised 
 by Metternich, and almost succeeds in making him believe the real 
 Napoleon lies asleep beyond the closed door. Then Metternich in a 
 long tirade to Napoleon's hat vividly recalls him to his own mind. 
 
 The scene is so dramatic that we feel almost a shock when the 
 young prince appears on the scene. In contrast to his mighty 
 father, who has just been so strikingly presented to our imagina- 
 tion, we see the trembling figure of a too slender youth, coughing 
 
 and tired from having worked too long over his books, white and 
 
 1 
 
 effeminate in his Austrian uniform. Metternich then uses his 
 cruel power over the duke, completely destroying his self-confidence. 
 
 Compare Metternich' s remark here with that of Hernani in 
 the scene before Charlemagne's tomb. 
 
 "Hon, il ne peut que ce soit lui qui sorte! 
 
 II ne va pas ouvrir lentement cette porte! 
 
 C'est le due de Reichstadt, voyonsl je n'ai pas peur! 
 
 Je sais que c'est le due! j'en suis sur! 
 
 1 'Aiglon , III, 7, p. 143. 
 
 "C’est bien. J'ai cru d'abord que e'Ptait Charlemagne. 
 
 Ce n'est que Charles-Quint , " 
 
 Hernani, Act IV, Sc. 4. 
 

 
 
 
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 f 
 
 f 
 
-40- 
 
 1 
 
 In the famous mirror soene he shows how there lies dormant within 
 the prince all of Spain and Austria, making him haughty, sorrowful, 
 yet charming. He has the Austrian sullen face, the frail tapering 
 fingers of a Spanish hand, and the eyes, the hair, the complexion, 
 even the lips of Austria. In mixing oloods Metternich tells the 
 duke he got the worst of Austria’s, the racial melancholy and 
 feebleness, and but very little of his father's dynamic strength. 
 Metternich taunts him for his self-distrust, for his being intro- 
 spective, languid, melancholy, so wholly unlike his energetic 
 father. We see the duke here as Metternich makes him out to be, 
 as the duke himself sometimes fears he is, an absolute contrast to 
 his father and the man he would like to be. At the end of the 
 scene he is overwhelmed with fear and doubt. He is afraid he is 
 really this Austrian weakling and not French at all. i’or the 
 minute, his stronger self is gone. With his all-consuming desire 
 thwarted by Metternich, and his soirit broken, he falls terrified 
 
 and fainting before the mirror. In this scene we have seen a pain- 
 
 1 
 
 fully pathetic picture of "un enfant trop nerveux", who has been 
 broken by a spirit stronger than his own. 
 
 The duke has a vision which he is constantly struggling 
 to realize. In the first act, voice has been given to his most 
 secret yearnings. His aspirations, echoed by another, become more 
 real. The confidence of friends and sympathizers produces an im- 
 mediate effect upon him. He is like a mirror reflecting the emo- 
 
 1 
 
 1 'Aiglon , III, 3, p. 126. 
 
' 
 
 
 
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 < 
 
 * 
 
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 . 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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I 
 
 - 41 - 
 
 tions of those about him. Let him be with Prokesch, the Countess 
 Camerata, or others who believe in him, and he is powerful, ener- 
 getic?, hopeful of realizing his dreams. Let him be with Metternich 
 or those others opposing him, and he is immediately helpless, quails 
 and loses all hope. Only rarely oan he oppose their will with a 
 stronger one of his own. He suffers greatly from this conflict. 
 
 His physical self is being well taken care of. His physical en- 
 vironment is comfortable. He is lulled by music and much attention. 
 But the one great passion of his life, the lack of the realization 
 of which is killing him, is not granted, ^t times he is buoyed up 
 by hope, at other times he is overwhelmed by discouragement and 
 despair . 
 
 The first time we see him aroused from his apathy and 
 gloomy melancholy is in act I, when a tailor and a dressmaker's 
 model from Paris reveal themselves as fellow conspirators, who have 
 come to tell the duke how in Prance plans are being laid for him to 
 escape. The duke sees in this restless young man with his whole 
 system full of eulogies on Napoleon, a counterpart of himself; both 
 suffering, the one from being the son of Napoleon, the other from 
 
 l 
 
 being the son of a soldier of Napoleon, the latter a representative \ 
 of the restless youth of Prance who now glory in Napoleon's great- 
 ness, exalt his memory, and dream of his son's succeeding him. The 
 duke is observing and sensitive. He sees here only the call of 
 the dreamer, whose imagination has been excited by the glory of 
 Napoleon and by the touching fate of his son. His cousin's appeal 
 gives only the call of the family. He is inspired to hope by their 
 plans, but he wants the approbation of the common people of Prance. 
 
r 
 
 
 
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- 42 - 
 
 He must wait and work for a year. Three hundred nights more of 
 dreaming, of insomnia, in which to grow mature. They tell him that 
 gossip in France says that he is not young France, but old Austria, 
 that his education is incomplete, that he doesn’t know his father's 
 history, that his mind is being weakened. Their call is .just what 
 he has been desiring, but he will not grant immediate approval of 
 their plans. 
 
 touch him. His hope of the first act is soon dashed and he is 
 again the moody, brooding youth, overcome by supersensitiveness 
 and gloomy introspection. His brightness and cheerfulness in the 
 light of expressed appreciation and encouragement and the outlook 
 of success give way to the opposite emotion. In the second act we 
 see him cast down — -forgotten, he thinks. His home seems like a 
 tomb. He has raged six months against his prison. ^11 history is 
 now accessible to him, and he has more freedom; yet he is the vic- 
 tim of almost complete discouragement. He fights desperately with 
 doubts of himself which Metternich loses no opportunity to foster. 
 His impressionable nature offers him no fit weapons to cope with 
 this insidious enemy. This act is just a series of incidents 
 illustrating how he vacillates from hope to discouragement. Pro- 
 kesch, Flambeau, Marmont , all the personages in this act help him 
 immensely to see the best in himself. He gains confidence and 
 masters his weaknesses. His Hapoleonic qualities are uppermost 
 again, he is superb. He feels himself delivered ”de ce doute de 
 
 duke is but clay, molded easily by whatever hand may 
 
 I 
 
I 
 
 
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 g 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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-43- 
 
 1 
 
 moi si triste.” Pride and hope fill him, yet even in this moment 
 he cannot suppress wholly his melancholy and be entirely happy. 
 
 ”Eh bienJ moi, sans pouvoir, sans titre, sans royaume , 
 
 Moi qui ne sui4 qu'un souvenir dans un fantomel 
 Moi, ce due de Reichstadt qui triste, ne peut rien 
 Qu'errer sous les tilleuls de ce pare autrichien, . . . 
 
 Passant qu'on ne regarde un peu que lorsqu'il tousse.' 
 
 Moi qui n’ai meme plus le plus petit moreeau 
 De la moire si rouge, hdlasj dans mon berceauj 
 Moi dont ils ont en vain constelld 1 * inf ortune . . . 
 
 Moi malade, exild , prisonnier 
 
 ... mais «j ’ esp&re , 
 
 2 
 
 ” J' imagine . ” 
 
 That doubt and hesitation return again and again. He wants proof 
 
 3 
 
 that ’’Tout chemin mene au Roi de Rome.” His strong will and de- 
 termination are only fleeting glimpses of his father’s strong per- 
 sonality. 
 
 Incident after incident only serve to intensify the com- 
 bat within the duke. He gets nowhere. Here is just that baffling, j 
 heartbreaking struggle between the two elements with first one up, 
 then the other. Confident, he broaches to his grandfather the sub- 
 
 1 'Aiglon , I, 8, p. 90. 
 
 2 
 
 1 ’aiglon , II, 9, pp. 99-100. 
 
 1 ’aiglon , II, 10, p. 45. 
 
 J 
 

 
 
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 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 . . 
 
 
ject of his ruling in France. Metternich makes him lose hope imme- 
 diately. Though he bitterly and sarcastically upbraids both his grand- 
 father and Metternich before he leaves them, his hope is crushed 
 again. In the ball of act IV we see him again vacillating between 
 those two emotions, At first the victim of a fear of the insanity 
 
 of his ancestors, he talks in a gloomy mental anguish to Prokesch. 
 
 1 
 
 Then buoyed up by "un sursaut corse”, he is again hopeful. He is 
 even strong to resist Metternich and dedlinsky, to be haughty and 
 insolent, a new friend is gained, his courage mounts to the ex- 
 tent of defying all, and he goes to carry out the plot for his es- 
 cape. On the battle field at Wagram he straightens up in strength 
 and pride. 
 
 ’’J'ai vingt ans et je vais rdgner! 
 
 •••Ah! mon DieuJ que c’est beau d'avoir vingt ans et d’etre 
 Pils de Hapoldon premier! 
 
 Ce n'est pas vrai que je suis faible et que je toussa! 
 
 Je suis jeune, je n’ai plus peurj ! 
 
 Empereur? . . .Moi?. . .demain! . . . 
 
 i 
 
 Ah! je la sens ce soir assez vaste, mon ame, 
 
 I 
 
 Pourqu'un peuple y vienne prier! 
 
 2 
 
 II me sernble que j'ai pour ame Hotre-Pame I . . . ,f 
 
 His physical self is by this time unequal to the stress 
 
 1 
 
 jLVaiglon, IV, 7, p. 176. 
 
 2 
 
 Ibid . , V, 2, pp. 214-215. 
 

 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 • • ♦ » • • 4 
 
 ! 
 
 
 
-45- 
 
 it has been subjected to. He is exhausted physically, nervous and 
 trembling, even in the triumphs of what seems to augur success. He 
 is imperious in delivering the command that the countess, his 
 cousin, be treated as was her due. She expressed well something of 
 
 the pathos in the duke’s personality when she said, ’’Malheureux en- 
 
 1 
 
 fant, tu pouvais §tre un chef,” just after she had accused him of 
 being a temporizer, dreamer, and cold idealist. Even when the 
 Austrian troops come up, and he realizes that his plans are finally 
 forever defeated, he still is able to come back to reality enough 
 to assume command of his own regiment as they march up before him. 
 
 Stiff as an automaton in the disinterested and mechanical voice of 
 
 % 
 
 an Austrian colonel he gives them their orders as usual. 
 
 It was not only personal ambition which had been actuating 
 the duke in his aspirations for the future. He wanted to redeem 
 his father’s honor and glory. He said to Plambeau, 
 
 Hon, ce n’est pas pour moi que tu meurs, 
 
 c’est pour luij 
 Pas pour moil pas pour moiJ 
 
 2 
 
 je n'en vaux pas la peinej" 
 
 It is on the battlefield that he catches the vision of dying in j 
 
 expiation for the many who made possible his father's success. It 
 is here that his soul triumphs in that long struggle against Met- 
 
 1 
 
 1 ’niglon , V. 4. p. 227. 
 
 2 
 
 Ibid . , V. 5. p. 231. 
 

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 I ! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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-46- 
 
 ternich, and his relentless vigilance, against the weaknesses with 
 
 which heredity had endowed him. 
 
 The last chapter is just a quiet relinquishment of life 
 
 after a few w'eeks helpless battling with disease. He is gentle 
 
 and resigned even though he does lament that he is praised for 
 
 drinking his milk well, when he would have been praised for great 
 
 deeds. He was loved by the women as "l" enfant qu’on plaint, qu'on 
 
 1 
 
 gate, qu'on defend," because they understood his battle. He would 
 have preferred being loved as his mighty father’s successor. When 
 they hid his approaching death from him, he said simply with calm 
 and majesty, 
 
 2 
 
 "On n’avait pas le droit de me voler la mort." 
 
 He regrets sadly that history will remember him, not with a halo of 
 glory as a strong leader, but only as a child, "le Roi de Rome." 
 
 If he dies unimportant, at least his birth was important, ^t the 
 last he has read to him the account of that baptismal ceremony of 
 such vast importance and widely heralded glory, xxnd thus he dies. 
 
 -a failure, a weakling? Bo^an expiatory hostage to live always in 
 the glory his own imagination created for him. 
 
 1 
 
 1 'Aiglon , VI. 3. p. 255. 
 
 2 
 
-47- 
 
 n M§me quand il a tort, le po£te a raison. 
 
 Dors. Ce n'est pas toujours la L&gende qui raent. 
 
 Un reve est moins trorapeur, parfois qu'un document. 
 
 1 
 
 Dors; tu fus ce Jeune homme et ce Fils, quoi qu’on dise." 
 
 1 
 
 I'Aiglon , lines taken from those T ’dans la Crypte des 
 Capucins h Vienne ," following the end of the drama; p. 263. 
 
V. METTERNICH. 
 
 There is an element of contrast in all of Rostand's works. 
 Playing opposite the character who represents the ideal, is the 
 character who represents materialism. In la_ Princesse Lointaine , 
 Rudel has imbued his followers with his ideal. The sailors have 
 infinite faith in him. But the doctor, who plays opposite him, is 
 a veritable incarnation of materialism. In 1 'Aiglon , the duke wins 
 followers and believers in Prokesch, Marmont , and Flambeau from 
 among those with whom he is intimately associated. Opposite him, 
 however, is the strong contrary element embodied in Metternich. 
 
 In history, as we know, Metternich dominated Austria, 
 even all of Europe. Prom the first he had opposed the spread of 
 republican principles; he had been an inveterate enemy of Napoleon. 
 He had played the nations of Europe against each other, so that 
 when liapoleon lost control he was ready to assume it. It was 
 probably he who had realized the political advantages of a marriage 
 between Prance and Austria. It was he, later, who directed that 
 Marie Louise and her son be brought to Austria and kept from com- 
 municating with Hapoleon. It was he who removed all things French 
 from the environment of the young prince, and who undertook to have 
 him educated as a private gentleman. As the young duke matured, it 
 was Metternich* s one idea to weaken and destroy whatever power he 
 might still have. To this end he exercised very close surveillance 
 over him, although not so unfairly and harshly as Rostand relates. 
 
 Rostand portrays Metternich as hard, cold, bitter, un- 
 relenting, all important and sole master of the situation at Vienna. 
 
f 
 
 
 
 
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- 49 - 
 
 Eve ry move of the duke brings him into contact with Metternich's 
 opposition. Throughout the play he is the key to the force that 
 keeps the duke from realizing his ambitions. There is constant 
 friction between them. In the first act we see Metternich respons- 
 ible for censoring what the duke learns in history. The duke is 
 able to outwit him and succeeds, despite him, in learning the truth 
 about his father's real place in Europe's history. The duke found 
 a white cocarde by accident and learned that the power in Franoe 
 had changed, a fact that Metternich would have kept from him. When 
 the French sent requests to Vienna that the duke be given to them 
 as emperor, Metternich played with their messengers and did not 
 kill their hope. He advised them not to let republican ideas get 
 too prominent and held over them the threat that the duke was 
 Austrian and might wield that power. When the duke's Austrian 
 soldiers spontaneously gave vent to their appreciation and admira- 
 tion in a "Vive Hapoleon" Metternich went into a transport of 
 anger. Yet he boasted of having the duke in the hollow of his 
 hand, just where he wanted him. 
 
 In the second act, just as the duke's confidence in him- 
 self seems to reach a stage of certainty, we are made to feel his 
 exasperation and resentment against the constant surveillance of 
 Sedlinsky, who, we know, is only carrying out Metternich's orders. 
 Metternich, too, in person, continues to make friction when he 
 orders the duke’s toy French soldiers to be carried away and to be 
 replaced with Austrian ones. In the third act when it seems that 
 
 the duke's plans are to be realized, Metternich interferes, over- 
 

 
 
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- 50 - 
 
 turns everything, and in one of the strongest scenes of the play, 
 completely overwhelms the duke by forcing him to see, visually, his 
 Austrian weakness, apparently, the duke’s confidence is destroyed. 
 
 Throughout the play there is constant struggle. The soul 
 struggle of the duke is repeated by his actual struggle with 
 Metternich. Is it heredity or environment that is actually the 
 cause of his failure? Certainly, his environment, wholly dominated, 
 as it was, by Metternich, bears its full share of the responsibili- 
 ty for his failure. It emphasizes just the weaknesses which he 
 had inherited from his mother. His sensitive spirit might have 
 developed differently had he not had sucn an unhappy childhood, 
 where every detail served to exaggerate and increase his weaknesses, 
 rather than overcome them. 
 
 In the fourth act the duke is, at first, the victim of 
 complete discouragement. Metternich has the upper hand and exults 
 over the fact that he has crushed the duke's spirit. Then the in- 
 domitable Corsican strength asserts itself, and the duke once more 
 defeats Metternich’s plans. He is strong again and able to continue \ 
 his projects. His soul soars high, only to be brought down hope- 
 lessly low again by Metternich, who sends out the Austrian soldiers 
 in act five. There on the field of Wagram is the final struggle. 
 
 But it is only in the physical struggle that Metternich can win. 
 
 He cannot control the processes of the duke's spirit, nor keep him 
 from realizing his soul's glory as he resolves to die an expiatory 
 victim. 
 
 Metternich holds unswervingly to his purpose throughout. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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-51- 
 
 Ee is absolutely impersonal. Never for a moment does he waver. 
 
 When the emperor shows the tender, affectionate character of a 
 grandfather, Metternich is still only the hard, cold dictator who 
 will keep Austria foremost by denying absolutely everything to the 
 duke. Even in the end he still does not relent. Rostand has made 
 the duke die from ’*son ame” rather than from physical illness 
 alone. Metternich, asked if he regretted his share in that death 
 said only, 
 
 ’’Non. J’ai fait mon devoir. J'en ai souffert, peut-etre... 
 
 C'est a 1* amour de mon pays, et de mon maitre, 
 
 Et du vieux monde , nue j'ai, Ma da me , obdij...” 
 
 "Je ne regrette rien, mais c'dtait un grand prince.' 
 
 S 
 
 Et quand je m' agenouille , a cette heure en ce lieu, 
 
 Ce n’est pas seulement devant 1 'Agneau de EieuJ” 1 
 That is the only redeeming thing in Metternich's entire pitiless 
 persecution of the prince. 
 
 Rostand was attempting only "l'histoire d'un pauvre 
 enfant,” not an attack or defense of any cause. Eut he made use of 
 all the dramatic elements of historical contrasts, by emphasizing 
 them, even to contorting the truth, in order to produce the de- 
 sired result in his drama. The duke, just before he dies, silences 
 Metternich by accusing him of having used him as a foil to increase \ 
 his own strength and power in Europe. 
 
 1 
 
 l’-aiglon , VI, 2, p. 252. 
 

 
 
 , 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 , 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-52- 
 
 "J'dtais votre force, et ma raort voas ddsarrneJ 
 
 L'Europe qui jamais n'osait vous dire non 
 
 Quand vous 6tiez celui qui peut lacher I'^iglon, 
 
 Demain, tendant l'oreille, et reprenant courage, 
 
 Dira: ' Je n ' entends plus remuer dans la ca gel" 1 ^ 
 
 But after it is all over, Metuernich has the last word: "Vous lui 
 
 2 
 
 remettrez 3on uniform© tlancl" 
 
 1 
 
 lViglon , VI, 3, p. 256. 
 
 2 
 
 l'niglon , VI, 3, p. 262. 
 
« 
 
 . 
 
 t 
 
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VI. HISTORICAL NOTES 
 
 (Figures refer to pages of l'Aiglon . ) 
 
 4 Tiburoe de Lorget : can find no reference. Bombelles : 
 (Charles Rend ,'*^com¥e de), chamberlain of the Austrian emperor 7 ’ " 
 later counselor and chancellor of Marie Louise of Parma, whom he 
 married secretly after Neipperg's death. 
 
 7 4and Q r : can find no reference. ?balberg: German 
 pianist (1812-18717. Montenegro , Fontana : can^TnTno reference. 
 FijRaro: character in Le Mariage de Figaro of Beaumarchais, a drama 
 now used in opera form, music Ly~lozart. MettejrniQh : cf. p. 14. 
 Vitrjolle s : a French statesman, associated with Talleyrand in the 
 intrigues which were to bring the Bourbons back to the throne. He 
 aided the attempts of Mme. Berry, the duchess. Luchegse de Berry : 
 energetic woman, the wife of the second son of Charles X, mother of 
 Henry V, imprisoned in 1832 when she attempted to raise the Vendde 
 against the government of Louis-Philippe . 
 
 8 Meyendorff, Strauss : can find no definite reference. 
 
 9 Gejitz : German publicist (imperial counselor of Austria), 
 passionate enemy of Napoleon, an instrument of Metternich, com- 
 batting with his pen the liberal aspirations of the people. He 
 
 was for many years Metternich^ trusted adviser. General Belliard: 
 a French general who served from 1796 through!832 when he died7^3e v ~ 
 went through the Napoleonic campaigns, served Louis XVIII, was named 
 a peer and made an ambassador by him. 
 
 11 Fanny Elsie r : a beautiful Austrian dancer of superior 
 renown in her artistry, and in her way a veritable enchantress. 
 
 Cf. p. 26 above. 
 
 12 Fouchd , Joseph F_ouchd , due d’Otrante : famous French 
 statesmen entered political lTfs" at the beginning of the Revolution; 
 was Napoleon*s minister of police, during the empire. He was in 
 regard to politics, by far the most important personage in the 
 reign of Napoleon. He was naturalized an Austrian in 1818 and 
 died at Trieste. Louis- Phili ppe : cf. p. 15 above. 
 
 13 Frangois - C ha y lee : Franpois-Charles- Joseph Bonaparte, 
 the duke of Reichstadt. abeille:the ancient Egyptians symbolized 
 their kings under this emolem. The honey indicated the reward they 
 gave to the meritorious, and the sting the punishment awarded to 
 the unworthy. In the empire of France the royal mantle and stand- 
 ard were thickly sown with golden bees instead of "Louis flowers". 
 
 In the tomb of Childeric more than 300 golden bees were discovered 
 in 1653. Hence the emblem of the French empire. lys: lilies 
 
 of the royalty. Hence, mention of the bees refers to^ne Empire, 
 
 and mention of the lilies to the Bourbon dynasty. 
 
 14 
 
 - Ujgolore: blue, white, and re d bann er adopted! 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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-54- 
 
 by the Revolutionists. Cf. p. 15 above. 
 
 16 Lord Cowley : (1773-1847) an English diplomat and ambas- 
 sador at Vienna. Des Grevedo n et djgs Deveria : This refers to Style of 
 clothing. Pierre-Louis Gr&vedon ( 1776-1860 ), painter and lithographer 
 with a great reputation for his portraits. Jacques — Jean Deveria 
 (1800-1857) drawer, engraver, and lithographer. 
 
 17 Violgt: flower and color were worn as a party dis- 
 
 tinction of the Bonapartes. Napoleon I was called Father Violet , also 
 Corporal Violet . The name implied that he would return to France frcra 
 his banishment in Elba with the violets. When on March 20,1815, Na- 
 poleon re-entered the Tuileries after his escape from Elba, he found 
 the great staircase filled with ladies who nearly smothered him with 
 violets. Every mention of violets throughout the play brings Na- 
 poleon immediately to mind. Cf. note p. 81. 
 
 18 Les Dgux G renadiers : a well known poem by Heine (first 
 published in 1821) on NapoYeo^sliowing how popular he was with his men. 
 Lee Ddbats : French newspaper founded in 1789, today defending conservative 
 republican policies, and publishing articles of literary merit. 
 
 19 Varidjtds, le Luxembourg , le Gymnase , la_ Gaietd , la 
 Porte Saint - Ma rUr^l'A mbig u ^ Te C irque : theaters in Paris. 
 
 20 1 ’Odd on ; the second Thdatre-Fran<?ais of Paris, founded 
 in 1797. Henry"lT ^(182'0~1883), duke of Chambord, grandson of Charles X, 
 and only KeTroT the elder Bourbon branch, exiled in 1830. The Roy- 
 alists gave him the name of Henri V though he never reigned. 
 
 23 Lietrichstein: cf. p. 18 above. 
 
 24 Androma que : tragedy by Racine. (1667) 
 
 25 Les Meditations : by Lamartine. ( 1820 ). iirch i dudhesse : arch- 
 duchess Sophia, wife of .archduke Francis -Charles, (1802-1878), son^oTTEmperor 
 Francis I. 
 
 26 We r the r : a novel written by Goethe (in 1774), a drama- 
 tised recital of an adventure in love, the main events of which are 
 taken from his own life. 
 
 30 Sand a, t_qj Kotzebue: Kotzebue (1761-1819)a German literary 
 man who was much hated fcr hlsveTie men t attacks cn all liberal ideas. 
 
 Sand, a young student, killed him in 1819. 
 
 36 Thdophile Gaut ier: a French poet and critic, 1811-1872. 
 
 37 ]3©tit habit vert : the uniform ordinarily worn by 
 
 Napoleon I. * 
 
 40 The Cou ntess Nap,o leone. Came rat a : daughter of Elisa 
 Baciocchi and niece~’”o1fNapoleon I. She traveled to Vienna in order to 
 abduct her cousin. where she always appeared in masculine attire. She 
 succeeded in getting letters conveyed to him, but her undue enthusiasm 
 for the duke’s cause finally caused her to be ordered out of Vienna 
 by the police. 
 

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 45 I*e P&i de Home : title conferred by Napoleon I on his 
 son the day he was born. It is thought that this title was given 
 in Imitation of Charlemagne, but Charlemagne was only ’’patrician 
 
 of Home”, never ’’King of Rome”. In the German Empire, the emperor- 
 elect was ’’King of the Romans”, not ”King of Rome”. This latter 
 title was expressly conferred on the German kings, and sometimes 
 on their heirs by a coronation at Milan. The German title equiva- 
 lent to ’’dauphin” or ”prince of Wales”, was ’’King of the Romans”. 
 
 46 A usterlitz : Dec. 2, 1805, at Austerlitz, Napoleon I 
 defeated the allies in one of the greatest battles of history, 
 thus crushing the Third Coalition. 
 
 50 La restaur at ion du vieux calendrie r : republican calen- 
 dar had been adopted by the Convention Oc'fcober 5 , 1793, and had 
 lasted until Jan. 1, 1806, when the Gregorian calendar was official- 
 ly re-established. It had been voted upon, however, Sept. 9, 1805. 
 Tre&ty of Pres^bourg : Dec. 1805, a very humiliating treaty to 
 Austria; who lost 30,000 subjects and large revenues, and was cut 
 off from Italy, Switzerland, and the Rhine. Bavaria was converted 
 into a Kingdom. 
 
 51 Treat y of Tilsitt: signed July 8, 1807, put an end 
 
 to the wars of the fourtiT'coaTIt ion against Napoleon; re-established 
 peace between Prance and Russia, and between Russia and Prussia. 
 Obenaus: of. p. SO above. Rostand in l'Aiglon is false and unjust 
 in accusing Obenaus of being an instrument for the blunting and 
 demoralization of the prince. Nothing, neither authentic testi- 
 mony nor fabled calumnies, attests to the fact that this tutor 
 degraded himself into the servile executioner of Metternich’s de- 
 signs. la maison de Br&g ance : the expulsion of the House of 
 Braganza frouTTortugal in 1807 by Napoleon was effected in order 
 
 to satisfy Godoy of Spain who promised to allow the Prench army 
 free passage to Lisbon. 
 
 52, 53, 54 Oct. ^6, 1805 : Napoleon abandoned his mili- 
 tary projects against Great Britain, broke up his armaments along 
 the Atlantic, on Oct. 6 crossed the Danube, and hurled his men upon 
 the Austrians near the town of Ulm in WUrtemberg forcing the Aus- 
 trian commander to surrender with 50,000 men. Murat: a Prench 
 general, in command of the cavalry at this time. Sjm lt : General 
 and Marshal of Prance. Napoleon won victories at Wert ingen and 
 Augsbourg. Nev, due d’ Elchingen : Marshal of Prance. He covered 
 himself with glory in^the wars of the Revolution and of the empire, 
 especially in the Russian campaign. Napoleon continued this drive, 
 and in November took possession of Vienna and resided at the Palace 
 Schoenbrunn. Prom Vienna he made war on Italy. 
 
 53 Deux empereurs: the Austrian and Russian emperors. 
 
 54 Des oadavre s flottant sur les glacons d'un lac : refers 
 to the struggle at Austerlitz when the Austrians retreating over 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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 the thin ice of the lakes at Mbnitz and Satschan lost many of their 
 men by drowning. 
 
 57 Mao beth : reference to the soldiers who carried 
 branches of trees to hide their approach; in Shakespeare’s Macbeth , 
 Act V, Sc. 6. 
 
 57, 58 le ddcret : the decree made him Luke of Reichstadt 
 at his mother's desire in 1818. Ho mention was made of his father 
 in the decree. 
 
 59 Charles V: son of Philippe le Beau of Austria and of 
 Jeanne la Folle, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. He 
 was King of Spain; and emperor of Germany from 1519-1558. He 
 inaugurated the Spanish line of the Austrian House. 
 
 60 Le Pj^tgr: promenade in Vienna. J3ala: S&la Baganza, 
 
 the residence of the dukes of Parma, also of Marie Louise during 
 her reign. Cf. palais de Sala . pp. 175, 176 in text. 
 
 62 Gazan: Gazan de la Peyri^re, general and politician. 
 Suchet: Louis Gabriel de Suchet, Marshal of Prance. 
 
 66 Sedlinsky: Count Sedlinsky was Prefect of Police in 
 Vienna. — ^ 
 
 68 General Hartmann : the duke's military mentor extolled 
 for his remarkable attainments in military science. Fore sti: cf. 
 p. 18 above. Plajju^s <ie M grie -Thdrfese (Je St . - Et ienne : order 
 founded in Hungaryin 1764 by MarTe^hdr^se — green and red ribbon 
 badge. Lietrichstein: cf. p. 18 above. 
 
 72 Prokesch: cf. p. 23 above. Marmc^nt: Marshal Marmont, 
 notorious for having deserted IJapoleon. The young duke was at first 
 very suspicious of him. But he grew more confident as he heard 
 Marmont's flattering picture of Uapoleon's life. 
 
 78 a us Be rlitz : cf. note p. 46. Jena : the battle of Jena, 
 Oct. 14, 1806, resulted in a defeat for the Prussians and a total 
 collapse of Prussian military prestige. Bi LPthdlemy ' s celebrat ed 
 poem : " Le Fils de l'homme ”, Paris, 1829, fell like a bo mV sheYl~~ in 
 lHie'~ heated atmosphere of France where all was intrigue and con- 
 spiracy and where the mere shadow of the duke sufficed to excite 
 fear, parle de Locuste : Locuste, famous Roman poisoner, instrument 
 of Agrippa, killed by Galva in 68. 
 
 81 Parme: le pays des violettes: Parma grows many violets 
 and sends them to France where Parma violet is well known. Cf. note p.17. 
 
 84 t oute la grande armde : Hap ole on's army, les Marne - 
 lucks : soldiers, formerly slaves who became the masters of Egypt. 
 
 They were defied by Hapoleon in the Battle of the Pyramids in 1798. 
 

 
 
 
 
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 85 W ag ram : cf. p. 12 above. Ey lau : in Feb., 1807, Na- 
 poleon won a bloody victory there from theliussians and Prussians. 
 Essj^ing: another bloody victory here from the Austrians in 1809. 
 Aspern : marvelous deeds were done here by Napoleon’s infantry. At 
 first the French won; then the Austrians won; Napoleon's first 
 defeat. The struggle for Aspern and Essling was one of the most 
 memorable and also the most sanguinary combats in military history, 
 le Me moria l: MSmoires of Napol6on, published by Las Cases, who 
 accompanied him into exile, written at Saint Helena. Saint -Cyr: 
 Grouvion Saint -Cyr, marshal of France. Mol it or: marshal '*o*f~"£’rance . 
 He nri Ccmte de_ Be llegarde : Austrian general?'^'"’'’" 
 
 89 raguser : from Raguse, alluding to the treason of 
 Marshal Marmont , duke of Raguse. The word was used commonly during 
 the Restoration. 
 
 91 Flambeau : a character created by Rostand to represent 
 "l’ame populaire^ , a soldier of the Empire. The duke was right in 
 eulogizing him: 
 
 ’’Dans le livre, aux sublimes chapitres, 
 
 Majuscules, c’est vous qui composez les titres, 
 
 Et c’est sur vous tou jours que s’arr^tent les yeuxi 
 Mais les mille petites lettres...ce sont euxj 
 Et vous ne seriez rien sans l’arm^e humble et noire 
 Qu’il faut pour composer une page d’histoire." 
 
 l’Aiglon , Act II, Sc. 9. ce^ fameux bpt on, qu’on a dans sa g ib erne : 
 Napoleon had a mania for giving new rank, for creating marshals with 
 a baton as their mark of power. The above is a common saying ; that 
 every spldier felt he could win the baton. 
 
 92 Sous les ciels^ tx^pigaux; the Egyptian campaign. 
 
 Sous les neiges T^The Russian - flight . 
 
 campaign. 
 
 93 victory at Marengo in the second Italian 
 
 June 14, 1800, was important because it wa3 in a measure 
 
 the consecration of Napoleon’s personal authority. ]J_an_Y_I, l’an 
 XII: years in the Republican calendar, 1798 and 1804. Sans Souci : 
 royal chateau of Prussia at Potsdam, . austerlitz : cf. note p. 46. 
 Eylau: cf. note p. 85. Somo -Sierra : a pass in the x «S^i which Na- 
 poleon forced in 1808 in""his Spanish campaign. EckmUhl : here Na- 
 poleon struck the decisive blow against the Austrians^in the Rat is - 
 bon campaign in 1809. Essling : cf. note p. 85. Wag.ram: cf. p. 12 
 above. S jnolensk : in 1812 in the Russian campaign ime^Russian forces 
 were concentrated at Smolensk. There was no decisive victory for 
 Napoleon, but the Russians continued their retreat. Napoleon’s de- 
 cision here to follow the Russians in the hope of winning a decisive 
 battle was perhaps his greatest error in the v/hole war. 
 
 94 Saint Cloud: a park near Paris. Napoleon had a home 
 there. Marshal Duroo: Napoleon’s Grand Marshal of the Palace. 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
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 95 bon J3: bon bougre meaning bon diable . The word is 
 
 not often written out in full, but is generally designated by the 
 first letter only. Solignac : I con find no reference to him. 
 
 Fo urnier- Sarlov& ge : aiTonicer arrested in May, 1802, for conspiracy 
 against Napoleon. Dialer : Jean Paul Didier, French conspirator, 
 beheaded in 1816. Var : river in southeastern France. 
 
 96 Bdziers: city southwest of Montpellier in southern 
 France. Lef& vre^- 15psn o ue 1 1 e s : a French general who was drowned in 
 1822. Complot de. Vaumur : can find no reference. Ca ron : Lieutenant 
 Colonel under the first Empire. 
 
 97 Colin : Cf. Collins, p. 18 above. 
 
 98 Gobelins : celebrated manufactory of tapestry in 
 Paris. Fontai ne et P ercier : Paris architects. 
 
 99 Henry IV: King of France, 1589-1610. le petit Tondu: 
 a nickname of Napoleon II. 
 
 100 Pon t- Neuf : one of the oldest bridges in Paris. ( 1607 ) . 
 NSpomuofene : Metternich. 
 
 101 1 ’ambassadeur Mai son: Marshal Maison, representing 
 Louis-Philippe . 
 
 105 une chanson da granger : Pierre -Jean de Granger 
 (1780-1857) popular song writer of France. L’Aiglon was a subject 
 often chosen by the lyric writers of the early nineteenth century. 
 Latude: an adventurer, lived from 1725-1806. 
 
 122 Lame .nnajs : (1782-1854). French, philosopher and theolo- 
 gian, passionate partisan of the Revolution, brilliant writer. 
 
 Cha t e a u b r i a n d : (1768-1848). French writer and politician. He emi- 
 gratelf^6ri7~92. Under the Restoration he was minister of foreign 
 affairs. 
 
 124 le pix- huit Brumair_e : the day Bonaparte on his return 
 from Egypt overturned the PirecYoire (November 9, 1799, year VIII 
 of the Republican calendar). 
 
 127 Pour remet tre a mon fils l_orsqu*il aura seize ans: 
 quotation from NapolYoii^swlll. Many people were charg"ecf"by Napoleon 
 to give a number of mementos to the young prince. Although they 
 wished to do so, the executors of the will refused to accept them 
 for the duke. However, the duke knew his father’s intentions and 
 consoled himself by reading and rereading accounts of his father. 
 
 136 Raf f e t : 1804-1860. One of the best French painters 
 of the soldiers~~o?"The Revolution and of the Umpire. 
 
 139 d’Aue^s tae dt : Bavout, due d’Auerstaedt , Marshal of 
 France and one '^T^apoleon ’ s best lieutenants. 
 

 
 
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 140 Artaban: hero of a novel, Clbopatre , by La Cal- 
 pren^de, a eharap t tei r- wiio was very proud, Fier eomme ^rtaban is a 
 familiar expression. La Calpren&de, novelist and dramatist ("1614 -1663) 
 
 148 Jeanne la Folle : one of his Spanish ancestors, queen 
 of Castille 1504^1553. Cf. note p, 59. 
 
 149 le Pyemier Consul: Napoleon I. SaLcurial: palace 
 near Madrid built byPhTiip’”Yf'7 156 2-1584 ) . Comg_i^gne : chateau 
 built by Louis XV and remodeled by Uapoleon. Marie Louise and 
 Napoleon were married there. l^J : maisjqn: residence in Paris which 
 was the home of Empress Josephine, first wife of Uapoleon. ^rcole : 
 Italian city where Uapoleon fought the Austrians, leading his men 
 in person. (1796) 
 
 155 Cong r^s de V^rone: Metternich was a bitter opponent 
 of liberalism. Luring the years of his predominance in European 
 politics, he convoked four great congresses, the last in 1822 at 
 Verona, where he prevailed upon the plenipotentiaries of Europe to 
 authorize what amounted to the policing of the whole continent for 
 the suppression of liberalism. 
 
 156 Michel: Michel et Christine , a light, unpretentious 
 drama in one a oT^by^ug^ne Scribe^ ( 1791-1861 ) , presented for the 
 first time at Paris in the theater of _le Gymnase drama tique in 1821. 
 Hos^odars: title belonging to the raahometan lords, a word of Slavic 
 origin meaning seigneur . 
 
 158 0an i*i nd no reference. 
 
 159 Stieger: can find no reference. Odiot: famous 
 French goldsmith and jeweler of Paris (1763-1850). It was he who 
 made the cradle for the Roi de Rome after the design of Prud’hon. 
 
 Cf. note p. 256. 
 
 160 Mg^Mavel: (1469-1527) publicist and historian of 
 
 Florence, a gre^tpa^riot and a great writer. Maj^is_vel i ame : 
 artificial and perfidious conduct. ^ 
 
 161 Fanchon la Mielleuse: Fanchon la vielleuse was from 
 Savoy, born in 1^3fT*^ She was w welY~known in Paris, for she played 
 the hurdy-gurdy at fairs. She inspired a great many comedies and 
 vaudeville acts. The difference in spelling is doubtless due to a 
 mistake of Rostand or his printer. 
 
 165 Rodolghe: of the Habsburg family. Rodolphe I, em- 
 peror of Germany^?oral!273 to 1291, founder of the Austrian mon- 
 archy. Phllipge Deux: grandson of Philip I and Jean la Folle of 
 Spain, Kingoi^paa^Tfr om 1527 to 1598. 
 
 166 Dori Juan : legendary personnage who is the type of 
 the libertine, the seducer, a man who is rich, proud, impious. 
 
 CjSs§£: Caesar has come to be a synonym of a great warrior, of a 
 civilizing conqueror. 
 
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 167 Don Juan de Mozart : an opera in two acts, music by 
 Mozart, 1787. Strauss: an Austrian composer, author of many 
 waltzes (1804-18'^TT u *" tableau de Liotard: Liotard is a Swiss 
 •painter, known as le Peintre Turc because of his long sojourn in the 
 Orient. (1702-1790T. 
 
 173 SjrI n t - Aula ir_ e : French historian and politician, 
 chamberlain of Napoleon in 1809. Later he served in various public 
 offices. Thomire: Pierre -Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) a French 
 sculptor, employed in the royal manufactories. Blois: historic 
 French chateau built between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. 
 
 177 Jos > djohine, la CrGjgle: Napoleon's first wife, married 
 in 1804, divorced in 1809. She was born in Martinique in 1763, 
 died at Malmaison in 1814. 
 
 181 Hiejt^ija^: a village adjoining the park at Schoen- 
 
 brunn. 
 
 182 carosse du Sacre: carriage used at the time Napoleon 
 was crowned emperor^ 
 
 185 Eonnes: from Bertram's superb evocation in the second 
 part of the opera^^oberjb le Diable , by Scribe and Meyerbeer, 1831. 
 ' *Nonnes , qui reposez sous cette froide pierre . ** 
 
 186 j^&cas: (1779-1839) French diplomat and politician. 
 
 Can find no reference to his having been at Vienna. Zichy: pro- 
 bably Francois de Zichy, (1811-1880), Austrian diplomaTT“counselor , 
 and chamberlain of the Austrian emperor. no ' te P* 
 
 Josika: a novelist often called the HungarYan'^QlTer Scott. Sandor: 
 oan^lnd no reference. 
 
 188 Raffet: (1804-1860) designer and lithographer at 
 Paris, especially^noted for his battle designs. Char le t : (1792- 
 1845) designer at Paris. Told the story of the Empfre^In litho- 
 graphs. Vernet: (1758-1835) French painter especially noted for his 
 pictures oT^liorses and military tableaux. Guerre et viotoire 
 Soj3ui*s: can find no reference. 
 
 191 Stanislas: a soldier, character in Michel et Chris - 
 tine . cf. note 
 
 194 Mina : There was a Francisco Mina (1784-1836) who was 
 chief of the Spanish partisans who fought Napoleon I. 
 
 201 Gotha: annual of genealogical, historical, and 
 statistical importance, published in French and German at Gotha. 
 Cambronne: a French general (1770-1842). In command of one of the 
 regiments at Waterloo, he said, ” La garde meurt et ne se rend pas . n 
 
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 202 PatjLgbon: The Ratisbon Campaign (April 19-23, 1809) 
 was won by Napoleon against the Austrians. 
 
 205 Philippe de 36 gur : Philippe -Paul de Sdgur (1780-1873), 
 Prench general anlT'liist orian. 
 
 210 Gros shofen: can find no reference. 
 
 216 Rov igo: Rend, due de Rovigo (1774-1833), Prench 
 general and Minister of Police under first Empire. 
 
 217 fils de Pouchd : cf. note p. 12. Goubea ux: can find 
 no reference. 
 
 218 Pipnnet , Machin .Morchain , Guibert , Bprokpwski: 
 can find no reference. 
 
 221 Mursrt_: (1771-1815) brother-in-law of Napoleon, a 
 valiant general, king of Naples from 1808 to 1814. 
 
 226 Peach: ( 1763-1839 ) Cardinal Joseph Pesch, uncle of 
 Napoleon, grand’^cliaplain of the Empire. 
 
 232, 233 Da v oust : (1770-1823) due d’auerstaedt , Marshal 
 of Prance. Neusidel: village in Austria-Hungary. Resile: (1775- 
 1860) Ifershaiolf^rance , distinguished himself at Essling' and 
 Wagram. Oudinot : (1767-1847) Marshal of Prance. Received his 
 baton at Wagram. Macdonald : (1765-1840) Marshal and pear of 
 Prance. Massdna: (1765-1817) Marshal of Prance. Lauriston: (1768- 
 1828) MarsliaY^and diplomat of Prance. 
 
 256 Prud ’hon : (1758-1823) Prench painter, cf. note p.159. 
 
 257 Mme . Marchand : a woman of limited education who had 
 charge of the duke of^ReT ichstadt until she was dismissed with the 
 other Prench attendants. She told the prince many stories about his 
 former existence. 
 
 261 Madam e de Montesquieu.: the governess of the young 
 Napoleon. La Princess e AlrCTranMnT : Les Comt esses Y ilain XIV et 
 de Beaveau : le due de Valmy : can find no'"’re fere nee . 
 

 
 
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
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 London, J. B. Lippinoott, 1913. 
 
 Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham, Reader's Handbook of illusions . 
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 The Cambridge Modern History , 11 vols., vol. IX, 
 
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 Chandler, Prank Y/adleigh, Aspects of Modern Drama . New 
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 Cuthell, Edith E., nn Imperial Victim , Marie Louise . 
 
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 Faguet, Emile, Propos de Thdatre . Paris, Socidtd Pran- 
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 Goldman, Emma, The Social Significance of the Modern 
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 Grand-Carteret , John, l'Aiglon en Images . Paris, Char- 
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 Hayes, Carlton J. H. , a Political and Social History of 
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 La Grande Encyclopedia , 31 vols., Paris, Lamirault , S.A. 
 
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 Morgan, James, In the Footsteps of Napoleon . New York, 
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 Phelps, William Lyon, Edmond Rostand. The Yale Review, 
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 Racine, Jean, Oeuvres. 8 vols., vol. 2, Paris, Genets, 
 
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 Reggio, Albert, au seuil de leur ame . Paris, Librairie 
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 Sloane, William Milligan, The Life of Hapoleon Bonaparte . 
 
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 Suberville, Jean, le Theatre d "Edmond Rostand . Paris, 
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 Walsh, William S. , Handy-book of literary curiosities . 
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