Joseohines Influence on the great Napoleon

A detailed Summary of Joseohines Influence on the great Napoleon

A young woman by the name of Josephine Rose-Marie Tascher arrived in France from the tropical island of Martinique in the midst of the greatest political and social up heaving. With her innate grace and charm she secured herself a position of prominence that enabled her to capture the affection of Napoleon Bonaparte an up and coming French artillery officer from Island of Creole (www.geocities.com/Paris/Parc.html). This was the beginning of one of histories most passionate and extraordinary love affairs. Napoleon instantly fell in love with Josephine and they married on March 8, 1776. The marriage of Josephine and the great Napoleon was one of turbulence, yet Josephine had a great impact on his decisions and his rise to power and fame. Josephine was a respectable and likable person with a high social status which aided to Napoleon and his advancements. Emotionally, Napoleon was affected greatly by Josephine both directly and indirectly. Josephine's influence on Napoleon's emotions was profound in the way that it affected his decisions and actions. Also, Josephine was a smart and intelligent woman whose opinions were of great value to Napoleon and he often took them into consideration when making extremely important dec

1Josephine's first husband was the Vicomte de Beauharnais was a rich aristocrat who was guillotined during the French Revolution. She had two children with him Hortense and Eugene. He left her lots of land and money but one of the most important things that she gained out of the marriage was a respectable family name which Napoleon also gained from.

Josephine had a major influence on Napoleon emotionally, directly and indirectly by making him feel secure, providing him with emotional support, and giving him confidence which ultimately had a bearing on his decisions and actions. Sadly before Napoleon had met Josephine he was on the verge of suicide he was lonely and depressed (Laing 128). Fortunately "Josephine had transformed life for him, given him meaning to ambition, and crowned his success with pleasure," (Laing 128). Mlle Avrillon, one of Josephine maids, even saw his dependence on her and her swift response to his needs, "whenever he suffered the slightest indisposition, when any problem aroused to worry him, she was, so to speak, at his feet, and at such times he could not get along without her," (Erickson 132) This demonstrates how much her emotional support helped Napoleon and how he relied on it to continue his aspirations (Erickson 132). Napoleon was convinced that his good fortune in battle, politics, and all the important areas of life was linked to his finding and falling in love with Josephine. She was his charm and "his talisman"2 (Erickson 253). From the time they met he had nothing but opportunities and success (Erickson 253). "He was convinced that I brought him luck, and nothing would induce him to start on a campaign without previously kissing me," Josephine once admitted of Napoleon (Laing 101). Therefore, even without her being present on the battle field, or even in the same country, it was Josephine's inspirational spirit, that encouraged Napoleon throughout all of his major victories against Egypt, Prussia, Russia. Josephine's role in Napoleon's victory was clearly understood by the sharpest of her observers, Claire de Remusat one of Josephine's closest friends once said "What a situation for a woman to find herself in - as one of the motivating influences for the triumphal march of a whole army," (Laing 101). Onetime when Napoleon was on campaign he was holding a glass portrait of Josephine, all of a sudden he grew pale and the glass shattered in his hands, he said, "Either my wife is very ill or she is unfaithful." (Erickson 140). For that day Napoleon would not leave his tent and sat starring at the wall while he should have been out helping his soldiers prepare for a battle that was to take place the next day (Erickson 140). Just the thought of something bad happening to Josephine turned Napoleon into a temporary basket case. Likewise, when Napoleon was being pressured into divorcing to Josephine and it appeared in newspapers all around Europe he became very upset because he truly loved her3 (Erickson 191). He turned into an emotional wreak which affected his battles. On account of this he w

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Approximate Word count = 2070
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History