Revolution

Marie de Beauharnais (born July 4, 1769) was the youngest daughter of my grandfather, Count Claude de Beauharnais, and his wife Fanny, an author and salon-holder. In 1786, Marie was wed to her cousin, General François VII, and she moved to Paris, accompanied by her newly-widowed mother. The two opened a new salon there and spent much of their time writing plays and poems.
The French Revolution began in 1789 with the storming of the Bastille. As time passed, tensions between the revolutionaries and their opposition grew, eventually leading to the Reign of Terror (1793-1794). In those two years, several thousand people were labeled as a threat to the revolution and sentenced to death by guillotine. This included Marie’s cousin, Alexandre de Beauharnais, husband of Joséphine, who would later marry my adoptive father, Napoleon Bonaparte.
In 1784, Marie went missing. It is likely that she met the same fate as her cousin, but I was told as a girl that she moved to America, adopted an alias, and became a successful author. That story, though likely a tale, always held a special place in my heart. Now that I have acquired some of the things that she has left behind, including old diaries and poems, I hope to recreate her story, so that it may continue to touch people for generations.
I have chosen to focus on the period between 1783 and 1784, when Marie developed a friendship with a peasant boy named Jean. This was a significant turning point in her life, as it led her to develop the revolutionary ideas that are present throughout her plays and poems.

Enjoy,
Stéphanie de Beauharnais
1848