The Women Behind Bonaparte

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It has been said that behind every great man there is a great woman, well in the case of the great General Napoleon Bonaparte there were at least three great women. Everyone knows what Napoleon was like leading the government and troops in battles but these women had the opportunity to know some parts of the real Napoleon or at least the parts that he let each different woman see. If you step back and look behind the curtain that was Napoleon’s personal life you will see the three main women who helped define who he was and how he is remembered in history. There was the first wife Josephine who gave confidence, the favoured sister who idolized Napoleon and the second wife who made him feel powerful and royal.

On March 9 1796 Napoleon Bonaparte was feeling nothing but pride as he married Josephine Tascher. Napoleon was so passionately in love that day but his feelings would soon turn to suspicion and jealousy, for good reason. At the beginning of the relationship and marriage while Napoleon was passionately in love with Josephine she felt nothing but interference toward him. Josephine had long since forgotten how to feel safe and secure so she never gave up her old lifestyle that she learnt long ago up for long.
Before marrying Bonaparte Josephine had been married to Alexandre de Beauhamais who left her to care for their two children on her own. Josephine quickly learnt how to conduct affairs and became involved in profitable but questionable businesses. At the beginning of the revolution Josephine was reunited with her estranged husband when they were both thrown into prison. Alexandre was executed and Josephine went through the daily fear of possible execution. Josephine was finally released from prison and caught...

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...The Notorious Pauline Bonaparte. N.p., 13 May 2008. Web. 26 May 2014. .
"Napoleon." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 May 2014. Web. 26 May 2014. .
"Napoleon and Joesphine." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 26 May 2014. .
Orr, Lyndon. "Famous Affinities of History." Famous Affinities of History. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2014. .
"Pauline Bonaparte." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 May 2014. Web. 26 May 2014. .
Schneider, John. "Napoleon and Josephine." Napoleon and Josephine. The Napoleon Series, n.d. Web. 26 May 2014. .

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