Movie
Description
General Reynier de Jarjayes commanded France's military forces and held a prominent position within the royal court. He was husband to Lady Emilie de Jarjayes, father to six daughters including Oscar François de Jarjayes, and grandfather to grandchildren from his other daughters. Desperate for a male heir after five daughters to continue the Jarjayes military legacy and surname, he decreed his sixth daughter, Oscar, be raised as a boy to become his successor as commander of the Royal Guards, believing only a son could uphold the family tradition. He remained unaware this choice would contribute to Oscar's death during the French Revolution.
Initially authoritarian and classist, General Jarjayes demanded strict royalist loyalty. He physically punished Oscar for expressing disdain towards the nobility or questioning court corruption, such as her fight with Victor or defiance of house arrest imposed by Marie Antoinette. His volatile temper led others, including André and his grandmother, to perceive him as potentially unstable.
His character shifted when Oscar resigned from the Royal Guard to join the French Guards Regiment. Furious at her abandonment of family honor, his perspective changed upon learning she had suffered heartbreak from Count von Fersen and had attended a ball in a dress—her first feminine presentation. Recognizing the pain he caused by denying her womanhood, he privately apologized for his abuse, admitted he should have accepted her as a girl at birth, and wept in remorse. He tried to compensate by arranging noble suitors. When Oscar rejected this path by attending an event in uniform, he wept again, convinced he had ruined her chance for a normal life.
During the Revolution, as Oscar's revolutionary actions risked execution for treason, General Jarjayes resolved to kill her himself as an act of mercy before committing suicide. André intervened, confessing his love for Oscar and intent to marry her, which angered the General due to André's commoner status. Spared by Marie Antoinette's pardon, Jarjayes began acknowledging Oscar's long-held criticisms of noble injustice, though he remained loyal to the monarchy, believing it could be reformed. He gave André his blessing to marry Oscar, pleading with him to survive.
After Oscar joined the revolutionaries, he received her farewell letter expressing gratitude. Realizing she intended frontline combat, he vowed to stop her but soon learned she was dying of tuberculosis. Following her death at the Bastille and the monarchy's fall, he attempted to aid Marie Antoinette's prison escape, but she refused to abandon her children. After her execution, he fled to Italy to avoid execution and served in its military. His wife, Lady Emilie, died in 1790 of grief over Oscar's death, which he blamed on his decision to raise her as a soldier. He passed away in 1822, estranged from any surviving family in France.
Initially authoritarian and classist, General Jarjayes demanded strict royalist loyalty. He physically punished Oscar for expressing disdain towards the nobility or questioning court corruption, such as her fight with Victor or defiance of house arrest imposed by Marie Antoinette. His volatile temper led others, including André and his grandmother, to perceive him as potentially unstable.
His character shifted when Oscar resigned from the Royal Guard to join the French Guards Regiment. Furious at her abandonment of family honor, his perspective changed upon learning she had suffered heartbreak from Count von Fersen and had attended a ball in a dress—her first feminine presentation. Recognizing the pain he caused by denying her womanhood, he privately apologized for his abuse, admitted he should have accepted her as a girl at birth, and wept in remorse. He tried to compensate by arranging noble suitors. When Oscar rejected this path by attending an event in uniform, he wept again, convinced he had ruined her chance for a normal life.
During the Revolution, as Oscar's revolutionary actions risked execution for treason, General Jarjayes resolved to kill her himself as an act of mercy before committing suicide. André intervened, confessing his love for Oscar and intent to marry her, which angered the General due to André's commoner status. Spared by Marie Antoinette's pardon, Jarjayes began acknowledging Oscar's long-held criticisms of noble injustice, though he remained loyal to the monarchy, believing it could be reformed. He gave André his blessing to marry Oscar, pleading with him to survive.
After Oscar joined the revolutionaries, he received her farewell letter expressing gratitude. Realizing she intended frontline combat, he vowed to stop her but soon learned she was dying of tuberculosis. Following her death at the Bastille and the monarchy's fall, he attempted to aid Marie Antoinette's prison escape, but she refused to abandon her children. After her execution, he fled to Italy to avoid execution and served in its military. His wife, Lady Emilie, died in 1790 of grief over Oscar's death, which he blamed on his decision to raise her as a soldier. He passed away in 1822, estranged from any surviving family in France.