Heartstrings & Power Plays: The Love Story of Napoleon & Marie Walewska

greta_garbo_walewska_film_en.jpg, full-width, Heartstrings & Power Plays: The Love Story of Napoleon & Marie Walewska, Greta Garbo as Countess Marie Walewska in Conquest, 1937, photo: Mary Evans / AF / East News, bottom, #ffd900

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Why do people fall in love? Sometimes they fall in love because of another person's appearance; other times, their feelings are primarily motivated by someone’s personality. They could also fall in love to save their country, like Polish Countess Marie Walewska. Her now-forgotten affair with Napoleon Bonaparte was depicted in an old American black-and-white film, 'Conquest'.

Conquest was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios on 22 October 1937. It was adapted from the novel Pani Walewska by Wacław Gąsiorowski and the play Pani Walewska by Helen Jerome. Greta Garbo starred as Marie Walewska, while the French film star Charles Boyer portrayed Napoleon. Boyer’s depiction of Napoleon earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

We can be certain that Napoleon used politics in his efforts to sway Marie to become his mistress. An excerpt from one of his (translated) letters to her says that 'your country will be dearer to me, once you have had pity on my poor heart'. Marie did in fact have an affair with Napoleon, and their affair produced a child. During their affair, Napoleon restored part of Poland and created the Duchy of Warsaw. Conquest opens with a message on its historical accuracy: ‘This is a story of an historic love. The imaginative detail supplied by the dramatist has not violated the spirit of this immortal romance.’

In the 1700s the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was partitioned by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Conquest starts in 1807, 12 years after the last partition of Poland. Poland did not exist on the world map, but Poles hoped that Emperor Napoleon could navigate their country toward independence. In the movie, Marie meets Napoleon when he’s stationed with his soldiers in Błonie. She worships Napoleon, believing that he will save Poland.

Gifts of Love

Napoleon meets Marie in an official capacity at a ball at Prince Poniatowski’s Warsaw palace. Napoleon also meets Marie’s husband Count Anastas Walewski. At the ball, Napoleon breaks tradition by dancing with Marie twice. The crowd’s gaze doesn’t stop Napoleon’s plan of action. Napoleon attempts to manipulate Marie by transforming her hero worship of him into romantic interest. He proposes that Marie become his mistress, but a stalemate occurs when Marie rejects his request, reiterating that she’s married.

Napoleon offers Marie much more than the boundaries of a relationship. He writes her a letter promising to be more affectionate as a ruler towards Poland if she becomes his mistress. Polish politicians also try to persuade Marie to have the affair, as they are convinced Napoleon will restore Poland as an independent country. Marie tries diplomatically convincing Napoleon to restore Poland, but he does not sway. Marie becomes the emperor’s mistress, and Napoleon creates the Duchy of Warsaw, which consists of most of the land that Prussia stole in its partitions of Poland.

Dictating Love

Greta Garbo, Charles Boyer in 'Conquest', 1937, directed by Clarence Brown, photo: East News

Napoleon and Marie’s affair is long distance, as he constantly leads his army into battle. They have the chance to meet briefly in places like Paris. Yet, distance also exists between them. Napoleon plans to divorce his wife, Empress Josephine, and petitioned Rome for an annulment of Marie’s marriage to her husband, Anastas. But this is just a smokescreen. Napoleon actually decides to marry Princess Marie-Louise of Austria to preserve his lineage and find himself a strong national ally. In Paris, he reveals to Marie his true intentions. This Napoleon is not the romantic one that Marie recognized from the French Revolution. She realizes he did not have the heart for either her or her country, Poland.

Man on an Island

Napoleon, in his personal and romantic life, was on an island. Conquest transports us to August 1814, when Napoleon is exiled on Elba Island. The historical background is that the Treaty of Fontainebleau, which was signed by the Allies and Napoleon in 1814, led to his exile. Napoleon would rule Elba, but he couldn’t leave the island. In Conquest, Napoleon is on Elba, expecting his wife Empress Marie-Louise to bring him his son, but instead another Marie visits him.

Thumbnail — Advertisement for the film 'Conquest' with Greta Garbo and Charles Boyer, 1937, photo: Wikimedia Commons

In Conquest, Marie visits Napoleon in Elba, but not as a politician. She visits as a mother. She brings her son Alexandre to see Napoleon, who is unaware that he has a son with her. Marie was pregnant with Alexandre before Napoleon decided to marry the Austrian Princess and decided not to tell Napoleon the news after his announcement that he would marry Marie-Louise.

The fate of Poland also could not wash ashore in Conquest. In 1812 Napoleon loses against Russia in the Second Polish War of 1812. This ends Polish hopes of Napoleon completely restoring Poland; the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth would never be restored. The Commonwealth’s 226-year pre-partition existence would continue to exist only tucked inside the pages of history books.

In Conquest, Napoleon lives a quiet life on Elba. He takes care of his mulberry trees but truly desires to return to politics. Marie tries to persuade Napoleon to live in peace on Elba. But Napoleon wants to return to the storm that he created. Marie surrenders to Napoleon, helping his planned escape.

Conquest, 1937, photo: Mary Evans / AF / East News

Conquest ends in July 1815 at the port of Rochefort in France. Napoleon is awaiting the second and final exile of his life. He is preparing to surrender to the British when Marie visits him. Marie wants to go with Napoleon, but instead, he exiles her from his life. He cherishes her sacrifice but decides that he must live with his shortcomings, while Marie cherishes Napoleon for giving her the adventure of a lifetime. This concludes Conquest, the story of a woman who fell in love out of patriotism to her homeland to a man who grew forgetful of his homeland. This old film that portrays Napoleon and Marie’s enduring affair represents society’s bond between fact and fiction in our state of affairs.

_Sources

_{Thompson, J.M. Letters of Napoleon: Selected, Translated, and Edited. Oxford, 1934.}

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