Napoleon Bonaparte & Joséphine de Beauharnais
“Not tonight, Josephine!” Napoleon’s lovehate relationship
Napoleon’s doting letters to his first wife, Joséphine, symbolise his passionate and obsessive love for her that was often plagued by his own jealous insecurities. He began writing to Joséphine when she became his mistress, during which time he famously declared, “I awake full of you. Your image and the memory of last night’s intoxicating pleasures has left no rest to my senses.” Similar affirmations of his devotion to Joséphine continued after they married in
1796, with Napoleon writing a considerable amount of amorous correspondence to her whenever he was away leading his military campaigns across Europe. On one such occasion he wrote, “Ever since I left you, I have been sad. I am only happy when by your side. Ceaselessly I recall your kisses, your tears, your enchanting jealousy; and the charms of the incomparable Joséphine keep constantly alight a bright and burning flame in my heart and senses.” However, their relationship was no fairytale. Both of them had extramarital affairs and a jealous Napoleon could turn nasty in his letters — for instance, in one he called his wife
“a naughty, gawky, foolish slut.”
The couple eventually divorced as Joséphine had failed to provide Napoleon with the heir he so desperately needed, although they did continue to care for one another for the rest of their lives.