I grew up reading comic books, but not the American variety, rather the Japanese “mangas” that were geared particularly to young girls, or “shoujo manga” as they are known. Although I could really only read about half of the Japanese characters, there were plenty of pictures to get the gist of what was going on. Probably my favorite manga series was “Berusaiyu no Bara” which translates to “The Rose of Versailles”

It follows the story of Lady Oscar Francois de Jarjayes, a girl raised as a man in late 18th century France, because her father, a general in the Palace Guards had a succession of daughters and finally decided to raise his youngest daughter as a man to follow in his footsteps. It also follows the real-life story of Marie Antoinette, including her affair with the Swedish Count Axel von Fersen. I learned more about the French revolution from this comic book than I ever could from a high school history book.

Lady Oscar is a tough woman who, as Commander of the Royal Guard, is sworn to protect the crown, but has a conflicting sense of justice for the lower class. She falls in love with her companion and technically her servant, Andre, with whom class differences forbid a romance.

Lady Oscar - cross dressing heroine

 

However preposterous the story, I think it was the combination of Oscar’s atypical strong-woman character along with her forbidden romance which made this so appealing to young women and made it one of the best selling manga series in Japan.

The manga has since sprouted an anime series, a long-running Japanese “Takarazuka” musical (I may have to write a separate blog about these all-girl revues some day), and a Japanese-French co-produced movie called “Lady Oscar,” which I am sorry to say was a complete disappointment.