In this satire, Napoleon (l.) and Marie Louise (r.) face off over their breakfast table. Napoleon wears a purple dressing robe and a white cap on his head. Marie Louise is also in a state of déshabille. Although she wears a small crown that is tipped back on the top of her head, she is clothed in a revealing diaphanous white gown. The table is elegantly set and the two breakfast on rolls, eggs, tea and coffee. Despite the domestic calm conveyed by the representation of an intimate breakfast, the satirist suggests that Napoleon's home life was significantly less than satisfactory. Marie Louise sits at the right of the table and crosses her arms in dismay. The text indicates that her disappointment arises from Napoleon's production of "Nothing" in the bedroom. From this comical observation the viewer is invited to infer that Napoleon's thirst for power and his assertion of command on the battlefield arises from his sexual inadequacy.
Notes:
Published by Thomas Tegg. 1810-08-16
Caption: Published by T Tegg 111 Cheapside Aug 16 1810
Dialogue: Wife: "Husband, What makes you so sulky this morning, My Dear?"
Dialogue: Husband: "Wife, Nothing."
Dialogue: Wife: "Husband, What is the matter with you?"
Dialogue: Wife: "Husband, you were in a very good Humour last Night, pray what have I done to offend you?"
Dialogue: Husband: "Wife, you have done NOTHING that's the reason__"
"Boney and his new wife, or a quarrell about nothing!!"
(1810).
Prints, Drawings and Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Napoleonic Satires from the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:232203/
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