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Adrienne de La Fayette

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Royalty

The Resume

    (November 2, 1759-December 24, 1807)
    Born in Hôtel de Noailles, France
    Birth name was Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles
    Daughter of Jean de Noailles and Henriette Anne Louise d'Aguesseau
    Wife to Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette (m. 1774 - 1807)
    Later known as the Marquise de Lafayette or Madame de Lafayette

Why she might be annoying:

    Her love letters with the Marquis were made public.
    She had a clinging and overprotective mother.
    Her mother didn't want her to marry the Marquis not only because he was an orphan but also strangely because he was 'too wealthy.'
    She began courting the Marquis around the age of 12 as part of an arranged marriage contract, and eventually married him at the age of 15.
    She allegedly fainted in the Hotel de Noailles when her husband returned from service in the American Revolution.
    She is frequently identified as Madame Lafayette, inevitably leading to her being confused with the 17th Century woman writer of the same name.
    Feminists may now take issue with the mythology surrounding her memory, promoting her as a patient, dutiful wife in the tradition of Republican Motherhood.
    She took a disliking to Gouverneur Morris, referring to him as 'aristocratic,' but let's face it - as a Duke's daughter, she wasn't exactly impoverished herself.
    One has to wonder if she took back the 'aristocrat'-diss when Morris advanced her 100,000 livres of his own money to help her escape France during the Reign of Terror...

Why she might not be annoying:

    She lost her mother, sister, and grandmother all to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror.
    She named her only son after President Washington.
    She was an ardent abolitionist, like her husband, who urged Washington to free his slaves.
    She and her husband famously gave Washington the gift of several beagles and French hounds, essentially introducing them to North America.
    She was also hostess to Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John & Abigail Adams, John Jay, Voltaire, and Madame de Stael.
    Her husband was imprisoned by the Austrians during the French Revolution. Shortly thereafter she was placed under house arrest, and eventually transferred to a Paris prison, by the Jacobins.
    Her release was eventually orchestrated by President Monroe and First Lady Elizabeth Monroe, who personally visited her in prison to oversee her release.
    She loved her husband enough to travel to Austria to convince the Emperor to allow her to accompany him in prison, out of loyalty.
    Although they were eventually released, the strain of the imprisonments affected her health dramatically. She never fully recovered, succumbing to chronic illness ten years later.
    She is the rare example of a woman who found true love out of an arranged marriage. Case in point, her last words to her husband were 'I am all yours.'
    She has become a part of American Revolutionary folklore glorifying feminine courage and chastity, in the same way that her American counterparts Abigail Adams and Martha Washington have.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 81 Votes: 53.09% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 64 Votes: 53.12% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 38 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 31 Votes: 51.61% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 34 Votes: 67.65% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 22 Votes: 50.0% Annoying