The role of La Fayette in the French Revolution is very ambiguous. At the General Estates he belongs to the faction of Philippe Egalité and his part in making Louis XVI sign the Bill of Rights and the Abolition of Privileges is crucial. He is the creator of the French National Guard, and as its chief La Fayette follows in the wake of the Women’s March on Versailles.
His men replace the loyal royal troops at the gates of Chateau Versailles and by 4 am, on 6 October 1879 Chateau Versailles is invaded by some bearded women. La Fayette spends that night sleeping peacefully at his relatives’ house within a five-minute walk from the palace; his valiant conduct on this occasion earns him the name of General Morpheus.
After moving the royal household to Paris, La Fayette is once again in charge of their security at Tueleries. Only this time the palace looks like a golden cage where the National Guard keeps Louis XVI; his family is also held hostage during the king’s absences. “La Fayette is here to defend us,” used to say Marie-Antoinette, “but who is to defend us against La Fayette?”
In spite of the antipathy of the Queen for the hero of the American Revolution, by 1790 they both star in a famous feuilleton, Les soireées amoureuses du général Mottier et la belle Antoinette. The omniscient narrator of this pornographic work is a jealous lap dog of the Queen whom La Fayette replaces as her lover.
Indeed after the massacre at the Champs de Mars where the general orders his troops to shoot some of the radicals in the unruly crowd, La Fayette’s popularity is on decline, and not long after the attempted flight of the royal family he is relieved from his duties as their jailer. During the ex-Queen’s trial the revolutionaries attempt to stitch a case against her presumed lover and are looking closely into his relationship with Marie-Antoinette. The former Queen does not betray him.
Declared the Enemy of the People, La Fayette attempts to flee through Holland to the US, but is intercepted and imprisoned by the Austrians. He has to wait for five years for Napoleon to release him. The hero of the American Revolution has lived long enough to write his memoirs, although not long enough to receive his Honorary US Citizenship. Like all the true heroes he’s got it posthumously. Hollywood is not in a hurry to reward him either, not even a porn flick yet.
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