Charles Desnoyer (1806-1858) and Léon Beauvallet (1828-1885) were
French playwrights of the mid-nineteenth century. THE KING OF ROME
focuses on the Emperor Napoleon's only son, the Duke of
Reichstadt, who was held a captive by his maternal grandfather, the
Emperor of Austria. Fearing that he would emulate his father or be
used by a Napoleonic conspiracy to capture the French throne, the
Duke was kept in ignorance of his father's identity, as well as
of the basic facts of recent European history; and an attempt was
also made to debauch his morals, in order to discredit his name if
he did escape. This play traces the attempt of a French soldier to
penetrate the Austrian palace where the boy was kept, as part of a
failed attempt to free him from his "prison"; and the
awakening of the younger Napoleon to an awareness of his deadly
family heritage. First-rate political drama by two accomplished
writers!
