(spoilers for Rose of Versailles up to episode 16) One interesting theme in the Rose of Versailles is people creating new lives for themselves. Most of the time, these characters may not be the most morally pure- Madame DuBarry used to be a common prostitute, and survived for many years by manipulating people. However, there isn't really a huge amount of moral condemnation for people who gain power this way. Yes, they are shown as evil people, but instead of presenting them as villains for our heroine Oscar to face, we get to hear their side of the story.

For example, when Oscar is walking Madame DuBarry away from the castle when the Louis the XV died, DuBarry talks about after living in the gutters for such a long time, she was anxious to do anything to survive, and how after a while, she started to hunger for jewels as she used to hunger for bread.


Of course, not everyone who goes through such a transformation is morally shifty. The beautiful and moral Rosalie disguises herself as a noble to avenge her dead mother, although she might actually be of noble blood. It is interesting how common pretending to be a noble is- but then again, as France is a pretty big country, and you can't account for every cousin of a cousin, it couldn't have been too hard to slip one over on someone.