Released on September 29, 2022, the Netflix original series, ‘The Empress’ has quickly made its way up the Top Hit charts. Whilst the series is promoted as ‘the true story of Empress Elisabeth of Austria’, one can wonder if that is truly the case.
I am always open to a historical romance, even perhaps to a romanticised historical fiction, I do not think it worked in this case. The series presents us with a young Elizabeth, unconventional and free-spirited, who falls almost instantly in love with the Emperor Franz Joseph I. It is worth noting that, historically, Elisabeth was 15 when she first met and got engaged to the Emperor; in the series, this age gap is ignored, which is problematic in its own regard, and although their ages are not mentioned, one can assume the characters are about the same age and in their 20s. Anyway, regardless of the historical inaccuracies, turning this story into a love story simply did not work for me. In fact, it evoked for me more of a teen programme than a historical drama. While the first episode recounts more or less accurate events, in that Franz chose Elisabeth over her sister, Helene, because he fell in love with her instead, it remains surprising that series-Elizabeth falls for him too, especially considering what real life-Elisabeth wrote about her wedding night. I find it unsettling to romanticise people and their relationships when, in fact, it is far from reality.
Empress Elisabeth of Austria, born in 1837, married young into a life she did not desire and found hard to adapt to. Being young and unable to fit into the social constraints of the Viennese court, the Empress suffered from depression and was obsessed with her appearance, possibly due to anorexia. In the series, this true and more melancholic side of the Empress was suppressed, replaced by a woman one could assume was inspired by YA novel heroines. The character of Elisabeth lacks depth; she is presented under angelic light, as a woman with hopes and, while she is disillusioned by life at court, her love for her husband keeps her somewhat positive. She remains quite plain, displaying some modern views of feminism, but it would’ve been interesting to see a truer, perhaps darker but more realistic, side of the historical Empress.
Something I did not understand was Elisabeth’s strange relationship with her husband’s brother, Maximilian. Being courted by two brothers and provoking jealousy between them is a very boring trope and is overused in teen programmes. Needless to say, I did not enjoy those scenes in the drama. However, in the sixth and final episode, Elisabeth parties with Maximilian, which I thought was interesting as it portrays well her declining mental health and despair. It is also very hard to determine what Elisabeth really thinks of her brother-in-law - in fact, it’s hard to know what she thinks of anything at any point in the series.
The only character that I found interesting was Archduchess Sophie. While she is manipulative and sometimes plain mean, she was, for me, the only character with depth. She is driven by power, yes, but she displays interesting moments of emotions and moral conflict. However, like many things in the series, her backstory is vaguely mentioned and not fully explored, which I thought was a shame.
I do have however to mention the gorgeous costumes and hairstyles. Empress Elisabeth is known for her long hair and unconventional beauty, and it is definitely good that they kept that in the series. The hairstyles are beautiful and creative and I definitely enjoyed Elisabeth’s clothing, which was colourful and fit for an Empress.
To conclude, I do not know what to make of this series. Yes, I enjoyed certain aspects, such as the costumes or the character development of Sophie and Leontine, but as a whole, it simply did not work for me. It feels as though they tried to appeal to a certain audience, namely young adults, wanting to remain in the current trends but lost sight of the actual story. I believe that when making historical drama one should not avoid certain elements because they are inconvenient and do not fit one’s vision of the story, namely the age of Elisabeth on her engagement and the fact that they were cousins. These elements are true and, yes, problematic from a modern viewer’s perspective, and definitely do not fit the romantic perspective this series tries to implement. I await a series where Empress Elisabeth is more realistically represented.
Image - Vogue
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