White Roses | Rose of Versailles

[farina]

Title: White Roses
Fandom: Rose of Versailles
Words: 377 words.
Summary: The reason André likes white roses. ;)
Pairing/Character: Oscar, Nanny, André
Extra Info: This was originally written and posted on July 14, 2008.
Rating: G
Genre: Gen, something light and silly to help me celebrate my birthday. ♥  

Notes:

The anime’s suggestion that André had a preference for white roses always bothered me, especially after the scenes with Charlotte. White as a metaphor color can make for lovely imagery or it can make a person want to puke. I spun it like this because it made for a fun/cute story and a silly little history for the characters, rather than...well...

Let’s just say the theme song’s “white stained with red” imagery doesn’t bother me because it feels like it’s coming from the actual themes of the story that The Rose of Versailles tells.

The “white roses” comment, on the other hand, lacked explanation and a connection to the character(s) in question. Why would André actually prefer white roses? Cleanliness? Innocence? Purity?

Charlotte’s white rose symbolizes innocence and a perceived purity (not a narrative consideration of these things, but rather, Charlotte’s own opinion). The white rose in the theme song, on the other hand, is supposed to represent Oscar, and like the thorns that ensnare her, we’re meant to see the red as her tragic end.

Throwing in “oh André liked white haha!” is so bizarre without some kind of leadup. This is where the symbolism in the show was genuinely bad. I could see situations where it could feel really meaningful, but without anything in the story for Oscar and André about the color white, it just feels fake-deep and has the unfortunate side-effect of making André look like he’s got a Thing about purity, which is the thing white is most commonly associated with.

Of course...feel free to try and argue some other point and maybe I’ll change my mind!