Jeanne-Christine was born as the illegitimate daughter of the Abbe Terray and a peasant woman living in the south of France. Unfortunately, like many impoverished women did in these times due to the high poverty, Jeanne-Christine was sent to Paris as a baby *with the hope* that someone would be able to take care of her. Due to expensive wars (such as the Seven Year's war) and bad harvests, many women were not able to take care of their babies. Taken into one of the many hospices in Paris, a few nuns took her under their care. This was really not so uncommon, as by 1772 it was noted that 10,634 children had to be lodged, nourished and educated there by the nuns in Paris. Jeanne-Christine had a fairly happy youth, although she always had the feeling as if she did not really belong. In fact, she felt as if she deserved something more, as if she had a bigger destiny in life. Something the nuns in Paris could not offer her. In order to survive, one would need money and status. In a desperateattempt to escape her faith and the strict nuns, Jeanne-Christine knocked on the Honfleur residence in Paris at age 6, where they took her in as a part of their family.

Soon Jeanne-Christine got a job at Versailles as a maid, where she felt bitter about the class system and the manner by which she was treated. It was also at Versailles where she was reunited with her biological father, the Abbe Terray, who believed himself to a have a good ally in this ambitious bastard. Jeanne-Christine would look with sadness as the noble women would walk by in their gorgeous gowns, while she was rubbing the floor clean merely because of the circumstances in which she was born. Angry with how she was treated by nobles, and particularly by Madame Adelaide, she wanted revenge. She wanted to scare one of the horses of Madame Adelaide, but it unfortunately turned out that the carriage which she believed to be Madame Adelaide's turned out to be Madame Victoire's. As the carriage crashed against the castle walls while a ball was going on nearby, Jeanne-Christine could not help but watch as blood dripped out of the carriage. For the first time in her life, Jeanne-Christine realized she couldhave a power over those whom often regarded her as irrelevant and inferior.

Despite of what happened, life went on as normal. Aside from the confrontations with the Abbe de Luynes now and then, everything was going well for her. Many women of her age would have been happy with the circumstances in which she lived. Jeanne received financial support from the Abbe Terray and her family. Nonetheless, a woman such as Jeanne-Christine wanted more in life. She wanted not only materialistic things, but she secretly also craved love. She sought male attention, but she had never been a very lovable woman. It was that controlling, self-dependent, narcissistic part of her personality that never let her be able to love, nor to be loved. So aside from the occasional meaningless intimacy, Jeanne never experienced true love until she thought she had found love with the Prince d'Angoumois, with whom she also shared the bed. However, his family, Saint-Cyr, had other plans for him, namely to marry him of to a member of the house of Gramont, the Mlle de Bidache.

Jeanne-Christine helped the Mademoiselle de Bidache get ready for her big wedding day. She helped her get into her wedding dress, styled her hair and applied her rouge. But then, as she looked upon the painting of the Prince dAngoumois, she felt wronged. Had he and Jeanne not spent the night together, had he not told her he loved her? Why is it, that purely because of the family name she carried, she could not marry him herself? Was she, an intelligent and beautiful woman, destined to be an maid forever, while this girl was to be a princesse? In a moment of bitterness and panic, Jeanne-Christine got a knife out of the pocket out of her dress, and coldly stabbed the Mademoiselle de Bidache. Before she realized it the entire room was covered in blood, and she ironically wrote love on the painting of the prince with blood. Jeanne-Christine ran to the chapel and shouted something horrible had happened, but none of them could have known that the maid ringing the alarm bell was the one who committed thehorrible crime.

Except for the Abbe de Luynes, nothing seemed to get in her way. Angry with him for once publicly humiliating her at audiences with the Dauphine and at a salon of Madame du Barry, she was desperate to take revenge. It seems that Jeanne-Christine could finally take her revenge on the Abbe de Luynes at the Nations Ball Masquerade. Dressed as a noblewoman hidden behind a mask, she seduced the Abbe de Luynes and made love to him. Although one might not necessarily see that as a revenge, the fact that he gave in to his weakness for earthly desires and exposed himself to her gave Jeanne her feeling of power and control back. A feeling she would so desperately seek. But that was not her only form of revenge that night. Not only did she seduce the Abbe de Luynes, she also attempted to poison the Duchesse de Bourbon of whom she greatly disliked. It was in these days that the Duchesse de Bourbon was said to be intimate with some Italian lady, and Jeanne-Christine wished to punish her and the other nobles for their corrupt lifestyle.

Jeanne-Christine got everything she wanted. She had the nobility scared of her, she had enough wealth through her family and father, but she still had the desire to get more out of life. Her father, who was part of the corrupt government of France, wished to overthrow Madame du Barry with one of his own many bastard daughters. But in order to do so, she had to be a noble first and be presented to the court. In order to do this, the Comte dArtois was the perfect tool, as he, despite being married, would not disappoint a woman throwing herself at him. He and Jeanne-Christine had spent a few nights together, with the ultimate goal of her carrying his baby. When she was finally pregnant, she blackmailed him to use his influence in order to obtain her a husband--who turned out to be the unfortunate Marquis de Saint-Ceneri. The bundled influence of the Abbe Terray, Comte d'Artois and a dowry of 400,000 sous persuaded the Marquis into a marriage with this woman.

The only step left was her presentation at court. On April 26, 1774, she was to be formally presented to the court, but in the middle of her presentation, she was arrested for the crimes she had committed. Taken away and imprisoned, Jeanne-Christine had lost all control and power she worked so hard to obtain. But, knowing that she is a woman who does not let much stand in her way...what will the the future bring for this character? What do you think, knowing from the historic events that occur in the future?

Jeanne-Christine is not just a villain, and she is not a monster. She is not a bitch. Well, the latter is up for discussion I suppose. In many ways, Jeanne-Christine resembles how many people in the 18th century must have felt. Her ambitions and dreams were often blocked by her origins, but also by her sex. In these times women holding on to any sort of power were often feared and subjected to hatred. Think of the unpopular female regents such as Anne of Austria and Catherine de' Medici, or the war causedby a female ascending the imperial throne of the Holy Roman Empire. I have always wanted Jeanne-Christine not to come across as some murdering idiot, but as an ambitious young woman who, by no means, let anyone, her origins or her sex get in the way of achieving her dreams.