Irina de France

And of course, I know people spoke AT LENGTH that Christine is not at all in the same social class as Raoul is - Raoul is a nobleman, Christine is a dancer turned opera singer, which did not have the same prestige at the time as it does today - but to assume those two are going to have a happily ever after, or that Raoul will see himself as lesser… that’s forgetting two important points. 

Of course, there’s no denying Christine and even Raoul will suffer from PTSD for a very long time, especially that they probably won’t get proper care for it as it is the 1880s and psychology wasn’t there yet (PTSD became a thing mostly when they examined traumatized soldiers after WWI, although I could be wrong on that one). 

But the 1880s-1890s is a really interesting time because you have noblemen in the UK, meanwhile, who are marrying American ladies - the Gilded Age Heiresses, as they are called. It was at a time where some English lords were starting to realize their income wouldn’t be enough to sustain their properties (see Downton Abbey, also Winston Churchill’s own mother, Jennie Jerome). 

Obviously, Christine doesn’t quite measure up to the American Dollar Princesses: they have money, and she doesn’t. But you can guess some people in the good British society didn’t exactly welcome those ladies with open arms, although there was no denying that times were changing. 

I don’t know how French noblemen were faring at the time, although my guess would be that for many of them, their position would be a lot more precarious since France isn’t a monarchy anymore, unlike the UK. But again, I’d have to dig it into it. 

Anyway, just Christine trying to adapt to a whole new society entirely, which is the upper class, not as a potential protegee but as an equal by marriage, bringing along her trauma baggage in the lot, makes a fascinating story in itself I haven’t seen developed in any fanfic. It’s a time where being a noble birth isn’t a requirement anymore to marry into nobility, and society is changing as they enter the 20th century. It would be a Cinderella story of sorts, but with a lot more realism than most stories of the type. Of course, Raoul would back her up, but she’d have to face brand new challenges, and probably have to change again as a person. 

Can someone actually please write that fanfic before I start doing research and outlining it and writing it while I have zero time to do so