Abstract: The paternal question is fundamental in L’Aiglon, a play that is contemporary to the birth of psychoanalysis. Due to an inverted Oedipal complex, the Duke of Reichstadt is unable to mourn and his mind is haunted by the ghost of Napoleon I. Among his entourage, the name of his father is a taboo that he seeks to transgress but he sabotages the escape plan that could lead him to the French throne. L’Aiglon reflects an author inhibited by his literary father, Victor Hugo.
