Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, nicknamed Josephine by Napoleon, was a young widow with a child after the Reign of Terror, searching for a powerful husband to support her. Following the trend of the time, she sought him among numerous lovers, particularly high-ranking political and military figures. One of these was General Lazare Hoche, who had no intention of leaving his wife for her. Despite this, Josephine never gave up the idea of marrying him, even after meeting Napoleon, whom she married reluctantly. Another of her lovers was Paul Barras, an influential politician during the Revolution, with whom she had a brief relationship lasting no more than a summer. He would later recall her in his memoirs as a "tempting courtesan". 

The future wife of Bonaparte was simply following the customs of the time, marked by the bloody Jacobin Reign of Terror that had preceded it. It is a typical historical phenomenon that a period of sexual freedom often follows one of violence. For instance, Thérésa Tallien, a friend of Josephine, was referred to as "government property" due to her numerous affairs with political figures. Even after her marriage to Napoleon, Josephine continued to have extramarital relationships. During Napoleon's first Italian campaign, he pleaded with her in letters to join him, but she had no intention of doing so. Josephine even told Joachim Murat that she was pregnant, prompting her husband to write joyful letters from Italy: "Soon you will give life to another being who will love you as much as I do." Whether this was a case of hysterical pregnancy, a miscarriage, or a cruel excuse remains unclear, but it is known that she did not have children and was involved in a relationship with a lieutenant of the hussars, Hippolyte Charles, who was nine years her junior. Later, when Josephine was convinced by her husband to join him, she brazenly brought her hussar lover with her. Napoleon would eventually find his own way to retaliate in Egypt with the wife of an officer.