The Story of Marie-Antoinette
We all know her with the famous phrase “Let them eat cake”, but do we really know and understand the core of the story?
Marie Antoinette had so many titles. Although she was a very strong public figure, her image in the eyes of people was not stable. She was once the widow capet, then a trair to her country and then a courageous martyred queen. Even centuries after her death this duality of her reputation continued.
She was the fifteenth child of her family, an Archduchess of Austria. She grew up close with her sister and was a happy child according to her mother. By the time she was 13, Austria and France after a long conflict period were finally in alliance. Hence, with the marriage of Marie Antoinette and XVI.Louis, they wanted to guarantee this alliance in 1770 when she became dauphine.
In 1774, her husband succeeded to the throne and yet as her first duty as a queen, she couldn’t give birth to an heir to the French throne until 1778 and this alone was enough for speculations to rise on behalf of both the queen and the king. In addition, Marie Antoinette was not much related to politics, she didn’t have power over her husband when it came to making decisions about French monarchy. Also one should keep in mind that she was very young back then.
So, she was interested in jewelry, clothes and big parties while famine in France, especially in Paris, was non-negligible and the people were already furious towards aristocracy. This affected the very extravagant image of the royalties increasingly negative. As you all may know, the famous quote ‘‘Let them eat cake’’ saying in response to bread shortage was attributed to Marie Antoinette, even though there is no evidence of her saying it. This could be a great example of her negative reputation among French people.
There are several events that further damage Marie Antoinette’s image such as the Affair of the Diamond Necklace. According to the story, she refuses to accept the necklace from the royal jeweler because the cost is too high and she thinks that as a royal, she is responsible to her people when they are in need. Then one of the acquaintances of the royal family tries to swindle the jeweler yet she gets caught. Even though Marie Antoinette was falsely accused, this affects her. As the Queen, she started to be called as Madame Deficit, as if the blame of a failed state can be attached to one individual during the revolutionary years.
Her life continued to be unstable, her three children died and the rumor that she poisoned her own son had spread. Meanwhile, XVI.Louis decided to revive the Estate-General, an ancient institution, in Versailles in May 1789 looking for a solution to France’s retrogressive economic and social life. However, this action created speculations, and things got complicated very fast. People talked for months about the topics such as; rights, social contract and limits to The King’s authority. In July, the first armed conflict started in Paris and continued even until November, when they reached Versailles and forced the royal family to come with them to Tuileries Palace. Long before they came to Tuileries Palace, Marie Antoinette waited for the King’s decision to escape to another palace outside of Versailles if not to another country because she was skeptical about the possibility of reconciliation between monarchy and revolutionaries. However, The King wasn't in favor of this judgment yet and she could easily imagine their standing in Paris as prisoners in Tuileries Palace.
Even though people mostly hated her, her brave attitude towards them when they demanded a public standing, made people give credit to her from time to time.
In September 1792 with the abolishment of the monarchy, things changed forever for the whole royal family. The King was executed in January 1973 due to treason to the state. On his last day, he was with his family. After a while, in July 1793 Anotinette’s son was taken from her to put in another prison. This whole process was unbearable for Marie Antoinette who is now publicly called as the widow capet.
In October 1793, her trial began and she was found guilty also for high treason to her country. She was gonna get executed by guillotine, same as XVI.Louis. She died with a very corrupted, negative image in the eyes of the people, thanks to the passionate propaganda of the anti-monarchs. However, this changed in 1815 when Bourbons remounted to the French throne. In order to flatter the dynasty, the paintings were renewed with brighter colors and she was portrayed as kind hearted, brave and lovely. Stories were getting ready to be told, this time with her new title as Martyred Queen of France.
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