Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Why admire Marie Antoinette?

There are many reasons not to admire Marie Antoinette. She was the embodiment of the French ancien regime, the monarchy whose lavish lifestyle, embodied by the palace at Versailles, stood in stark contrast to the widespread poverty of the French people in the late eighteenth-century. The attitude of many common French people toward Marie Antoinette is summed up by her (almost certainly apocryphal) response to bread riots of hungry Parisian crowds: "Let them eat cake." Her lavish lifestyle was seen as the epitome of all that was corrupt and decadent about the French Bourbon monarchy.
But there are certainly some things to admire about Marie Antoinette. First, it is important to remember that she was married into the French monarchy at a very young age—just fourteen years old. She struggled to settle into the role of queen after her husband, Louis XVI, became king, but she persisted, eventually becoming an active figure in politics, frequently advising her husband on diplomatic matters.
Perhaps the main thing to admire about Marie Antoinette is the way she responded to the chaos that descended on her life and family during the French Revolution. An almost impossibly haughty woman while queen, she faced one indignity after another beginning in 1789, when she and Louis were forced back to Paris from Versailles by an angry mob. As her situation worsened, she showed the dignity that her position demanded, even after Louis XVI was executed. She faced relentless insults and was accused at her trial (for treason) of having an incestuous affair with her own son. In the face of this treatment, she displayed pride and even humility, going to the guillotine with composure and grace. So while Marie Antoinette did not live the most laudable life, she redeemed herself during her fall from the heights of the Bourbon monarchy. Even some French revolutionaries admired her courage in the face of death.
https://www.biography.com/royalty/marie-antoinette

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/marie-antoinette-134629573/

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