Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette is probably one of the most remembered yet misunderstood women in history. Her name is not only synonymous with the French Revolution and her infamous saying, "Let them eat cake", but also with selfishness, greed, excessiveness, cold-heartedness and so on (Reid 2). Another aspect that is commonly not associated with Marie Antoinette is that her life was like that of a lot of women in the 18th century. Women, especially those in royalty, were seen more as bargaining tokens than women and marriages were not based on mutual love, respect, and caring, but on some alliance or union (Lewis 1). So is the case with Marie. Even before she started her adolescent life, her life and its course were being dictated by other people and other events beyond her control.

Marie Antoinette was born on November 2, 1775 as the daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. Maria Theresa ruled the great Hapsburg Empire from her palace, called Schonbrunn, in Vienna (Chew 23). Marie grew up as the youngest and favorite daughter, and was brought up believing that she would become the queen of France.

In 1770, when she was a mere fifteen years old, Marie's childhood was cut short when she married Louis XIV, who was only sixteen at the time. The marriage between Louis XIV of France and Marie was an arranged marriage between the two countries which formed the Franco-Austrian alliance, which was not popular with the French people. Four years later, Louis XV, who was Louis' grandfather and the current King of France, died. So, on May 10, 1774, Marie Antoinette became Queen of France (Reid 3). The coronation took place at the cathedral in Reims and the new king and queen exclaimed, "Protect us, Lord, for we reign too young." She was only 19, he 20 (Reid 3).

When she left Austria for the final time to take her new throne, and entered France, she did not speak any French. From the moment she entered France, she was unpopular and ill received by the French people. They were not excited about having a "foreign" queen, especially since she was part of the Franco-Austrian alliance (Chew 21). Not only was she unpopular with the people outside the palace of Versailles, where she would call home, but she was also unpopular within the palace itself. Popularity, as it turns out, was going to turn out to be a life-long battle for her, one she would end up losing (Lewis 1).

Life in the palace was difficult for her. As a queen, she had certain daily duties she needed to carry out, these included levees (which is a reception held in the morning as a person of royalty gets out of bed), dressing, holding audiences, public meals, and several others. Of course, a queen's primary responsibility is to provide an heir to the throne. Marie soon got very bored and tired of these duties and began to withdraw from the restraints and duties of the court, from her husband who had his own affairs, and began to enjoy a life of innocent and frivolous pleasure (Reid 1). She surrounded herself with a small circle of friends and created the image of an untrustworthy foreigner, not only among the common French people, but also among the other nobles and courtiers. Between 1774 and 1777, she became known for trivial, yet very expensive escapades which included the following: sleigh racing, opera balls, hunting, gambling (at which she became quite addicted), huge galas, parties, acting, etc (Lewis 1). During this time, the number of theaters grew and there was a change in the musical and theatrical repertoires that welcomed foreigners. People saw her as not only corrupting the court, but also squandering the money of France for her fun (Chew 24).

However, even with the turmoil within her courts, Marie remained completely loyal to the Franco-Austrian alliance, of which she was such a crucial part. Not only was she loyal to the alliance, but she was also very loyal to her homeland of Austria and wanted to see them benefit (Reid 1). Because of her strong ties to both of these, she was very determined that they both stay in existence and convinced her husband to support them as well. This does not seem like that big of a deal, but the French were not too happy with her enthusiasm for either one and later on down the road, this loyalty would only help her and the French monarchy's demise (Reid 2).

Marie Antoinette's reputation was not faring that well with either the public or court-- that is until she gave birth to her first child, Madame Royale, in 1778. She gained back some public support and approval when she gave birth to the first Dauphin in 1781, who later died in 1789. She soon gave birth to another daughter who died in infancy and finally to another son who was to become the Dauphin, after his brother died (Chew 22). The new Dauphin was born in 1785; during this time, the public and court were not so harsh with her, although that time would return sooner rather than later. The public, though, had waited eleven long years for her to produce an heir and that combined with her overly indulgent lifestyle, their ill will towards her never really diminished (Chew 23).

One of Marie's unfortunate downfalls was an event that worsened her standing with the French public, the "Affair of the Diamond Necklace" which took place between 1785 and 1786. This "affair" started when one of the French ministers, Cardinal de Rohan, was swindled into buying a diamond necklace that he believed the Queen wished to have (Lewis 3). He was tricked by a lady who called herself Countess de la Motte-Valois. A lawsuit ensued between the minister and the unpaid jewelers in which the Cardinal was acquitted. But the Countess, pretending that Marie Antoinette knew and was involved with the transaction, publicly made accusations about secret, romantic rendezvous that Marie had had and so on (Lewis 3). These accusations were exploited by Marie's enemies to help tear her down even more in the eyes of the French people.

In fall of 1789, after several important events took place, a mob forced the royal family from Versailles to the Tuileries Palace in Paris where they were virtual prisoners for the next two years. During this time when much of the country