QueenMarie Antoinette of France is best remembered for her legendary extravagance and her death: she was executed byguillotine during theReign of Terror at the height of the French Revolution in 1793 for the crime oftreason. Her life has been the subject of many historically accurate biographies and the subject of romance novels and films.
As were many people and events involved with the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette's life and role in the great social-political conflict were contingent upon many factors. Many have speculated about how influential she was on the nature of the revolution and the direction it eventually took. In light of the varying contingencies surrounding her life that made her a hated and despised figure in the revolutionaries' eyes as queen, she was viewed as a genuine model of the old regime, perhaps even more than her husband, KingLouis XVI. Due to her frivolous spending and indulgent royal lifestyle, as well as her well-known desire to promote the Austrian empire, her caring, motherly nature was overshadowed, and revolutionaries only saw her as an obstruction to the Revolution.
The view on Marie Antoinette's role in French history has varied widely throughout the years. Even during her life, she was a popular icon of goodness and a symbol of everything wrong with the French monarchy, the latter being a view that has persisted to this day far stronger than the former. However, some would argue that the common historical perspective on Marie Antoinette is that she was yet another tragic victim of the radicalism of the Revolution, rather than a great symbol of French royal inadequacies. This view tends to sympathize with Marie Antoinette and her family's plight and focus more on the documentation surrounding the last months, weeks, and days before her execution, where she is more clearly seen as Marie Antoinette the penitent, caring mother rather than the defiant queen of France.
Some contemporary sources, such asMary Wollstonecraft[1] andThomas Jefferson,[2] place the blame of the French Revolution and the subsequentReign of Terror squarely on Marie Antoinette's shoulders; others, such as those who knew her (her lady-in-waitingMadame Campan and the royal governess, themarquise de Tourzel, among them) focus more on her sweet character and considerable courage in the face of misunderstanding and adversity.[3] According to Campan, the queen was misunderstood by her subjects and the nobility at Versailles. Campan describes several people who, upon spending time with the queen, left with a more positive opinion of her. One such visitor, M. Loustonneau, the first surgeon to the king, was humbled when the queen remarked, "if the poor whom you have succored for the past twenty years had each placed a single candle in their windows, it would have been the most beautiful illumination ever witnessed."[4]
Immediately after her death, the picture painted by thelibelles of the queen was held as the "correct" view of Marie Antoinette for many years, as the news of her execution was received with joy by the French populace, and thelibelles did not stop circulating even after her death.[5]However, she was also considered a martyr by royalists both in and out of France, so much so that the Tower was demolished byNapoleon to get rid of all symbols of the oppression of the royal family.[6] The queen's view as a martyr was generally held in the post-Napoleonic era and through the nineteenth century, though publications were still written. The ultra-republican work of Jules Michelet portrayed the queen as a frivolous spendthrift who single-handedly ruined France.[7] This view is not widely accepted as accurate by most modern historians, though even the less biased contemporary sources quickly point out that the queen had faults that contributed to her condition.
The end of the nineteenth century brought about some more changes in how the queen was viewed, particularly in light of the (heavily censored) publication of Count Axel Fersen'sJournal intime by one of his descendants; theories about a torrid decade-long love affair between queen and count has become an area of debate since then. In particular, the popular theory is that Louis Charles, the second Dauphin (who would ultimately die at the age of 10 from maltreatment), was Fersen's child and that the king was aware of it. Those who argue in favor of this theory point to the words of insiders who knew of the queen's alleged affair and the words of Fersen regarding the child's death, which indicate it to be a possibility.[8] Others argue the queen had a liaison, but it produced no child; others do not believe that an affair took place.[9]
The twentieth century brought about the recovery of some items that belonged to the queen thought lost forever and a wave of new biographies, which began to show the queen in a somewhat more sympathetic light. Even those that were critical of the queen were more balanced than their eighteenth and nineteenth-century predecessors. Public perception was also aided in the twentieth century with the advent of movies based upon biographies of the queen, the most famous of them including the Oscar-nominated 1938Norma Shearer featureMarie Antoinette (based upon the 1932 bookMarie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman byStefan Zweig) and the 2006Kirsten Dunst featureMarie Antoinette (based upon the 2001 bookMarie Antoinette: The Journey byLady Antonia Fraser). Some modern historians consider the latter author's book to be the most thorough and balanced biography of the queen. However, it naturally builds upon earlier biographies, first-hand accounts, and even the infamouslibelles which destroyed the queen's reputation. Another book was written by famous American novelistUpton Sinclair in the form of a play titledMarie Antoinette.
Marie Antoinette has been referenced in numerous motion pictures and television shows, usually as a figure to denote extravagance or doomed beauty.
Some of the more notable examples include the movie adaptation ofGone with the Wind, in which a portrait of the Queen hangs aboveScarlett O'Hara's bed in her new mansion inAtlanta. InThe Addams Family Values,Wednesday Addams dresses up her new baby brother as Marie-Antoinette and attempts to guillotine him for crimes against the Republic.
In the CW American dramaGossip Girl, a sketch looking very much likeKirsten Dunst in the role of Queen Marie-Antoinette decorates the bedroom of the main character,Blair Waldorf. In the second series ofSex and the City, whenCharlotte York criticizes one of her friends for delusively believing that they live in a classless society,Carrie Bradshaw refers to her as a Marie Antoinette. During the wedding of Melanie and Lindsay inQueer as Folk, a decadent French dessert is given as an option for their dinner by a French caterer, to which Melanie sarcastically quips: "And just how much for Marie-Antoinette's last meal?" In the fourth series ofDesperate Housewives, Katherine went to a Halloween party thrown by a young gay couple who just moved to the neighborhood. One of the hosts quipped it is appropriate that the domineering Katherine came as a "self-important queen who lost all her power."
In theGareth Russell novelPopular, one of the lead characters throws a sweet 16 birthday party with a Marie Antoinette theme but is upstaged by one of her guests when she arrives in a costume worn byKirsten Dunst in the 2006 movie.
InRobert Asprin'sAnother Fine Myth, there is a pseudo-quotation as an epigraph to chapter 8:
InPixar'sToy Story, at the tea party in Hannah's room,Buzz Lightyear (as Mrs. Nesbitt) refers to his headless doll companions as "Marie Antoinette and her little sister."
InDanganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc,Celestia Ludenberg references that she believes in her past life she was Marie Antoinette.
InInto The Dark, Maggie wears a Marie Antoinette costume to a Halloween party.
In the AMC supernatural horror dramaThe Terror, George Henry Hodgson wears a Marie Antoinette costume to Carnivale.
Prior to the Revolution, opponents of the French monarchy regularly circulated pornographic propaganda alleging that Marie Antoinette was engaged in lesbian relationships with thePrincesse de Lamballe and theDuchesse de Polignac. While the rumors of Antoinette's sexuality were unfounded, they lead to her being interpreted as an early lesbian icon in works by gay authors, such asRadclyffe Hall'sThe Well of Loneliness (1928) andJean Genet'sThe Maids (1947).[11]
The most famous historical fiction which features Marie Antoinette is theAlexandre Dumas, père novelLe Chevalier de Maison-Rouge (The Knight of the Red House,) which centers on the Carnation Plot. The first of a series of six books written by Dumas with Marie Antoinette featured called the "Marie Antoinette novels." The queen is shown in a sympathetic light, particularly during the "Diamond Necklace Affair."
Some of the more famous historical novels that have portrayed Marie Antoinette in more recent years includeCarolly Erickson's 2005 novelThe Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette,Jennifer Donnelly's young adult bookRevolution in 2010, as well asElena Maria Vidal's 1998 bookTrianon. A 2000 book in the young adultthe Royal Diaries series is about Marie Antoinette's journey to France as a teenager,Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles (Austria-France, 1769-1771).
The two best-known movie portrayals of Marie Antoinette have been in the 1938 filmMarie Antoinette, directed byW. S. Van Dyke, in whichNorma Shearer played the queen. The 2006 filmMarie Antoinette, directed bySofia Coppola and starringKirsten Dunst.The Affair of the Necklace is a 2001 film in whichHilary Swank playedJeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy andJoely Richardson played Marie Antoinette.
Marie Antoinette features prominently inThe Ghosts of Versailles, partially an operatic adaptation ofBeaumarchais'La Mère coupable with a score byJohn Corigliano and libretto byWilliam M. Hoffman.
In the filmAmadeus, she is mentioned twice by her brother,Emperor Joseph II as "Antoinette." Her eventual downfall is foreshadowed when the emperor tellsMozart why he has banned the playFigaro.
In the 2007 filmShrek the Third, Princess Fiona wears a dress at one point in the film that closely resembles Marie Antoinette's oversized gowns.
In the Japanese manga seriesMy Hime, Marie Antoinette is one of two QUEEN Hime who descend to the Earth to remake it. She is associated with roses and possesses a very aristocratic air about herself. In the eighteen episodes of the anime adaptation of the Japanese manga seriesBlack Butler, William T. Spears mentions that the Undertaker sent Marie Antoinette to Hell. Marie Antoinette is also one of the most prominent characters of the JapanesemetaseriesThe Rose of Versailles (ベルサイユのばら,Berusaiyu no Bara). In this series of works, she is portrayed as a very sweet and gentle woman, a loyal friend of Oscar and a loving mother, and an easily influenced and irresponsible queen. Her voice actress wasMiyuki Ueda.
The popular quote often misattributed to Marie Antoinette, "Let them eat cake" is referenced inOne False Note, the second installment of the book seriesThe 39 Clues.
Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy includes a cartoon called "Marie Antoinette's Notepad." In this, Marie writes something down on a piece of paper, but she scratches it out. Then she begins writing again, only for her to scratch it out again. Then she thinks and writes something down. She puts the quill back in its container, and she looks satisfied. Then the paper shows that she has written and scratched out "Let them eat shit" and "Let them eat pussy", and the last line says "Let them eat cake."
Marie Antoinette appears in the children's bookBen and Me (1939) byRobert Lawson, but does not appear in the1953 animated short film adaptation.
Joan Rivers' bookI Hate Everyone... Starting With Me contains a quote by Marie Antoinette saying, "Let her eat shit."Costco then refused to sell the book because of the explicit language.
Juliet Grey's trilogy of books starting withBecoming Marie Antoinette and ending withConfessions of Marie Antoinette tells Marie Antoinette's entire story. It begins with her transformation from Maria Antonia of Austria into the Marie Antoinette of France and ends with the French Revolution and her execution.
Kate Beaton, cartoonist of webcomicHark! A Vagrant devoted one of her comic strips to Marie Antoinette.
In the two-part Season 6 finale ofTotally Spies! Sam, Clover, and Alex win a prize to stay in the palace ofVersailles itself. The spies and their fashion-designer classmates are in a French fashion show based on Marie Antoinette and her favorite attire as Queen of France in the seventeenth century.
Carolyn Meyer had written a novel in herYoung Royals book series titledThe Bad Queen: Rules and Instructions for Marie Antoinette which is set from 1768–1792.
The light novelTearmoon Empire's protagonist Mia Luna Tearmoon is broadly based on her. She is a victim of the guillotine in the fictional Tearmoon Empire which has many cultural similarities to that of historical France, and her name Mia has the same root as Marie.
The 9th edition ofCR Fashion Book is inspired by Marie Antoinette.[15] She is portrayed byRihanna on the cover, as well as modelsLara Stone,Imaan Hammam,Joan Smalls,Guinevere van Seenus,Mariacarla Boscono, and others.
Chanel's 2013 Resort Collection drew inspiration from Marie Antoinette.[16]
Headlessmonarch butterflies have been dubbed the "Marie Antoinette Phenomenon"[17]