The Life and Death of Marie Antonette

In today's article, I will be sharing the facts of Marie Antonette's life, and more famously, death. 

Queen Marie Anntonette was the fashion icon of her time, known for her elaborate and stunning gowns. While for a while, Marie was very popular, her extravagant lifestyle eventually made her the target of the French revolution. While her subjects suffered from malnourishment and lack of food, she basked is excess, wearing the most expensive clothing and eating the most delicious food. It has even been thought that she said, "Let them eat cake!" in response to being told that her people were starving. This statement shows Maries general obliviousness to the poverty her nation was experiencing. 

Marie was born in 1755 in Austria, child of Maria Theresa. Marie had always been perceived as simple minded and reportedly struggled with reading. Even so, those he met her often spoke of how charming and sweet she was. As a teen Marie was engaged to Louis XVI, who would soon become the king. In the wake of her engagement, a group of French ambassadors were sent to teach Marie how to properly dress as a queen. Marie was often chastised for being shallow and obsessed with clothing, which was unfair, having a personality imposed upon her from a young age.  

By the age of fifteen, Marie and Louis XVI were married, Marie transported to the French palace. As a young adult, Marie spent many hours a night writing woefully to her mother about how dearly she missed Austria, and how she disliked the lack of privacy that was thrust upon her. Later on in her queenhood, Marie advocated for some privacy, but in her earliest days as queen, she rarely spoke and struggled with French. She simply followed the orders given to her. 

Marie became the queen of France before age nineteen and took her role with honor. She and her husband however, had little chemistry. The king was introverted and practical, whilst the queen was exuberant and joyful. Marie was known to stay up late and enjoy parties, gamble and socialize, while Louis went to bed at a reasonable hour. 

Marie had many children with Louis. Marie was forced to give birth publicly, to ensure that her child was not switched. A bell was rung, and anyone who wished to attend the birth had the right to do so. Marie's bed chambers became so crowded and hot for all the people, that it was said that Marie fainted. 

Stuck in a lacking marriage, Marie had lots of money to burn. Marie took this opportunity to dive headfirst into the world of fashion. The queens style became wildly popular and was eaten up by the wealthiest of the French. Marie clothed herself in both Polish and English gowns the fashioned bright colors and wild patterns. Her personal stylist Rose Bertin helped to showcase many incredible and unique outfits. 

Eventually many people began to detest Maries extravagant and over the top lifestyle. She was given the nickname Madam Deficit, for the amount of money she drained. In fact, her annual expenses on wardrobe were equivalent to nearly 3.6 million dollars today! As the people began to grow concern over Maries costly lifestyle, her mother sent a letter warning Marie that such a lavish behavior was not appropriate for a queen. 

By this point in time, France was in debt due to a series of costly wars. This was likely the worst time for a queen to be showing off her wealth, as the rest of her people remained in poverty. Whilst Louis attempted to fix Frances expensive debt, the nobility rejected the proposition for more taxes. Frances's debt was primarily shouldered by the peasants and those in poverty, bringing great hatred to Frances government. 

While Marie may have been frivolous and distant, she was not unkind. Marie was known to be quite generous towards her subjects. Early on in her rule, Marie turned away the queen's belt tax because she had heard that many of those in poverty were unable to pay the steep cost. Marie spent much of her free time in charitable organizations, and even adopted several orphaned children. Marie even built houses within the palaces grounds to provide for the poorest of families. Even though Maries efforts were noted, she was still very distant from her impoverished citizens. 

After a crop failure, food and bread prices skyrocketed, making food inaccessible to many of Frances people. The citizens soon became irate that the French government's failure to fix the issue. It was believed the Marie was very oblivious to the struggles of her people, bringing more anger and viciousness towards her. 

Eventually the French revolution began. A large mob appeared outside of the palace and demanded that something be done to fix the famine that plagued the country. Marie was imprisoned with the rest of her family inside of the Tuileries Palace. Marie and her family eventually escaped, pretending to be peasants. The royal family, however, was very poor at pretending to be a peasant, and even handed out gifts to strangers on the road. Eventually though, the group was caught and arrested before they could fully make their escape. 

The royals were moved to a real prison, all previous rights owned revoked. In 1793, king Louis XVI was executed via Guillotine. It was said that Maries hair turned prematurely white from stress. After the king's death, Marie spent nine months in prison, awaiting her fate. Eventually, the court convinced Maries nine-year-old son to testify against his mother on charges of abuse. In October 1793 Marie was charged with conspiring against the revolution, and to her shock child abuse, something she would never do. Marie was sentenced to death for high treason. 

The fallen queen, though in horror was surprisingly graceful in the last hours of her life, Dressed in white as a final testimony to her innocence. Marie was said to have apologized to her executioner for stepping on his foot in her final moments. The people of France had suspected a vicious and malevolent Austrian she wolf to step onto the execution stage. What they received however was a shaking lamb, hair greyed and falling out from stress.  On October sixth, 1793, Marie Antonette's head was severed from her body. 

Thank you for reading this article about the life and death of Marie Antonette. I hope you learned something new- Marissa.