Marie Antoinette was an Austrian princess born in Vienne, Austria. Her birth name was Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna, but many just called her Marie Antoinette. Her mother, Maria Therese, was the head of state. Maria Therese had all the power and for that reason was a little firm with her children. Her husband, Marie’s father, Francis I was just a figure with not much else. His position is much like the first lady they have in the United States. Marie was the fifteenth child of Maria and Francis. Marie was also the youngest of the daughters and was both doted upon and ignored. She was given everything she wanted and her education was left alone because her mother assumed that Marie being the youngest and with so many before her, Marie would never be used for anything. That was before the smallpox hit, wiping out much of the sisters before Marie. The agreement was one of Maria’s children for one of Louis the 15th’s children. After children deaths on both sides of the agreement, Marie and Louis the 16th were left. At the tender age of 14 Marie was told she was to travel from her home to France to marry a man she had never met.
She was shipped off to France, accompanied by two of her friends. They arrived at the designated place on the border and found a long tent running from Austria to France. Her friends were turned away and Marie was set to tears. They stripped Marie of everything and she, buck naked had to continue on down the tent to be dressed on the French side in French made clothing and accessories. She was then put in a carriage to be taken farther down to be greeted by her new family. Louis 16th was shy and did not meet her as graciously as is custom and his father remarked about her figure and approved. Marie Antoin...
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...sed, and killed for doing nothing more than be herself. She took to the throne at such a young age and for that, she suffered hardships beyond that of any ordinary marriage. Marie Antoinette is a person long gone from many people’s minds but for some she is and always will be “Madame Deficit”, a name she acquired during her reign.
Works Cited
Boyer, M. (2006). The private realm of Marie Antoinette
Campan, Jeanne. (2009). The private life of Marie Antoinette. History Pr Ltd.
Erickson, C. (2004). To the scaffold: the life of Marie Antoinette. Griffin.
Fraser, Antonia. (2002). Marie Antoinette: the journey . Anchor .
Lever, Giroux. (2000). Marie Antoinette: a biography. Farrar Straus & Giroux.
Marie Antoinette – A Biography 1999, Marie Antoinette Online, accessed 12/02/2011, .
Born March 23, 1430, Margaret of Anjou (Margaret d'Anjou in French)at Pont-à-Mousson, France to Rene of Anjou and Isabella, Duchess of Loreine. Margaret had been born into a great noble family, not only was she the daughter of a duke and niece of King Charles VII of France, she was also a descent of two queens of England: Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror and Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Henry II. Yet while Margaret grew up in a cultured court setting, the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), a conflict over the French throne between main belligerents of France and England was raging. The constant threat of danger would have a greater affect on a young Margaret more than anyone could have imagined.
The last years of Marie Antoinette’s life was written as a tragedy. She was taken as a
The fact that she was going to be executed by that man and she said sorry for simply stepping on his foot shows about her character. Her execution was a major turning point in the revolution. One major myth about Marie Antoinette is about her "famous" saying; "Let them eat cake!" There is no proof that she ever said that.
Madame Du Berry was a very snobbish woman who was very full of herself. Marie Antoinette thought it beneath her to speak to the mistress and because of social ranking Madame Du Merry could not speak to Marie Antoinette unless Marie Antoinette spoke to her first. Her mother told her that it was unwise to snub the king's favorite, so one day she walked by her and said "There are a lot of people at Versailles tonight, aren't there” to Madame Du Berry. She later said to her mother "My duties here are sometimes hard to fulfill.” The way Marie Antoinette acted towards Madame Du Berry may seem iniquitous, but Madame Du Berry was equally to blame for the little feud. She didn’t usually interrupt her husband's work, but when she first got to France she interrupted an official German greeting with, "Speak French, Monsieur. From now on I hear no language other than French." Marie Antoinette was famous for her fashion, especially her extravagant wigs, she was once rumored to have worn a model of a ship on her powdered wig. The man behind her extravagant wigs was Leonard Autie, a country barber from the south of France who invented of the pouf. Marie Antoinette had a little village built so she could pretend she was a milkmaid, she enjoyed roaming her village with her daughter. She had a “little white dress” made which was shocking to all who saw her in it because when she wore she didn’t look like a queen. She was really into fashion, even though she was hated by most of the French people they still copied her
November 1st, 1783- Marie had her second miscarriage, which caused more fears for her health.
As a teenager, Marie spent her time enjoying Versailles' and Paris' night life with a notorious clique and fondness of making fashion statements through extravagant couture and bold coiffures (“The Grand Dauphin”). ...
She was awaiting her time as queen of France, likely very excited to hold such a title, and her letter made her appear slightly unprepared to handle the role she would soon take on. Her immaturity is expressed in the following: “What was really affecting was the tenderness and earnestness of the poor people, who, in spite of the taxes with which they are overwhelmed, were transported with joy at seeing us” (Internet Modern History Sourcebook, 1998). While it is certain that she is conscious of the peasants’ penury, she regards this group as “poor people” instead of using an appropriate term, which demonstrates her lack of understanding of this group’s deep-rooted problems. She does not seem to think that they have any other issues besides poverty, such as the lack of privileges and rights that wish to have. It appears that their poverty is the only thing she takes notice of, apart from recognizing that they are frequently ordered to get hit by the guards, which does show her intention of learning more about being a fair queen someday, earning their respect and admiration through respectful treatment. Overall, the unpreparedness she demonstrates can help historians understand that she was not fully aware of what being queen was going to entail, and she was going to gain that title not long after writing this
Joan lived during a turbulent time in French history. The French and English states had been at war since 1337 over disputed territories in France and who could inherit the French throne. The English claimed that their king could inherit the French throne through shared royal bloodlines and also inherit vast territories in present-day southwestern France. By the time of Joan’s birth, the English had secured almost all of France and were poised to capture the French crown. The French heir to the throne, the Dauphin, was forced into hiding and Paris was under English control. It was under these dire circumstances that Joan emerged.
There are two takes on her life: One is that she is a villain. While the other depicts her as a heroine of her time. Both of these opinions are proof of how her life was symbolic to the downfall of European Monarchies in the face of revolution. Thomas Jefferson once said, predicting the way Marie Antoinette would be viewed by posterity, "I have ever believed that if there had been no queen, there would have been no Revolution."
Joan of Arc was born in Domrémy-la-Pucelle, France in 1422. She had a family of 7 people including herself. Isabelle Romée was her mother. Jaques d’Arc was her father. Pierre d’Arc was her brother. Catherine d’Arc was her sister. Jacquemin d’Arc was her brother and Jean d’Arc was her brother. Isabelle Romée also known as Isabelle d’arc was the mother of Joan of Arc. She grew up in in Vouthon-Bas in 1377 an later married Jacques d’Arc, Joan of Arc’s father. Jacques d’Arc was born in Ceffonds, France in 1380 and was a farmer in the village of Domrémy in Lorraine. Pierre d’Arc was born in Orléans, France in 1408 and was a soldier for the French. He was also famous because he went into battle with his sister Joan of Arc. Catherine d’Arc, not much information about her. Jacquemin d’Arc was born in 1402 in Vaudeville-le-Haut, France. She never learned to read, write, or even mount a horse. There were two parties
Could Marie have been a heroine to France? Probably not even though she may have been a pinnacle of fashion but no one outside the monarchy liked her partying and devious ways. It would also be hard to believe that Louis XVI appreciated that Marie left him to deal with running the country on his own. Just because she was queen and could have done whatever she pleased did not mean she should have been so oblivious to the problems of her country or making the problems of it worse. So with Marie being irresponsible and leaving Louis XVI to handle everything going on with France, her extravagant lifestyle that gave her a bad name, and her incompetency bringing the French revolution, there is no doubt she was a traitor to the people of
...the galleys for life. She was flogged and branded with a “V” to show that she was a thief and imprisoned for life in the Bastille, from where she later escaped (Affair).
Who was Marie Antoinette? A prestigious queen who was the face of France and a role model to her people, or a partying, rude woman with a luxurious life that would come to a tragic end? Ever since Marie Antoinette was 10 she always knew she would be a queen. Her mother Maria Theresa, who was the Empress of Austria, had arranged a marriage with King Louis XV; the grandfather of Louis XVI, who was to become the King of France, the man she was destined to marry. Together they would rule France and stay entwined in marriage through thick and thin, and anything that came their way. The marriage between the two happened when Marie was only 15 and Louis was 19. Having an arranged marriage was very common in the 1700s and the ages could differ from two to 10 years apart. Despite their age difference, that never stopped Marie and Louis from having the same marital problems. Marie Antoinette lived a life of crime, gambling, having affairs, and starting revolutions which all turned into her gruesome death.
“Marie Antoinette” (2006) directed by Sofia Coppola is a drama/comedy, that is centered on the life of the notorious Queen of France, in the years leading up to the French Revolution. Coppola’s film style was very modern avant garde. The film focuses on Antoinette point of view throughout all her adventures and difficulties. She was the character with whom the viewer identified with the most, her observation were the most important (aside from the audience). Therefore there were many close ups and high lighting on her. The film also invokes the lesson that luxuries is not everything that it will not make you completely happy, which makes the audience feel somewhat sympathetic towards the queen. Coppola successfully achieves to use beautiful and extravagant cinematography to tell the story of the late Marie Antoinette. The mise-en-scene of the film that will be discussed is setting, costume, lighting and figure behavior.
It all started on October 16, 1793 when the beheading of Marie Antoinette happened. She was accused for helping the enemy and producing civil war within France. On her way to getting beheaded, she spent time in many different Parisian Prisons. During the summer of 1788, France was having some very serious economic problems. Louis XVI yielded to pressure and assembled the Estates General which was a governmental body that represented France’s three Estates (nobles, the church, and then French common people). She then agreed to the granting of the third estates as many representatives as the other two estates combined. Nevertheless, after the storming of the Bastille she ended up supported the conservative court faction that insisted on keeping the royal family in