How Did Marie Antoinette's Impact On Society

When times of trouble strike a nation, the citizens turn to the government for assistance. However, in the times of the French Revolution, the government was not there to look up to for reassurance. In the eyes of some, the meaning of the French motto, liberty, equality, fraternity, had ended with the start of the revolution. But to others, the revolution was the true birth of this motto. With the marriage of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, came animosity from the people. Marie Antoinette's life greatly impacted the lives of French citizens. Her unfulfilling marriage and the careless way she spent her money, most ultimately led to her celebrated death of many.

Although she came from a large family of fifteen siblings, Marie Antoinette was an extraordinarily privileged child. From the start, Marie’s mother knew she would use her daughters to strengthen the relationships between Austria and the European countries. She understood that there should be a marriage in order for that to happen, and Marie was the chosen one for that role (Lotz and Carkene 17). On May 16, 1770, Louis Auguste de Bourbon and Marie Antoinette were married (Covington). Although Louis and Marie were married, she withheld from producing an heir and caused some dismay among the

families of both couples ("The 18th Century 1701-1800”). The king’s brothers threatened to take his place as king, if she did not have a valid child to become heir to the throne ("Marie-Antoinette" Britannica).
Because Marie had a troubled marriage, she spent large amounts of money on extravagant things. “Informed of her daughter’s behavior by Mercy, Maria Theresa fired off letter after letter warning Marie Antoinette to mend her ways. ‘You lead a dissipated life,’ the mother railed in 1775. ‘I hope I shall not live to see the disaster that is likely to ensue.’” (Covington 3). Nevertheless, Marie kept spending on unnecessary luxuries, and was oblivious as to the state the public was in. As a result of their dissatisfaction, Marie was accused of an adulterous affair with a cardinal, now famously known as “The Affair of the Diamond Necklace” ("Marie-Antoinette" Britannica).
As a consequence of her unsatisfactory marriage and taste for expensive things, the country planned an uprising, and it started with one thing; the death of the king and queen.

Marie Antoinette's two-day trial was conducted by the revolutionary court. The trial ended with the same sentence as her dead husband; death by guillotine. Marie was kept in a solitary custody, while her children stayed with Madame Elisabeth, her husband’s sister in the Temple fortress. Madame Elisabeth never received Marie’s letter, for it was stolen by revolutionary soldiers. Marie wrote in her prayer book before her execution, “My God, have pity on me! My eyes have no more tears to weep for you, my poor children! Adieu, Adieu!” (Plain

77-78).
The queen’s influence on the French Revolution was powerful. Her unsatisfactory marriage and unhealthy expenditures that put the people of France into debt and starvation led her to her death. Did liberty, equality, and fraternity end along with the death of the king and queen, or was their death only the start?