Marie-Antoinette Let Them Eat Cake Essay

As hundreds of years pass by, information gets distorted and misinterpreted. A famous quote supposedly said by Marie-Antoinette, a French princess, was, “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” or ,“Let them eat cake.” Many historians believed that Marie-Antoinette uttered these words when she was informed that citizens had run out of bread to eat. No one had confirmed at the time that she had said this, so it might have just been a rumor. Marie-Antoinette was also known for being highly intelligent and informed about France’s economic standing; which notes another fault in the rumor. In my opinion, I believe that Marie-Antoinette hadn’t spoken these words, but it was just a hoax, or misinterpreted information originally stated by someone else.
During

the upcoming French Revolution, citizens of France were angry at Marie-Antoinette and King Louis XVI because their rule was seen as corrupt. King Louis XVI was seen as immature and unfit to rule the throne of France: “Louis lacked sufficient strength of character and decisiveness to combat the influence of court factions or give support to reformers in their efforts to improve France’s government.” (History.com Staff). With the citizens of France showing distaste towards their king, this lead to the disgust to Marie-Antoinette. Marie-Antoinette was a very wise person who knew the economy. She often generously donated to the lower class of France, and felt bad for them. She was relatively intelligent for a woman at the time and she wouldn’t ever deny someone the right to survive. “She received an education typical of an 18th century aristocratic girl, focusing primarily on religious and moral principles” (“Marie Antoinette.”). If Marie-Antoinette understood the lessons and extents of morality, she wouldn’t have ever said such a blatantly disrespectful comment.
While many people may think that Marie-Antoinette had said, “Let them eat cake,” the actual sources of the statement were found many years before the French Revolution.

The original quote was found in, “an 1843 issue of the journal Les Guêpes… Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr reported having found the quote in a “book dated 1760” (John M. Cunningham). Since the original quote’s source was written almost twenty years before Marie-Antoinette made the statement, it is unlikely that she made the historical quote. Another source found stating this remark was found in John-Jacques Rousseau’s autobiography, “Confessions”. Rousseau references, “a great princess, who, when told the peasants had no bread, said ‘Well, let them eat brioche.’ (brioche being a highly enriched bread).” (Daven Hiskey). During the time Rousseau wrote the autobiography, Marie-Antoinette was only ten years old while living in Austria. Rousseau was actually referencing Maria-Thérèse, a princess who originally spoke this statement almost a hundred years before: “ ‘Que ne mangent-ils de la croûte de pâté?' (Why don't they eat pastry?) was used by Marie-Thérèse (1638-83), the wife of Louis XIV.” (Gary Martin). Marie-Thérèse must have been the original person to state, “Let them eat cake,” and not

Marie-Antoinette.
History is misinterpreted and distorted as time passes by, which causes many stories to change. Marie-Antoinette, a woman of relatively high intelligence for the time, was accused of saying, “Let them eat cake.” Although many believe that Marie-Antoinette had said this when citizens were begging for food, it turns out that Marie-Thérèse had made this remark. Stated in John-Jacques Rousseau’s autobiography Marie-Thérèse said, “Que ne mangent-ils de la croûte de pâté”, or let them eat pastry. With such evidence this lead to my final belief that Marie-Antoinette had in fact not said, “Let them eat cake.”