Essay on Marie-Antoinette

Early on when she is newly blind due to the cataracts that formed in her eyes life is very difficult for her. “What is blindness? Where there should be a wall, her hands find nothing. Where there should be nothing, a table leg gouges her shin . . . [Marie’s] only sanctuary is in bed, the hem of the quilt at her chin . . .” (Doerr 27). In his kindness, Monsieur LeBlanc meticulously carves a model city for her to learn how to find her way around safely. Due to this kind act Marie is now able, with her father accompanying her for safety, walk around her neighborhood. Later on when they are forced to flee to Saint-Malo where some of their relatives live, Marie and her father walk the entirety of the journey and again, Marie has to depend on her father’s guidance to help her make the journey safely. “‘Marie, I see a hotel.’ ‘You said the hotels were full.’ ‘. . . Come. It’s not far.’ Again [Monsieur LeBlanc] carries his daughter. One more half mile” (Doerr 110). Even though she can sense something is not going as planned with their trip, she allows her father to carry her and believes that he will bring her to Saint-Malo safely. Marie’s faith in her father, although she is blind, allows them to arrive safely in Saint-Malo where they can stay safely through the duration of the

During that time, the economy of France was very poor, Marie Antoinette wore his lady fashion cloth and ate meals in front of public. Her life after married to Louis XVI became very luxurious, because the only thing she knew was spending money in her entertainments. Both of them spent money from government on their entertainments. They made the economy even worse when they wasted money. Instead of ruling the country, Louis XVI chose to spend money and have fun on his entertainment. When the citizens had no money to pay for their taxes, they were spending the money on their entertainment.

While many people may be familiar with the story of the French Revolution and history of Marie Antoinette, they may not fully comprehend the lively debate that continues to exist around Marie Antoinette. A debate over how Marie Antoinette should be remembered exists, with some arguing that Antoinette was spoiled and careless and others taking the stance that Antoinette was a victim of her harsh circumstances. Before delving into this controversy, background knowledge of Marie Antoinette’s life can assist in understanding the controversy. In 1770 at the age of fourteen, Marie Antoinette, daughter of Austrian empress Maria Theresa, was married to Louis XVI of France to strengthen French and Austrian relations. In 1774, Louis XVI became king and Marie Antoinette became queen. Dissatisfaction toward Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and economic turmoil led the French Revolution to begin in 1789, with Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette eventually being guillotined in 1793 (Covington 56-65).

It can be easily said that the intended audience for this letter was to Marie Antoinette’s mother, Maria Theresa the empress of Austria. Marie states several times throughout the letter of her many thanks to her mother for the reciprocating letters. The excitement in Marie’s tone is evident that she is astonished, despite the chaotic excitement upon their arrival, the amount of order there is. Marie is overjoyed that despite the hardships that the peasants faced, such as taxes, they remain loyal to her and her husband Louis, and show their affection with cheering and excitement. In response to the love that they received, Marie makes a point to tell her mother that the dauphin and herself wished the citizens not to be harmed despite the fact that they were unable to move for hours from the sheer masses of people who gathered upon their arrival.

The French revolution was a period in French history when the 3rd estate became the National Assembly. These people of the National Assembly were fascinated by the enlightenment ideas of the new world. (Document 1) They were advocates for a non-monarchy. They created a document called the Declaration of the Rights of Man which was their laws that they abided by.(Document 5)

She thinks that because her friend is rich and beautiful, that her material items would extend with that wealth. Instead, it shows Madame that even the richest of people do not always have to have genuine items. Madame realizes that she does have fun at the party even if she is not wearing all authentic things, the opposite of what she thinks she is wearing. A third ironic happening, is when she has been working to pay off the money for the necklace for a decade. Madame clearly admits to her friend on page 196 how she loses the necklace, and has been paying it back for ten years. As someone is reading the story, they will find it silly how Mme. is working for something when she is usually having people, mostly her husband, do things for her. Instead, she is working to pay off the money that she has spent on a replacement necklace. The turnout of the story changes Madame’s views on how silly, textile items, are not always needed for someone to be happy.

Many people may argue that Marie Antoinette was the biggest factor for why France fell into a revolutionary state, however, Marie Antoinette was a queen victimized and forced to play role from a young age to satisfy the French people who disapproved. Marie Antoinette was falsely blamed for her actions when in fact it wasn’t her fault. Marie Antoinette was forced to accept a society where she had to learn new customs and traditions. She had to leave everything behind, consequently become something she isn’t. Her frustration and unhappiness with Versailles was no surprise. Marie Antoinette was frustrated by her marriage. At Versailles her husband-to-be, Louis Auguste had no interest in her. In the film, Marie Antoinette, the director clearly

Marie Ationnette was born as the 15th child into the Austrian royal family in 1755. At the early age of 14, she was married off in 1770 to the dauphine of France, Louis. At 19 she became queen of France, becoming an embodiment of the ancien regime, eventually becoming the symbol of the excesses of the monarchy and their irresponsible spending, earning her the name of Madame deficit. Marie Ationnette was significant to the revolution, for her symbolism of lavish spending, her scandals, and her role in the march of the women provoked the people to overthrow the Monarchy. Marie Ationnette was best known for her extravagant spending, which ultimately earned her the name “Madame Deficit”. To entertain herself Marie would often go to parties, theatre,

The story of revolution and resistance in 18th-century France is a complicated one, and no two historians tell the story the same way. However, it is clear that for the revolutionaries, Marie Antoinette’s significance was mainly, powerfully symbolic. "She and the people around her seemed to represent everything that was wrong with the monarchy and the Second Estate: They appeared to be tone-deaf, out of touch, disloyal (along with her allegedly treasonous behavior, writers and pamphleteers frequently accused the queen of adultery) and self-interested"( Moore 17 ). What Marie Antoinette was actually like was beside the point; the image of the queen was far more influential than the woman herself.

None of this deters Marie, for she is strong and satisfied with where she is in her relatiioinship even though she gets nothing emotionally from Meursault. Marie learns just how to be with Meursault, she builds herself up and one day decides that she will not allow Meursault’s little emotional displays stop her from spending the rest of her life with him. Another thing that makes Marie stick out, is that she was the one who ‘proposed’ to him. Sure, there was never any formal proposal, no dropping to one knee or hiding the ring in some angle foodcake, but she was the first to even remotely mention marriage in the relationship. Set in the early 1940’s, the time proves that the woman was still the less superior in any relationship. Never was it socially acceptable to be this forward in a relationship, never could the woman bring up

After Maman died, Meursault met his girlfriend, Marie. She was as beautiful as he could imagine and he loved her company. As most people who possess very strong feelings for

Saints are always different from everyday people, thus no one understands them in their lives, only a lot of years after their death. Joan of Arc was a saint like this as well, she was too far ahead of her times and was killed by her fellow men, because they didn’t know what else to do. She was canonized in 1920, after 489 years of her death. In my opinion, she was not only a saint, but meant to be an angel and showed a good example to all of us, how to behave ourselves in the name of honour, honesty, and glory.

Her persistent mindset of wanting and needing more, is how her internal conflict developed. All of Madame Loisel’s issues relate back to her internal fascination with becoming incredibly rich and valued by her peers. The text states, “She had longed so eagerly to charm, to be desired, to be wildly attractive and sought after.” (1) Madame Loisel’s mindset was simply set on materialistic things and being respected amongst her peers. Even throughout the years, her idea of ‘perfection’ never changed a bit. The story reads, “But sometimes, when her husband was at the office, she sat down by the window and thought of that evening long ago, of the ball at which she had been so beautiful and so much admired.” (5) Ten hard and stressful years later, Madame Loisel is still under the impression that everything she has must be beautiful and valued. This situation expresses irony because although she is beautiful, she still feels a desire to receive expensive things. The text states, “She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans… She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury.” (1) Although she is beautiful

Madame Loisel is a very stuck up character in the beginning of the story. She sees no value to money. She believes she was meant to live a wealthy life, and has high hopes for an elegant and luxurious life. This is shown in story when it says that “She suffered constantly, feeling that all her attributes of a gracious life, even luxury, should have rightfully been hers.”

Before Marie Antoinette married Dauphin Louis XVI in 1770, the situation in France was already beginning to become disordered. The peasants, which made up about 90% of the population at the time, were treated unfairly and began to feel frustrated and upset with the Monarchy. At the time, Marie Antoinette was distrusted because of her foreign birth and many of the peasants saw her as the source of their problems and disliked her. She was often seen in the past as a bad Queen due to her careless spending and seemingly frivolous lifestyle, now with more evidence and sources, opinions have shifted. Many see Marie Antoinette as a victim of her own circumstances, as it can be seen by the state of affairs in France before her arrival, her upbringing and public opinion before her death during the French Revolution. This essay will illustrate that Marie Antoinette was indeed a victim of her circumstances.