Marie Antoinette: The Tragic Downfall of A Queen by Sara Hayter

On the 16 October 1793, a pale woman, known as ‘Widow Capet, dressed entirely in white, stepped onto the scaffold. She looked much older than her 37 years, with her snow white hair crudely shorn. After accidently stepping on her executioner’s foot, she apologetically whispered, “Pardon me sir, I did not do it on purpose.” Her head was struck off via the guillotine, and as her head was thrust into the air, much to the delight of the roaring crowds, screams of ‘Vive la Republique!’ ripped through The Place de la Concorde, the largest public square in Paris and a spot where many heads would roll. This unassuming figure, whose death delighted the baying crowd was none other than Marie Antoinette – the former queen of France. Her death symbolised the climatic moments of the fall of the French monarchy and the end of Ancien Regime, a political, social and economic system, ruled by an absolute monarch. This system began in the 15th century and split French society into three groups, according to strict hierarchy; the clergy, nobility and the lastly the workers and peasantry, known as the Third Estate. Ten months earlier, her husband Louis XVI, King of France, met the same fate, although his journey to the scaffold was less brutal. While Louis was taken to the site of his execution by carriage, shielded from the full force and hatred of the crowd, Antoinette, arms painfully tied tight round her back, travelled the hour’s journey from her prison at the Conciergerie to the place of execution, in an open cart, fully exposed to the hatred and hostilities of the French people. The destruction of the French monarchy was a decisive moment in French history, one that was a long time in coming, with the seeds been sown before Antoinette married Louis. However, Marie Antoinette became a figurehead of excess, greed, corruption and the epitome of the enemy of France and its people.

Born Maria Antonia Josphia Johanna on 2 November 1755 in Vienna to Empress Maria Theresa and Frances I, Holy Roman Emperor, she was the youngest daughter of 15 children. Empress Maria was ruler to the Habsburg Empire, and at only six months old, the young Maria was promised to wed Louis XV’s grandson and heir to the French throne, Louis Auguste. Empress Maria had a grand plan to unite Austria and France together, finally putting an end to their bitter rivalries in a hope to unite against British and Prussia forces. It was a marriage that promised so much. Not only a new alliance, but also, fresh hope for the French monarchy. The young couple were formally betrothed in 1770 and in May of that year and met near the forest of Compiegne. Maria, now adopting the more French sounding name of Marie Antoinette, was stripped of her Austrian heritage and styled in French fashions of the Versailles. Her first foray into public life as dauphine was a mixed affair; Marie’s first public debut on 8 June 1773 was a hit with the French crowds, although her Austrian heritage would be a bone of contention throughout her queenship. In one way, the union between two historic enemy countries was always going to be risky, due to the past turbulent relationship between them. Antoinette, had the impossible task of navigating the alliance from the very beginning. Xenophobic attitudes against France’s old enemy would resurface time and time again throughout Marie’s life and used to justify Marie’s death. Married life to Louis XVI was difficult, and for the first seven years of their marriage, it remained unconsummated. At the time, the lack of heirs provoked debate and gossip. Nervousness from Marie’s family resulted in Marie’s brother, Joseph II, now Holy Roman Emperor, visiting the royal couple, as well as sharp and critical written correspondence from Marie’s mother, Maria Theresa. Maria’s written correspondence to her daughter was mainly pressing the expectations that Marie was to live up to; she was to serve the French people, Marie was to do all she could to strengthen the union between the two countries and produce heirs. While the years elapsed with no heir, rumours were flourishing to undermine the royal marriage. This was hardly the fault of Marie, but rather the situation she found herself in. The bond between herself and Louis was awkward and strained from their very first meeting. Antoinette bore four children and was by all accounts, a devoted and doting mother. By the time Louis and Marie Antoinette came to the throne, the French economy was in woeful shape. France was no longer the superpower it once was, and the population, especially the peasantry and farmers, were plunged into poverty. The world of Versailles was one of wealth, culture, entertainment, excitement, parties and celebrations. A world away from the harsh realities and the poverty that was experienced by the French population. Marie Antoinette had a passion and interest in fashion, social events and a reputation for gambling. But she wasn't the only one. Amongst all this extravagance, 1775 saw a series of riots break out across the kingdom. The Flour Wars, as it has become known, was a result of increased grain prices and food shortages across the French villages and towns. People were starving, and mobilised in their anger. This collective anger resulted in over 300 riots across the kingdom during April and May of that year. Bread was a dietary staple for the French peasantry and working classes, so increases in grain prices, meant that bread was unaffordable and the threat of starvation and hunger became ever real and a devastating reality for many. The Flour Wars of 1775 was a turning point for the monarchy, and a prelude to the road to revolution. The revolts were quashed by military forces, but the seeds of discontent, of anger and rage towards the monarchy were sewn by those events. The disgust towards the monarchy and the aristocracy by the French people had a figurehead: Marie Antoinette. Louis's kingship was an abject failure; he was indecisive, unable to stand up to powerful court factions and sacking of notable ministers undermined public trust. His inability to ease the financial crisis and food shortages in France was damming. Despite all Louis weakness as king, it was arguably Marie Antoinette that faced the full force of public anger. She was nicknamed ‘Madam Deficit,’ allegedly made responsible for the desperate plight that many experienced. Increasingly, Antoinette became a target of gossip, rumours and slander, most notably in the publications of the Libelles; which took the form of defamatory pamphlets, cartoons or plays about the queen. One of the first mentions of Antoinette in the libelles was in 1781 in which her private life, most notably, her sex life was graphically discussed. The queen was accused of many sexual acts; lesbianism, affairs (most notably with the kings brother), immoral sexual appetite and debauchery, as well as references to her love of luxury and spending. By 1789, these pamphlets increased in circulation and obscenity, which accused Antoinette of grave sexual appetites, the use of sex toys and raised questions over the illegitimacy of her children. Louis efforts of ridding these publications were all in vain, which further undermined his authority as king. A Further scandal rocked the monarchy’s reputation, and in particular that of the queen’s. The scandal involved the alleged acquiring of a grand necklace, and a refusal to pay for the extravagant item by Antoinette. The necklace in question was first commissioned by Louis XV for his mistress Madam du Barry. The item was breath taking, showcasing almost 650 diamonds. However the former king died before purchasing it, and years after, Antoinette was offered the necklace, although she turned it down. Countess de La Motte tried acquiring the necklace, on behalf of the queen, roping Cardinal de Rohan into the deception. In reality, Antoinette had no knowledge of this fraud, but it did not matter; in the eyes of the French public and the nobility, she was guilty.

Several key events such as the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 marked the start of the French Revolution. The bastille, a medieval political prison, was a powerful symbol of Bourbon power, and by penetrating and overtaking this formidable fortress, the French workers were exerting their power and anger over the monarchy. The anger and need for social and political change was righteous; people were starving. They were incensed at the luxury and expense of the aristocracy and monarchy in the face of such suffering. However, Marie Antoinette would take the full force of this public wrath. On the 5 October of that year, a crowd of market women, emboldened by the revolutionaries, descended onto the streets of Paris and made their way to the palace of Versailles. Armed with makeshift weaponry, and with the crowd swelling, calls for the death of the queen were rife. Marie Antoinette narrowly escaped with her life, as the protesters burst into her bedchambers with their weapons and proceeded to tear at her bedsheets. Antoinette was able to dash to the king’s bedchamber and then escape out of a side door. The palace guards were brutalised and beaten, with at least one of their decapitated heads on a spike. After the violence subsided, the crowds gathered outside the palace grounds, demanding to see their king and queen. An uneasy temporary peace was declared that day, with Louis addressing the baying crowd on the balcony, stating that he will return to Paris with the people. Antoinette bravely came to the balcony to face her subjects. Hours before, the crowd was calling for her death, now in that moment, the people watched as the queen faced them with her hands across her chest, muskets pointing directly at her. The royal family was escorted to Paris with the crowd following and guiding their journey, and the National Guard leading them to Tuileries Palace, where they were effectively prisoners of the state. During this time, Marie Antoinette did indeed try to work with people from the National Assembly, such as Comte De Mirabeau, who was part of the Third Estate, and believed in a constitutional monarchy. However, it was their attempted escape that ultimately sealed the monarch’s fate. On the 21 June 1791, the royal family attempted to escape from Tuileries palace to Montmedy. At the town of Varennes-en-Argonne, the family were spotted by a postmaster, who recognised the king almost instantly. The family was arrested and escorted back to Paris, where their failed escape flamed the anger, rage and hostility of the crowds and the Assembly. Louis was charged with treason and beheaded by guillotine on 21 January 1793. Marie Antoinette never witnessed the gruesome execution of her husband, but upon learning the news, she fainted and was deep in mourning. Her and her children’s treatment during captivity was harsh; they were regularly insulted by their guards and separated from her son, eight year old Louis XVII. Antoinette's trial took place on the 14 October 1793, with less than 24 hours to prepare her defence. Sensational and graphic charges were bought against the former queen including, and not limited to; sexual immortality and debauchery, utilising treasury money for her lavish lifestyle as well as sending that money to her native home of Austria and perhaps, the most shocking of all, incest with her son Louis-Charles. It was the later accusation that shocked and appalled, not only Antoinette, but the women spectators. Antoinette became emotional, responding, “If I did not respond, it was because it would be against nature for a mother to reply to such accusation.” With that, the public witnessing the trial sympathised with the former queen. By all accounts, Marie Antoinette was a dedicated and loving mother, so the accusation of incest, in which Louis-Charles confessed to under torturous conditions, was utterly unfounded and shocking. Much of the accusations in this trial was based on the publications of the Libelles. Her communication with Austria was mentioned, and indeed that was true that she was writing secretly coded letters for help to her brother, but that was not known at her trial. Marie Antoinette for the longest time, has been represented by contemporary and historic accounts of all that was wrong with the ancien regime of France. To those that were starving, plunged into poverty and suffering, she represented gross excess, greed, indifference of her subjects, sexually immortal, a foreigner and enemy to France and the French people. The financial, economic and social crisis of the country, in the minds of revolutionaries and French workers, fell on the shoulders of one woman. Undeniably, misogyny and anti- Austrian sentiment played an instrumental role in perceptions of the queen. After all, Louis was king. Decisions of government, financial, military and economic management should have rested squarely on his indecisive and inept shoulders. The more recent histories and biographies bring to light a more tender, complex and empathetic queen in Antoinette, that is more closer to the truth. When we see beyond the myths that take a powerful hold of historical people, and in particular the histories of women, we are able to catch a glimpse of the complexities, the tragedies and the factors that shaped the situation surrounding them, and a more authentic lens in which to view them. Marie Antionette’s story is tragic, not just because of her gruesome demise, but because her story is littered with factors beyond her control and not of her making. She could not help her Austrian heritage, and her marriage was decided for her at only six months old. The alliance between two old enemies was always going to be fraught and dependant on how France was governed. We know throughout history, and even in our modern times, that when economic and social crisis occurs, people will always try and scapegoat others. The slurs and slanders, most of which were untrue, made reference to her Austrian heritage. Marie Antoinette may have been naïve and ignorant of people’s suffering, but she did not deserve the visceral hatred and cruelty that she was met with in both life and death.