Marie Antoinette felt that infamous hand flutter at her neck; she made a sudden movement and stepped on Sanson's foot as he was busy, unbeknownst to her, tying her to the deadly frame. Sanson pulled his foot away.
"Pardon me, monsieur," said the Queen. "I didn't do it on purpose."
Those were the last words uttered by the Daughter of the Caesers, the Queen of France, the widow of Louis XVI. The quarter hour after midday rang out from the clock at the Tuileries. And at that very moment Marie Antoinette fell into eternity.Marie Antoinette by F.W. Kenyon:
She had the strangest feeling that all this had happened before. She grew more convinced of it as the executioner tied her hands and clipped off her hair, as she drove through the crowded streets, as she reached the Place de la Revolution. She knew she had heart the laughter before, the gay light-hearted laughter of a young girl dressed in white, a girl with red-gold hair, a pretty face with a promise of beauty in it, and so much haughtiness. She searched the scaffold. Surely such a girl had been dancing there. A delusion, n more. But she could see Louis, his cheeks tear-stained, his lips mouthing the words, Faith in God, lift up your eyes to heaven. And Axel too, waving at the end of a corridor.
Hands reached out roughly. She found herself lying face down on a plank. She heard the voice of the preist whose services she had refused.
"Courage, courage..."
"Courage" she echoed indignantly. "I need it no longer. Have courage yourself. It is life that calls for courage, not death."Versailles: a novel by Kathryn Davis
Antoinette. Antoinette.
He cut my hair, I stepped on his foot.
When you look up, clouds; when you look down, the same. Blue sky and clouds, suddenly, water. Suddenly against the blue sky a spray of jewels.
Pardon, monsieur, I said. I did not mean to do it.Abundance, Sena Jeter Naslund:
I kneel in order to lie upon their board, and they help my body to lie straight. So lay my noble husband nine months ago; I but follow. … The sled slides forward—the basket—no need to hold on—I open my hands resting on the small of my back—the basket—I had friends, loving friends (I am not afraid)
The French Revolution is one of the great turning-points in modern history. Never before had the people of a large and populous country sought to remake their society on the basis of the principles of popular sovereignty and civic equality. The drama, success, and tragedy of their endeavor, and of the attempts to arrest or reverse it, have attracted scholarly debate for more than two centuries.
Why did the Revolution erupt in 1789? Why did it prove so difficult to stabilize the new regime? What factors caused the Revolution to take its particular course? And what were the consequences, domestic and international, of a decade of revolutionary change? Featuring contributions from an international cast of acclaimed historians, A Companion to the French Revolution addresses these and other critical questions as it points the way to future scholarship.
Colette Iselin is excited to go to Paris on a class trip. She’ll get to soak up the beauty and culture, and maybe even learn something about her family’s French roots.Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender is set for release in October 2013.
But a series of gruesome murders are taking place across the city, putting everyone on edge. And as she tours museums and palaces, Colette keeps seeing a strange vision: a pale woman in a ball gown and powdered wig, who looks suspiciously like Marie Antoinette.
Colette knows her popular, status-obsessed friends won’t believe her, so she seeks out the help of a charming French boy. Together, they uncover a shocking secret involving a dark, hidden history. When Colette realizes she herself may hold the key to the mystery, her own life is suddenly in danger . . . Acclaimed author Katie Alender brings heart-stopping suspense to this story of revenge, betrayal, intrigue — and one killer queen.
Marie Antoinette has remained atop the popular cultural landscape for centuries for the daring in style and fashion that she brought to 18th century France. For the better part of the queen’s reign, one man was entrusted with the sole responsibility of ensuring that her coiffure was at its most ostentatious best. Who was this minister of fashion who wielded such tremendous influence over the queen’s affairs? Marie Antoinette’s Head: The Royal Hairdresser, The Queen, and the Revolution charts the rise of Leonard Autie from humble origins as a country barber in the south of France to the inventor of the Pouf and premier hairdresser to Queen Marie-Antoinette.
By unearthing a variety of sources from the 18th and 19th centuries, including memoirs (including Léonard’s own), court documents, and archived periodicals the author, French History professor and expert Will Bashor, tells Autie’s mostly unknown story. Bashor chronicles Leonard’s story, the role he played in the life of his most famous client, and the chaotic and history-making world in which he rose to prominence. Besides his proximity to the queen, Leonard also had a most fascinating life filled with sex (he was the only man in a female dominated court), seduction, intrigue, espionage, theft, exile, treason, and possibly, execution. The French press reported that Léonard was convicted of treason and executed in Paris in 1793. However, it was also recorded that Léonard, after receiving a pension from the new King Louis XVIII, died in Paris in March 1820. Granted, Leonard was known as the magician of Marie-Antoinette’s court, but how was it possible that he managed to die twice?
Few people maintain an attitude of impartiality towards Marie Antoinette. At the time of her death she was compared with Messalina and Agrippina. Later, on the return of the monarchy, she became the ‘martyred Queen,’ and was spoken of almost as a saint. Neither extreme is, of course, the true picture.
… at first it seemed to me that there emerged from my research a not very intelligent woman, concerned chiefly with glorifying her own dainty charms in which she delighted, careless, light-hearted, pleasure-loving… yet generous and good-hearted—a very ordinary human being.
But the fascination of Marie Antoinette is the sudden emergence of the brave and noble woman who took the place of the frivolous one almost overnight. It is difficult to believe that the butterfly of the Trianon is the same woman who endured so stoically her sufferings in the Temple and Conciergerie…
It has been an absorbing pleasure to try to understand this woman of dual personality[.]
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| image credit: revolution in fiction I'll end with one of the most striking uses of Marie Antoinette in contemporary advertisements: a recent add for Stabilo Boss highlighters. I think the image speaks for itself--very effective.  |
