Marie Antoinette was born into royalty on November 2nd, 1755 by the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and
Marie Antoinette was born into royalty on November 2nd, 1755 by the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa. When Marie was a child, she was often referred to as “Antione” or “Antonia” and was known to be very kind and beautiful. She wasn’t as close to her mother as she was her father, who died of a stroke when she was only nine years old. Despite her fear of her mother, the family was very close. Out of her fifteen siblings, Marie’s favorite was Maria Carolina. The two were almost like twins as they grew up together.
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At the age of thirteen, Marie could not read nor write very well. This became a huge problem when she discovered she was next in line to marry the heir to the throne of France. To improve her skills, a tutor was hired for her. After a year of constant studying, she became fluent in French. Although her studies were going well, her appearance wasn’t. Her teeth needed fixing and her hair was not presentable. She wore a pelican, a form of braces for her teeth, and hired a professional to make her forehead appear smaller. Her transformation was complete, and she was ready to be married.
The wedding took place on April 19th, 1770. Two days after, she was forced to say goodbye to her family and hello to the people of France. On one hand, the French people adored her and she was well liked by the common people. On the other hand, many disliked her because she was from Austria. When Louis XV passed, Louis XVI became the king of France, making Marie the queen.
As queen, she spent a lot on fashion and gambling, despite the country struggling financially. People were always wondering why they had not had children yet, especially Marie’s brother, who came to France under a fake name.
After seven years of marriage, Marie finally gave birth to a daughter. After a few miscarriages and giving birth to four children, Marie became more into politics and less into her old lifestyle.
On the night of June 21st, 1791, Marie and her family tried and failed to escape to Austria in attempt to create a counter-revolution against the French Revolution. The entire family was returned to France and arrested. Louis XVI was executed in January of 1793, Marie following ten months later. They were both sentenced to death by guillotine while their children were left in prison.
Works Cited
- Fraser, A. (2001). Marie Antoinette: The Journey. Doubleday.
- Hardman, J. (2016). The Life of Louis XVI. Yale University Press.
- Lever, E. (2006). Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- Nagel, S. (2008). Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman. Harper Perennial.
- Roberts, J. B. (2015). The French Revolution. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
- Scott, P. M. (2008). Marie Antoinette: The Crucial Years. University of California Press.
- Weber, C. (2013). Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution. Henry Holt and Co.
- Yalom, M. (2008). Blood Sisters: The French Revolution in Women's Memory. Basic Books.
- Zweig, S. (2002). Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman. Pushkin Press.
- Zweig, S. (2017). The Struggle with the Daemon: Hölderlin, Kleist, Nietzsche. Pushkin Press.
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