Marie Antoinette

Flondor Diana-Ioana, Anul I, grupa H112

Content
• 1.Who was Marie Antoinette and her family ……………………………..
• 2.His marriage with King Ludovic XVI……………………
• 3.Queen at Royal Court…………………………………..
• 4.About the movie…………………………………………….
• 5.Conclusions…………………………………………………
• 6.Pictures………………………………………………………
• 7.Bibliography ………………………………………
• 1. Marie Antoinette November 2, 1755 - October 16, 1793 was
the daughter of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and sister of
Emperor Joseph II. At the age of 15, she married Louis XVI of France,
thus becoming Queen of France. Maria Antoinette was executed by
guillotine, at the height of the French Revolution, in 1793, under the
charge of high treason, however unproven.
 Born at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna in 1755, Archduchess Maria Antonia was
the youngest daughter of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa, Queen of
Hungary and Bohemia. Maria Antonia was described as "small but a perfectly healthy
Archduchess". The archduchess was baptized Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna. At the
Austrian court she was known as Madame Antoine.
Maria Antonia and her older sister, Maria Carolina, were raised together and
shared the same governess until 1767; they became very close. Maria Antonia loved
music and learned to play the harpsichord. He also excelled in dancing. At 10 he was
struggling to read and write German, spoke little and with difficulty French and very
little Italian – three languages ​that were frequently spoken in the Imperial family. He
also learned some rudiments of Latin. At that time, etiquette at the Austrian court was
much less strict than at Versailles, and the dances were less complex.
 His mother, Maria Theresa, like all sovereigns of the era, put child
marriages at the service of the policy of alliance between the House of
Habsburg and the House of Bourbon to meet the ambitions of Prussia and
Great Britain.
Thus, among Marie Antoinette's older sisters, Maria Cristina, the
favorite child of the empress, married in 1766 Albert of Saxony, named Duke
of Teschen and regent of the Netherlands, and Maria Amalia married
Ferdinand I, Duke of Parma and Maria Carolina married in 1768 Ferdinand I,
king of the Two Sicilies. The marriage between the Dauphin of France, the
future Louis XVI, and Marie Antoinette was supposed to be the apotheosis of
this policy. The Archduchess of Austria was the great-niece of Louis XIV
through her paternal grandmother, Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans.
2. In 1768, Louis XV sent a tutor to Austria to train his grandson's future wife. The tutor
found that Maria Antoinette was "much more intelligent than was generally assumed",
but added that because "she was lazy and extremely frivolous it is difficult to teach her".
Maria Antoaneta was a child of only 14 years, she had a delicate beauty, with gray-blue
eyes and blond-gray hair. In May 1770, she was on her way to France to get married,
being escorted by 57 carriages, 117 servants and 376 horses.
Maria Antoinette and Ludovic-Auguste were married on May 16, 1770. The young
woman did not adapt well to life after marriage because she was not prepared, and the
frequent letters sent home showed intense homesickness. "Madam, my dear mother,"
wrote one of the letters, "I have not received any of your dear letters without tears in my
eyes." She complained about some rituals she had to perform as a lady of the French
royal family. "I applied my lipstick and washed my hands in front of the whole world",
referring to the ritual through which she had to put on her make-up in front of dozens of
courtiers.
• 3. Marie Antoinette becomes Queen of France and Navarre at the age of eighteen. Marie Antoinette's situation
becomes more precarious when, on August 6, 1775, her sister-in-law, the Countess d'Artois gives birth to a son, the
Duc d'Angoulême - the heir presumptive to the throne of France when his father, the Count d'Artois becomes King
Charles X of France in 1824. This was followed by a series of satirical graphic pamphlets focusing particularly on the
king's impotence and the queen's sexual affairs with men and women.
• Still without heirs to France and still considered a foreigner, the queen became in 1777 the target of the first hostile
song circulating from Paris to Versailles. The Queen spent incessantly by buying the dress from Rose Bertin and
gambling. She began to attract various male admirers whom she accepted into her intimate circle of friends,
including the Baron de Besenval, the Duc de Coigny, and Count Esterházy.
He was allowed to renovate the Little Trianon , a small castle in Versailles gifted by Louis XVI on August 15, 1774, with
full budgetary freedom. He focused especially on horticulture, redesigning the garden in English style. Although the
Petit Trianon had been built for Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV, it became associated with the
extravagance of Marie Antoinette. Rumors circulated that the walls were plastered with gold and diamonds.[18] An
even bigger problem, however, was the debt incurred by France during the Seven Years' War, which had not yet been
paid off.
• In her little theatre, she acted in plays like The Barber of Seville by Beaumarchais as a maid, to the amusement of
Louis XVI. Through her desire for simple pleasures and exclusive friendships, Marie Antoinette makes more and
more enemies even at the court of Versailles.
 The continued deterioration of the financial situation in France, although cuts were made
in the royal suite, finally forced the king to work with his finance minister, Charles Alexandre de
Calonne, to appeal to the Assembly of Notables after a break of 160 years. The Assembly was
called to try to enact some of the necessary reforms to ease the financial situation when
Parliament refused to cooperate. The first meeting of the Assembly took place on February 22,
1787, at which Maria Antoinette was not present. His absence later led to the charge of
attempting to undermine the purpose of the Assembly.
The assembly would have failed, with or without the presence of the queen, because it did
not adopt any reforms and defied the king, demanding further reforms and the consent of
Parliament. As a result, the king dismissed Calonne on 8 April 1787; foreign minister Vergennes
died on February 13. The king, once again ignoring the queen's pro-Austrian candidate, appointed
a childhood friend, the Comte de Montmorin, to replace Vergennes as foreign minister.
During this time, although her candidate was rejected, the queen began to abandon her
activities and involve herself in politics more than ever before, and especially against the interests
of Austria. This had several reasons. First, her children were Enfants de France, children of France,
and so their future as leaders of France had to be secured.
 As a result, Marie Antoinette emerged as a viable political entity, although that was never
her real intention. In her new capacity as a politician enjoying some power, the queen tried her
best to help settle the situation between the king and the Assembly.
This change in her political role signaled the beginning of the end of the Duchesse de
Polignac's influence. Marie Antoinette began to dislike the duchess's high expenses and their
impact on the Crown's finances. The Duchess left for England in May, leaving her children at
Versailles. Also in May, Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne, Archbishop of Toulouse and one
of the queen's political allies, was appointed by the king to replace Calonne as finance minister.
He began to reduce court expenses. Brienne, however, was unable to improve her financial
situation. Since he was her ally, this failure affected the queen's political position. On 25 May
the Assembly of Notables was dissolved, due to its inability to see things through. The queen
was blamed for this lack of solutions. In reality, the fault was a combination of several other
factors. There were too many costly wars, too large a high-spending royal family, and an
unwillingness on the part of many of the aristocrats in charge to help cover the costs of
government out of their own pockets with higher taxes. Maria Antoinette acquired the
nickname of "Madame Déficit", "lady Debt" (sic) in the summer of 1787, as a result of the
The political situation in 1787 worsened when Parliament was exiled and culminated on 11
November when the king attempted to use lit de justice. He was unexpectedly challenged by his
disgraced cousin, the Duke of Chartres, who had inherited the title of Duc d'Orléans on his father's
recent death. The new Duke of Orléans publicly protested the king's actions and was subsequently
exiled. Finally, on 8 July and 8 August, the king announced his intention to convene the Assembly
of States General, the country's traditionally elected legislature, which had not been consulted
since 1614.

The Queen's main concern in late 1787 and 1788 was to improve the Dauphin's health. He was
suffering from tuberculosis and his spine was severely twisted and curved. He was taken to
Meudon Castle in the hope that the country air would help the child recover. Unfortunately, the
move did little to alleviate the Dolphin's condition, which continued to deteriorate. The boy, aged
seven, died at Meudon on 4 June 1789 of tuberculosis, leaving the title of Dauphin to his younger
brother Louis Charles.
His death, which would normally have been mourned nationally, was ignored by the French
people as they prepared for the next meeting of the Estates General.
4. Marie Antoinette is an American historical drama film written, co-produced and directed
by Sofia Coppola. The role of Queen Marie Antoinette is played by actress Kirsten Dunst, and the
role of Count Fersen is played by Jamie Dornan. The film was produced by American Zoetrope
studios and premiered on May 24, 2006 in France, being distributed by Columbia Pictures. The
soundtrack was composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau. Production costs amounted to US$40
million and it grossed US$60.9 million.
Sofia Coppola created a youthful and contemporary film about a legend of the 18th
century, Marie Antoinette. Often criticized, a hotly debated personality and ultimately a young
woman completely and utterly misunderstood, Maria Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) appears in
Coppola's vision not as an evil presence or as a divine idol, but as a confused teenager thrown
against her will into a decadent and scandal-hungry society, on the brink of disaster.
• If you're hoping for an account that follows the historical document to
the letter, set your expectations in the right direction. Because Marie
Antoinette does not abuse either the tumultuous intrigues at the
court of Louis XVI, nor the turmoil that prepared the emergence of
the French Republic, in fact it ends where many would have started it
- at the moment when the Revolution begins. Exactly where one of
the most famous queens fits the wrath of the republicans to be
executed.
• More precisely, at the age of fourteen, following the peace between
Austria and France, she is forced to leave the Viennese court
altogether and marry the one who would inherit the throne of
Versailles, Louis XVI - the husband who is not. able to make women
only after seven years of marriage. In all this swagger of Versailles,
between morning rituals and protocol evenings about which she
nonchalantly declares "How ridiculous!", Marie Antoinette continues
to live out her adolescence among puppies, cakes and elegant outfits.
And at some point, of course, the much-discussed lover, the Swedish
count Hans Axel de Fersen, appears, just one of the pretexts for court
gossip. The French critics stonewalled as much as they could.
And Maria Antoinette from Sofia Coppola's film, which you can save even without knowing the historical
reality, has no way of ending, because she does not sin by anything. She is a victim of others' choices,
unwittingly encapsulated in history.
Oscar winner Sofia Coppola brings to the big screen a fresh interpretation of the legendary teenage
queen of France, Marie Antoinette. The betrothed of King Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman), the naive Maria
Antoinette is thrown into the middle of the opulent court of the King of France. Alone, without guidance,
and lost in this dangerous world, the young Marie Antoinette rebels against the isolated atmosphere of
Versailles and, throughout her life, becomes the most misunderstood queen of France.
The story begins when Maria Antoinette, at only 14 years old, is torn from her parental home and her
group of friends and sent to the sophisticated and decadent court of Versailles, in the shining palace near
Paris.
Maria Antoinette is only a pawn in this arranged marriage, whose sole purpose is to strengthen political
relations between two nations. Her teenage husband, Ludovic (Jason Schwartzman), the Dauphin, is the
heir to the throne of France. But Maria Antoinette is not at all prepared to be the gentle queen that
France wants. Behind the luxurious toilets, she is a scared and confused young woman, surrounded by
spiteful detractors, insincere flatterers and gossip. Trapped by the conventions of her new lifestyle, Marie
Antoinette must find a way to integrate herself into the complex and deceptive world of Versailles.
• Is it possible for an American director to save a character that history sacrificed for the
founding of the Republic? But Sofia Coppola's bet is not the story itself, nor the political
problems of the time (the beginning of the Revolution at the end is suggested only by lighting
and sound). It's true, the images released as if from a box of fondant candies keep your every
sense awake and you want to exclaim at every jasmine flower that opens in a cup of tea. But all
this because the world is shown as perceived by this teenager who accidentally became a
porcelain queen (transparently embodied by Kirsten Dunst) - with her freedoms, delights and
madness. It is interesting how the lens chooses its target, how it approaches her and caresses
her lasciviously, then leaves her with the greatest freedom.
• The fluidity of the images that Sofia Coppola creates, their narrative power and that of
creating an inner time (so specific to this director) make the whole film. Plus their counter-time
support of new wave music as if the story of this French doll had happened during the trendy
revolution of the '80s, when young people felt close to the "natural state" wearing false
eyelashes and listening to Bowie. Each generation with its Rousseau! (Iulia David, Involuntarily
encapsulated in history - Marie Antoinette)
• 5. Secluded in the Tuilleries palace in the latter part of her life, the one after the
French revolution, Marie Antoinette suddenly matured. The life of pleasure and cancan
was replaced by the dedicated activity of a monarch who was aware of the importance of
his role and the need to live up to the expectations of the French people, who felt the
acute need for change. But it was too late. The games were already played, the glass was
already full. Nothing could save the royal family from execution.
The picture of Marie Antoinette's life and the tumultuous end of the House of
Bourbon is a warning about the effects of rulers' ignorance of the suffering of their subjects.
The revolution of 1789 failed to provide the ideal solution to all kinds of problems that
marked French society, but led to the bloody era dominated by the guillotine. Of course,
Marie Antoinette was a privileged monarch, indifferent to the people for most of her life,
who ignored the sufferings of the common man. However, we must not forget that this
historical figure has her dose of humanity and that, in the case of her story, there are certain
mitigating circumstances.
• 6.
• 7.
https://agenda.liternet.ro/articol/3753/Iulia-David/Incapsulata-fara-v
oie-in-istorie-Marie-Antoinette
.html
• https
://www.emag.ro/marie-antoinette-dvd-qpr201909/pd/DD43K4BBM/
• https://historia.ro/sectiune/general/maria-antoaneta-regina-exceselo
r-577200.html
• https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Antoaneta,_regină_a_Franței