Tea at Trianon: The Harsh Realities of Life In the Eighteenth Century

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The Harsh Realities of Life In the Eighteenth Century

From author Leah Marie Brown:

Those chandeliers? The wax often dripped on the people below, burning exposed skin, ruining expensive and time-consuming hairdos, and making the dance floor a sticky mess. Ladies lived in fear of the wax ruining their expensive gowns. Fortunately, a good maid/valet knew how to remove wax from any garment....

18th century French noblewomen spent weeks planning their wardrobe for a big event, fretting over fabric and color choices. Wearing an unfashionable gown or unflattering shade of puce would open the lady up to ridicule and social exile. On the afternoon of the event, she would spend hours seated in an uncomfortable, low-backed chair, dressed in a chemise and powdering gown, while her physiognomist labored to arrange her coiffure. Height was essential so horse hair pads were often used to elevate her tresses. It was not uncommon for women to spend upwards of three hours in the stylists chair only to find their hair had been teased to such a great height that they could not fit in their carriage without sitting on the floor. Some women opted to stick their heads out their carriage window.

Some women suffered from hair loss, eyestrain, and headaches because of the constant torturous manipulation of their tender tresses. Pests were another very personal and real problem. Fleas and lice infested some of the most genteel heads in eighteenth century Paris. Indeed, women of fashion often carried long, think sticks with claws at the end for scratching their scalps. (Read entire post.)