Reputation of Marie-Antoinette

No, I have not yet seen the Coppola film. My husband has a deal worked out with the local video store which includes unlimited movies, as long as they are ones that have been on the shelves for a while. So I am waiting for the Marie-Antoinette (2006) DVD to be tossed into the discount bin. I am not in any hurry. My friends who have seen it, hated it.

However, there are some reviews I have read by people with an appreciation for history and cinema who thought the film was not without merit. One was my brother Pat, who gave me his review over the phone. Pat really liked the film, with the exception, he said, of the scenes of the love affair with Fersen. He agrees with me that there is not enough proof that Marie-Antoinette slept with Fersen or was even in love with him, and therefore the queen's virtue should be given the benefit of the doubt. There is much more evidence of her high moral standards than there is of any infidelity.

The problem is the picture many people now have of Marie-Antoinette is of her running through Versailles with a glass of champagne in her hand, eating bonbons all day long, and rolling in the bushes with a lover. In reality, she was a teetotaler who ate frugally. She was notorious for her intense modesty and as her friend the Prince de Ligne said, "Her soul was as white as her face." Even some prominent biographers who have insisted upon the possibility of an affair with Fersen in their books have had to admit that there is no solid evidence. Nevertheless, I keep seeing more things on the internet describing Marie-Antoinette as a "bad girl."

Yes, she had a gambling problem when young (I have a future article planned just on her card parties.) She liked to dance the night away, but settled down when the children started to come. Her clothes, yes, were magnificent; volumes could and have been written about Marie-Antoinette's style. She did introduce simpler fashions to France, however.

The slurs upon her reputation which were circulated by the Revolution had little to do with the real woman and queen and everything to do with overthrowing the government. The image of her conjured on the screen by Sofia Coppola has more to do with modern teenage angst than with la reine-martyr. But, I really should not say more until I see the movie. Share