Tea at Trianon: Good Housekeeping

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

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Good Housekeeping

Genevieve has an amusing but poignant post about how feminism has poisoned the pride women once took in their housekeeping skills. Now women want to be "sexy, sassy, high-end, high-maintenance, degree-earning, pants-wearing, dominating man-eaters" rather than good mothers and homemakers. Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Degree-earning and pants-wearing definitely apply to me! The degree-earning aspect applies to me as a professional librarian. While not as necessary for a public librarian, academic librarians increasingly need a secondary subject degree in addition to a master's in library science.
Like my library women colleagues, I wear pants and skirts. We tend to dress well since we are public servants. Although on Fridays we'll wear more relaxed outfits but still maintain a neat appearance.; May 22, 2007 at 9:40:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Hi, Elisa, I don't think "pant-wearing" need be taken literally here. It refers to the expression of "wearing the pants in the family," meaning a woman who is the head of a family with a weak, subservient husband. Genevieve is not disparaging higher degrees for women (I have a couple myself) but pointing out the fact that we tend to value such "worldly" things more than the ability to be good wives, mothers and making a pleasant, cheerful home for the family.; May 22, 2007 at 9:46:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: My own tip for Good Housekeeping........er.....

WEAR Sunglasses it werx for me LOL!

I know I am being silly LOL!Hahahhaaa!!!

With love,

Daffy Marie; May 23, 2007 at 3:54:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Or keep the blinds drawn so you won't see the dust.... And don't look up so you won't see the cobwebs.; May 23, 2007 at 7:57:00 AM EDT