Tea at Trianon: More on "Let Them Eat Cake"

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

Sunday, April 6, 2008

More on "Let Them Eat Cake"

Author Catherine Delors analyzes the "Let them eat cake" myth in an insightful manner. Share

3 comments:

Terry Nelson said...: One of my friends who came over the other night spoke about Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution. He is reading the history of the revolution - I don't remember the title of the book he is reading.

This man is totally secularized, a Jew by birth, and non-religious - infact, he has no time for religion. He began telling me how awful the revolution was, and did I know how they slaughtered bishops, priests and religious for nothing? And that the King and Queen were not as bad as history made them out to be? And, get this - the Queen was unjustly accused, she never said 'let them eat cake', and so on.

I was completely blown away! I gave him your blog address.; April 7, 2008 at 11:20:00 AM EDT
Catherine Delors said...: Thank you, Maria Elena!

And Terry, I believe that your friend is right on what happened (the level of injustice and violence.) But the Revolution is a complex set of events, with complex causes and a still more complex legacy.; April 8, 2008 at 10:11:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Yes, Catherine, so true and unfortunately most Americans only receive a very one-sided view of events. Hopefully, between your books and mine, we will help in our own ways to restore a sense of balance about the whole thing.; April 8, 2008 at 10:18:00 AM EDT