Tea at Trianon: Carnival in Paris

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, March 6, 2011

Carnival in Paris

Catherine Delors reports on the Carnival of Paris which Marie-Antoinette was allowed to enjoy in limited doses. One can see why the Church instituted the Forty Hours devotions in order to make atonement. According to Madame Delors:

Carnival is the time of revelry and celebration that precedes the fast of Lent and culminates with Mardi-Gras, Fat Tuesday. Before the French Revolution it was the occasion for masquerades, and also raucous parades through the streets of Paris, like the promenade du bœuf gras ("fat ox.") A young boy, called "King of the Butchers" with a gilt crown, sword and scepter, rode the ox, at the sound of violins, fifes and drums, surrounded by butchers disguised as women.

Social barriers, good taste and rules of acceptable behavior fell by the wayside for a few days. The Church remonstrated in vain....

But the revelry was not limited to the streets of Paris. Versailles was not immune to the Carnival mood. A good example is the Bal des Ifs, where a cook could dance all night with a princess, and the King [Louis XV] was attired in the same yew tree costume as seven other gentlemen.

Catherine Delors said...: Thanks for the link to my post, Elena, and for your own post on Marie-Antoinette at Carnival. I will add it to my own!; February 25, 2009 at 5:27:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Thank you, Catherine!; February 25, 2009 at 9:46:00 AM EST