I think that few people understand the profound impact the death this beautiful and intelligent little boy had on Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. For one thing, death from tuberculosis is not pretty to watch. I think that Louis' emotional equilibrium was shattered by Louis-Joseph's agonizing demise. Seeing Louis-Joseph die just as he had watched his older brother die long ago revived a lot of the childhood trauma. The loss of a child is brutal to experience no matter what, but to lose one while all you have worked to build is being demolished before your eyes is enough to make anyone go over the edge. Louis XVI may have been suffering from clinical depression which is why Marie-Antoinette had to become more involved in the political arena during the Revolution. However, Louis and Antoinette turned to each other in their grief and their bond was strengthened.
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| I hate seeing the Grim Reaper hovering over Louis-Joseph. There should be an angel. |
Vive la Reine has a quote from Antonia Fraser:
The boy whose birth had been saluted by his father to his mother with these triumphant words: “Madame, you have fulfilled my wishes and those of France,” was dead, “a decayed old man,” covered in sores, at the age of seven and a half.
-Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser
ShareImage: Detail of ‘An Allegory of the death of the dauphin’
5 comments:
great post - love to read more
That last drawing with the Grim Reaper was so upsetting. I forget how high infant mortality was back in the 18th century; even a King's son was not immune. It is too heartbreaking to see that drawing.
This reminded me of a kind lady I once met. She had multiple sclerosis herself, and had also lost five of her nine children to cystic fibrosis- and another in a car accident. It must have been such agony over and over again, but she was consoled by the fact that they had been good children.
I trust that Louis and Antoinette also drew some comfort from the goodness of this little prince, and from the knowledge that he was at least safe with God and beyond the reach of human wickedness and cruelty. Perhaps, like his sister Sophie, he could help his family and country better from the next world.
That last drawing is so sad. Poor
child! His death was tragic, but at least he was spared the horrors of the Revolution.
Thanks for the link love.
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