tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534539169157708222.post4509311611416882434..comments2024-03-26T12:19:52.801-04:00Comments on Tea at Trianon: Marie-Antoinette's Secret Letterselena maria vidalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17129629173535139807noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534539169157708222.post-39132183566390767252012-07-18T01:43:44.143-04:002012-07-18T01:43:44.143-04:00Very well-written, researched, and informative.Very well-written, researched, and informative.Soph Laughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16588609258171352719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534539169157708222.post-11812347033126668922011-08-03T20:10:48.077-04:002011-08-03T20:10:48.077-04:00Every aspect of her life, every relationship, her ...Every aspect of her life, every relationship, her friendships, her marriage, her motherhood, were smeared by those you wished to destroy her reputation and her influence. Marie-Antoinette stood in the way of the triumph of the Revolution and so she had to be destroyed.elena maria vidalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17129629173535139807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534539169157708222.post-13435671614923470592011-08-03T20:02:23.851-04:002011-08-03T20:02:23.851-04:00It's horrible that even her innocent friendshi...It's horrible that even her innocent friendships with other women were twisted by her enemies into something perverse and wicked. But at least, those stories don't seem to live on tenaciously in the popular mind the way the Fersen rumors do.Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18230268418171628594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534539169157708222.post-4491501938754311122011-08-03T19:27:00.951-04:002011-08-03T19:27:00.951-04:00True, M., except that in M.A.'s case she has b...True, M., except that in M.A.'s case she has been (falsely) accused of lesbianism, especially with the ladies in question. My point is that she had an overall gushing and affectionate way of expressing herself to those of whom she was fond. There is no question that Patarin and Nachef's "I will love you to the death" is like something right out of a romance novel. I do think that the passages written to Fersen have suffered from extrapolation while undergoing decryption.elena maria vidalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17129629173535139807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534539169157708222.post-73307820554985254782011-08-03T19:00:14.698-04:002011-08-03T19:00:14.698-04:00Like you, Elena, I don't think MA and Fersen w...Like you, Elena, I don't think MA and Fersen were lovers (at least not in the physical sense). I'm not sure, though, if it is quite fair to compare the Queen's affectionate phrases to relatives or female friends with her supposed tender words to Fersen. Writing in a loving way to other women or to family members, especially in that sentimental age, is nothing to raise eyebrows, of course. But, if the words are really hers, writing in the same style to an unrelated male courtier does seem a bit more, well, remarkable.Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18230268418171628594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534539169157708222.post-50039459261782996252011-08-03T16:00:53.609-04:002011-08-03T16:00:53.609-04:00I could not agree more, Anna. Apparently there are...I could not agree more, Anna. Apparently there are huge portions of the Queen's correspondence missing and so people tend to fill in the gaps with romance. They forget that the first person on her mind was not Axel but Louis-Charles and regaining the throne for him. The interpretations given in the study are by no means authoritative or proven to be genuine beyond a shadow of a doubt.elena maria vidalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17129629173535139807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534539169157708222.post-55612672380127761342011-08-03T15:48:16.467-04:002011-08-03T15:48:16.467-04:00Thank you for linking the paper in English, it wil...Thank you for linking the paper in English, it will definitely be an interesting read! I question the more romantic interpretations as well, though I do hope in the future that more study is done on the coded letters from a more neutral standpoint, not from a POV that (to me, it seems) is wanting to prove/disprove the possibility of romantic affection between the queen and Fersen.Anna Gibsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16294617189991777940noreply@blogger.com