Marie+Antoinette

[|kimantoinette.mp3]
 * Marie Antoinette** //November 2nd, 1755~ October 14th, 1793// (Aged 37)

Born with full name //Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen// (now more known as 'Marie Antoinette' in the history), Marie Antoinette was the youngest daughter and fifteenth child of Emperor and Empress of Holy Roman Empire, Francis Stephen I and Maria Theresa of the Hapsburg family.
 * Early Life**

She grew up with the belief of her destiny being the future Queen of France due to her mother's strategic ability for Austrian Empire ; she married the prince of France, the most powerful nation of Europe then, at the age of 15 and 4 years later, she officially became a queen after her husband was crowned as Louis XVI.


 * Marriage**

In the initial part of their marriage life, both Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI had different personal interests, different personalities--therefore, it was less than happy. Antoinette, being fond of arts, fashion, dance and French night lifestyle, didn't get along with Louis XVI, who was homely and awkward. Furthermore, she grew bored out of her duty in the court house with the endless court rituals and strict etiquettes. She was also criticized from her mother regarding her behavior and lack of inspiration from her husband. To alleviate her mind, Marie Antoinette found herself friends Yolande de Polignac and Thérèse de Lamballe and more; she began to ignore the great houses of France nobility and received careless extravagance for her pleasure.

During her lavish lifestyle, she spent a lot of King's money and allowances for high headdresses, voluminous dresses and plumes--which generated scorn from public. Her beauty was well-known and artists, including her personal painter Vigee Lebrun, commented on how see carried herself well. She also went into the habit of gambling; in one occasion, it is told that she played for three straight days--through her 21st birthday--with players from Paris. Antoinette's wasteful lifestyle continued for Petit Trianon, which was given as a gift from Louis XVI; she decorated the place extravagantly with a theater and Temple of Love; it is rumored that she has plastered gold and diamond all over the wall of the Petit Trianon.

In December 19, 1778, Antoinette gave birth to first child, Marie Therese Charlotte. In October 22, 1781, she gave birth to potential male heir Louise Joseph Xavier Francois




 * Decline of Popularity**

Despite the birth of the new prince, the anger of the French court rose on Antoinette mainly for being favorable to Austria, her home country. There were many others who were jealous of queen and dismissed her manner in the court. Thus, some tried to dig up some dirt on her and fabricated and circulated a scurrilous stories about her acts.

During the time, there were worries that concerned about her first son's physical weakness. On March 27, 1785, Marie Antoinette gave birth to a second son, Louis Charles, who was noticeably stronger than their first son.

In mid-1780's a 'Diamond Necklace Affair' scandal occurred. Madame Lamotte convinced Prince de Rohan, Cardinal of France, and jeweler Boehmer that she was a lesbian lover of Marie Antoinette and that Queen wanted the necklace (in fact, Antoinette denied the jewel made by Boehmer).Rohan obtained the jewel from Boehmer and gave it to Lamotte after meeting a prostitute dressed as Marie Antoinette at a late night rendezvous near the Temple of Love. When Boehmer approached queen for payment, the harangue started. When king and queen learned about the affair, both of them enraged. After the trial, it is judged that Prince de Rohan would be acquitted on the charge of insulting the queen. Madame Lamotte was arrested but she continued making story about her being Antoinette's lesbian lover.


 * Crisis and Madame Deficit**

Ironically, after the Diamond Necklace Scandal, Marie's personal life started to settle down with her spending more time with children and family rather than Paris nightlife and wearing less flashy fashion for clothes. But state of France was not stable as with the decline of financial prosperity in the 1780's; the Assembly of Notables was forced to be called upon for the issue of the reforms needed to alleviate the financial situation after being in hiatus for 160 years. The assembly, which was unattended by Marie Antoinette, was a failure and defied the king even more. Contrary to popular belief, Marie Antoinette attended many charity events for the benefits of the poor and used the hameau to aid the poor families. Antoinette's famous line--"Let them eat cake"--may have derived from her perceived insensitivity while playing being a milkmaid and shepherdess at Petit Trianon.

The economy status worsened as Louis XVI failed to return the debt that Louis XV failed to pay and spent some more money to participate in American Independence Wars against England. To revive a positive image, Marie Antoinette tried to show the royal family in a warm image with many portraits of the queen and her children around made. However, the propaganda didn't work as the fancy attires shown in the portraits angered the detractors and the Assembly of Notables breaking up due to the inconclusions and conflicting economical situations; Antoinette was dubbed as 'Madame Deficit'.

In June 4th, 1789, Marie's first child and heir died of crippling hereditary disease, which is the second death of her child after the death of her second daughter in 1786. Meanwhile, unable to make a necessary reforms, king called for an emergency meeting of Estate General--for the first time in 175 years. It was unique meeting the common men had a chance of representation and give their voice. As a result, the public enmity of the monarchy enlargened with people enraging over the limit of their voice than they had expected. The queen, however, wanted the absolute monarchy and had a firm opposition against the giving more power to commoners.


 * The Revolution**

As the demand of the commoners increased, Louis XVI immediately dismissed their head representative. Paris was enraged by the news and people stormed into the castle of Bastille in July 14th of 1789. The king failed to take an action against he mob as the crowd obtained more arms and weapons and lawlessness became apparent. In October, many Parisians demanded bread from the king, increasing the fear from Marie Antoinette; she wanted to flee to Austria.

After troubles displayed from the commoners, in 1791, the queen contacted with her relatives in Austria for the plan of escaping France to securely get into Austria. The royal family dressed up as a commoner and was 200 miles away from Paris and just was near the French-Austrian border when they were caught and forced to return to Paris. Following to that, Leopald II, the king of Austria at time, was disgusted and declared war on France. Even though she was against Austrian claim on French lands, Marie Antoinette was immediately viewed as an enemy of the nation. By July 31st, the king's popularity reached the bottom and the court declared that Louis XVI was no longer the king of France. In August 10th, the royal family was taken by republican forces and were soon imprisoned along with other aristocrats.


 * Death**

Louis XVI was charged with undermining the republic of France itself and was found guilty by Jacobins, who refused to keep him alive as a hostage. He was executed by guillotine in January of 1793.

After the king's death, Marie Antoinette was forced away from her son; he was cared by Simon, a cobbler, and died of neglect in 2 years. In October 14th, she was tried under the Jacobin's bias against her; many of the charges against her included the false rumors spreaded previously from her detractors, which includes sexually abusing her son, plotting to kill duc d'Orleans--commoner's hero--declaring her son to be the new king of France and orchestrating the massacre of the Swiss Guards in 1792. She was executed later that day; her body and her head were thrown to unmarked grave but in 1815, her and Louis XVI's body were exhumed properly.

Works cited: 'Marie Antoinette', http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Antoinette 'Marie Antoinette **I** Queen of France,' http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95nov/antoinette.html 'Marie Antoinette: Biography,' http://www.marie-antoinette.org/Articles/Entries/1997/1/3_Marie_Antoinette%3A_A_Biography.html 'Marie Antoinette, //The Journey//,' Antonia Fraser, Anchor Books, 2001

Script

(Song "Hummer" plays) Born with full name //Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen//, Marie Antoinette was the youngest daughter and fifteenth child of Emperor and Empress of Holy Roman Empire, Francis Stephen I and Maria Theresa of the Hapsburg family. She grew up with the belief of her destiny being the future Queen of France due to her mother's strategic ability for Austrian Empire ; she married the prince of France, the most powerful nation of Europe then, at the age of 15 and 4 years later, she officially became a queen after her husband was crowned as Louis XVI. The marriage had a troubling start as both Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI had different personal interests, different personalities. Antoinette, being fond of arts, fashion, dance and French night lifestyle, didn't get along with Louis XVI, who was homely and awkward. Furthermore, she grew bored out of her duty in the court house with the endless court rituals and strict etiquettes. Later, Marie Antoinette found herself with friends and ignored the France nobility and received careless extravagance for her pleasure. She spent a lot of King's money and allowances for high headdresses, voluminous dresses and plumes--which generated scorn from public. She also reconstructed Petit Trianon extragavantly with theater and often played with her friends there. She made enemies with court as the anger of the French court rose on Antoinette mainly for being favorable to Austria, her home country. There were many others who were jealous of queen and dismissed her manner in the court. Thus, some tried to dig up some dirt on her and fabricated bawdy stories about her acts. (A part of song 'Killer Queen' plays) Marie's personal life started to settle down with her spending more time with children and family rather than Paris nightlife and wearing less flashy fashion for clothes. But state of France was not stable as with the decline of financial prosperity in the 1780's; the Assembly of Notables was forced to be called upon for the issue of the reforms needed to alleviate the financial situation after being in hiatus for 160 years. The assembly, which was unattended by Marie Antoinette, was a failure and defied the king even more. Contrary to popular belief, Marie Antoinette attended many charity events for the benefits of the poor and used the hameau to aid the poor families. The economy status worsened as Louis XVI failed to return the debt that Louis XV failed to pay and spent some more money to participate in American Independence Wars against England. Soon, king called for an emergency meeting of Estate General--for the first time in 175 years. //"Come, Léonard, dress my hair, I must go like an actress, exhibit myself to a public that may hiss me"// It was unique meeting the common men had a chance of representation and give their voice. As a result, the public enmity of the monarchy enlargened with people enraging over the limit of their voice than they had expected. The queen, however, wanted the absolute monarchy and had a firm opposition against the giving more power to commoners.

(A part of song "Thru the Eyes of Ruby" plays) As the demand of the commoners increased, Louis XVI immediately dismissed their head representative. Paris was enraged by the news and people stormed into the castle of Bastille in July 14th of 1789. After many troubles from commoners, 1791, the queen planned of escaping France to securely get into Austria with her family; they were caught in a near area from the border. Leopald II, the king of Austria at time, was disgusted and declared war on France; Marie Antoinette was immediately viewed as an enemy of the nation. By July 31st, the king's popularity reached the bottom and the court declared that Louis XVI was no longer the king of France. //"Louis XVI is no longer the King of the French"//.[|[] In August 10th, the royal family was taken by republican forces and were soon imprisoned. Louis XVI was charged for undermining France and was put into guillotine in January of 1793. In October 14th, she was tried with charges that included the false rumors spreaded previously from her detractors. //"If I make no reply, it is because I cannot, I appeal to all mothers in this audience."// She was executed by guillotine later that day (A swish sound effect is heard).