Marie Antoinette: The Journey - Antonia Fraser

Marie Antoinette is a historical figure that I have of course heard of but one which I have never really known much about.  What little I did know was related to the infamous 'let them eat cake' refrain that has long been associated with the callous Queen of an extravagant and corrupt regime.  Indeed, in her own lifetime and in the centuries since, Marie Antoinette is a figure that has become obscured and distorted by malicious half-truths and falsehoods.

Although initially charmed by the beauty and grace of their foreign Dauphine and later Queen, the very nature of her foreignness, being an Archduchess of Austria France's traditional enemy no less, made Marie Antoinette a convenient scapegoat.  Someone to whom the French court and the wider French society could target in place of directly attacking their King and Marie Antoinette's husband, Louis XVI.  Marie Antoinette therefore became the figurehead for the despised extravagant and debauched court and was publicly defamed in numerous malevolent and cruel libelles.  Within these, she was accused of being greedy, grasping and spending frivolously whilst the French population starved.  Marie Antoinette was also portrayed as being licentious and of having numerous affairs with prominent male and female personalities of the court.  Furthermore, within the pages of the libelles, Marie Antoinette was represented as betraying France by siphoning off French money to her relatives in Austria and advising Louis in pro-Austrian policies to the disadvantage of France.

Marie Antoinette and two of her children

Fraser's book is a more sympathetic portrayal of this much misunderstood and vilified Queen.  She quickly dismisses the most obscene fabrications and deftly sorts through the murky half-truths and glimmers of fact.  In Fraser's hands, a more humane character emerges.  Someone who keenly felt her vulnerability within the French court, especially in the early years of her marriage due her husband's initial public coldness to her and their inability to consummate their marriage until 7 years of wedlock.  A woman who instead initially sought comfort in a close group of friends and glistening parties, but who presented herself with immense dignity in the face of the horrors of the revolution and threats against her person and those closest to her.  Someone who felt suffocated from the keen eyes and etiquette of the court and who sought escape in her own domain, the Petit Trianon and it's surrounding grounds and buildings.  Above all, a loving and loyal friend, mother and wife and a kind and generous patron of the ordinary French citizens.  And with regards to the 'let them eat cake' myth?  A retort that has been associated to many princesses as early as 100 years before Marie Antoinette's arrival in France, but which has stuck with her.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the book for me was the examination of the development of Marie Antoinette's and Louis XVI's relationship.  As the traditional enemy of France, from childhood Louis had been warned by his tutor's against the influence of Austria.  This, alongside the animosity of his aunts towards his new wife, greatly influenced Louis' early treatment of her.  Added to this the initial unconsummated state of their marriage, it hardly boded well.  But from this unauspicious start grew a deep affection and loyal love.  There were many periods during the growing unrest and early years of their imprisonment where either Marie Antoinette or Louis could have escaped themselves, however neither would abandon the other.  Decisions which as history tells us ultimately led towards their violent deaths.

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

Indeed that was one of difficulties in reading this biography, because as the reader, I knew how things ended.  Reading of the many opportunities where the Royal Family could have escaped before the grasping fingers of the revolution imprisoned them.  And even when imprisoned at the Tuileries Palace, if only their flight to Montmedy had been successful, instead of their capture in Varennes.  Or if only Marie Antoinette's Austrian family or the monarchs of neighbouring European countries had intervened on the behalf of Marie Antoinette and her family.  And instead of executing their monarch and his Queen, maybe the deposed Louis and Antoinette could have been exiled to another country.  So many if and buts that did not necessarily lead to their deaths.

Fraser's book is a magnificent biography on Marie Antoinette.  A vast doorstop of a book that is evidently meretriciously researched, something which characterises all of Fraser's books, I finished reading it wishing that there was more.  I simply adored it and would wholeheartedly recommend it to those interested in Marie Antoinette or female queens in general.