Let them eat cake. This short, yet powerful statement, is attributed to the French monarch, Marie Antoinette, and she can be seen saying it in the 2006 movie titled Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola. The movie follows the life of the young queen after she arrives from Austria and is thrust into a lavish life as the new Dauphine of France. However, much like the powerful statement of ‘let them eat cake’, which is falsely attributed to Antoinette, many points of this movie fell short of any prevalent historical accuracy. The movie depicts many points of her life, such as her popularity among the French royalty and peasants, her children, as well as her relationship with her husband, and a scandalous relationship with a young Count. While Marie
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However, in Marie Antoinette, she is depicted as being highly disliked by much of the lower classes, as well as many of the nobles living in Versailles. The inaccurate portrayal of Antoinette’s popularity in this film was most likely added to lessen the severity of the loss in popularity she experienced shortly after her husband, Louis XVI, came into power, and the debt France was slowly sinking into during his reign due to foreign wars and, partly, to the very lavish lifestyle of Antoinette. Although the lavish lifestyle of Antoinette is correctly shown in this film, she was not utterly egotistical with her money and did spend a great deal on charities and composers she liked. However, Antoinette did not care only for money, but also for the lives of her …show more content…
However, many French natives speculated that Antoinette was having an affair with a Swedish soldier named Count Fersen. Despite not being proven historically, it is highly likely that Antoinette did have an affair with him. However, the movie depiction of this affair is highly skewed. The Dauphine and Count Fersen did not meet at a masked ball where they shared a single moment of love and lust at first sight. Rather, the Count was a normal fixture in Antoinette’s life as he lived in Versailles, and he also assisted the royal family in their attempted escape of Versailles prior to the guillotining of the royals. Coppola most likely added this as a way to bring scandal to her film, as well as a means for showing the lack in popularity Antoinette has in the
However, in Marie Antoinette, she is depicted as being highly disliked by much of the lower classes, as well as many of the nobles living in Versailles. The inaccurate portrayal of Antoinette’s popularity in this film was most likely added to lessen the severity of the loss in popularity she experienced shortly after her husband, Louis XVI, came into power, and the debt France was slowly sinking into during his reign due to foreign wars and, partly, to the very lavish lifestyle of Antoinette. Although the lavish lifestyle of Antoinette is correctly shown in this film, she was not utterly egotistical with her money and did spend a great deal on charities and composers she liked. However, Antoinette did not care only for money, but also for the lives of her …show more content…
However, many French natives speculated that Antoinette was having an affair with a Swedish soldier named Count Fersen. Despite not being proven historically, it is highly likely that Antoinette did have an affair with him. However, the movie depiction of this affair is highly skewed. The Dauphine and Count Fersen did not meet at a masked ball where they shared a single moment of love and lust at first sight. Rather, the Count was a normal fixture in Antoinette’s life as he lived in Versailles, and he also assisted the royal family in their attempted escape of Versailles prior to the guillotining of the royals. Coppola most likely added this as a way to bring scandal to her film, as well as a means for showing the lack in popularity Antoinette has in the