Marie Antoinette The Perfect Scapegoat

Who Was She? Princess of Austria, forced to marry Louis XVI of France at age 14 Marriage was supposed to heal the feud between the two nations Became queen of France Was very unpopular with the French people, but was isolated from them

What Was Marie Expected to Do? Be a link between Austria and France – be Austrian in diplomatic issues, be French the rest of the time Win over the hearts of the French people Entertain the French nobility PRODUCE AN HEIR TO THE THRONE

Marie and the Nobility Always had to impress the nobility Needed to wear expensive, hand-tailored dresses and hold lavish parties Tradition from Louis XIV Nobility was always gossiping, if Marie offended the wrong person she would be ostracized If Marie broke with French tradition people would think she was trashy

Marie and the Commoners Marie wasn’t French, so the commoners hated her from the start Rumors spread quickly about how she spent so much money She never wanted any interaction with people from the 3rd estate She couldn’t produce an heir to the throne

Marie and Isolation Marie rarely left the royal palaces She had a very small group pf close friends who could not always spend time with her Rumors about Marie caused significant depression She spent money to feel better about herself

The Petit Trianon Chateau on the grounds of Versailles Louis gave the Marie free reign to remodel the building Marie used it as a getaway from the duties of the royal court

The Little Hamlet Rustic retreat Marie had built so she could “get away from it all” Looked like a quaint peasant village Very expensive to build and maintain