The Scandal Queen Marie Antoinette.


Marie Antoinette was accused for being both a sex addict, incestuous, lesbian and a range of other outrageous allegations. She became extremely unpopular even though we can’t be sure how much of this is actually true. Marie Antoinette was the wife of King Louis XVI of France and through her marriage with him she became the queen of France. If you want to know more about her, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Antoinette .

 

As you might be aware of, the life of Marie Antoinette included extreme luxury. It was like that already from the beginning. Her marriage with the Sun King was an arrangement between France and her home country Austria to strengthen the bonds between them. One get the feeling that they compensate the marriage and love that she never got to have with material things. Already when she at first arrived there were children dressed in white spreading flowers in front of the carriage. Through the years she was then overthrown not only by flowers, but also with the latest fashion, the most expensive fabrics and glittery, lustrous accessories. In the beginning she enjoyed it. After all she was nothing more than a 14-years-old girl and a quite vain one. She went to parties, arranged parties in her own gigantic garden by the castle Versailles and enjoyed herself. She had it all, you might think. And all this luxury made her of course very extravagant and interesting to other nobles. Her life more or less became like a spectacle. The most honourable task a noble could get was to help her get dressed like a giant Barbie doll. The higher in rank the nobles were, the more private tasks they got. Marie Antoinette’s life more or less became a spectacle.

 

It’s said that Marie Antoinette had a love affair with the Swede Axel von Fersen. However this is true or not is uncertain. But we do know that Axel von Fersen played a significant at the escape of the royal family some years later. As you can understand from all the things the Queen was accused of, her love life was widely discussed. Also, as the time passed on, her interest for fashion erupted and became, if possible, even more extreme. She spent dream sums of money every day. And I can’t help but wonder; was it to compensate her unhappy life in general? Was Marie Antoinette actually the first shopaholic, shopping until she is broke because it was the only thing that could make her happy?

 

If you think of it, is she really that different from the celebrities of today? The pressure it involves for anyone who is rich and famous could sure make you want to have an outlet for everything that you can not say in public. That is how it was, and that is how it is. Nowadays we can not watch celebrities get dressed in the mornings, but their lives are still very public since everything they say and do simply can be spread all over the world.

 

We know that luxury did not make Marie Antoinette happy and that luxury does not make celebrities of today happy either. Isn’t it funny that a lot of people, despite all that we know, still, more than anything, want to be rich and able to buy lots of things?

 

Victoria Gunnerek


Kommentarer
Postat av: Nora

Very nice article Vicky VI !

I think it's in our nature to aim for more, and to have it a little better. It doesn't matter how good we'll get it, men will always aim for more, we'll simply have to learn how to be satisfied with the things we have! :)

2011-03-26 @ 19:04:19
Postat av: Ebba

well first, Marie-Antoinette wasn't married to the sun king, right?

But what do you think about the fact that a young girl like her was married at that age? And what do you think could have made Marie-Antionette happy?



Like your article :D

2011-03-28 @ 17:25:41
Postat av: Lia

Nice article!

I think that if I'd been married off to some stranger who I may even have disliked, I would probably have compensated for this by e.g. having an affair, becoming a shopaholic etc. ;)

This being said, I would certainly prefer being married to someone I love than being rich and having an affar! To be with someone you love, but poor, is always much better than being in a love-less relationship but rich. This kinda proves that money can't buy everything :)



But, wasn't King Louie XIV the Sun King, not Louie XVI? So she wasn't actually married to the Sun King, was she? Or is that simply a type-error?

2011-03-28 @ 18:12:02
Postat av: VICTORIA

Of course you are right about who was actually her husband, I am not sure what happened there really. But this only proves that you are well educated my friends!



Nice comments all of you, a lot of interesting questions for further consideration! Thanks a lot!



I do agree with Nora, I don't think man will ever be satisfied no matter how rich/happy/successful we become. And that is actually a great thing, because dissatisfaction is what keeps the society developing.



Ebba, I would never like to be married at that age myself. But that is, of course because I am living on the 21th century and people just don't get married at that age nowadays. It was more likely to get married early back then, but that of course does not mean that they were more prepared for it.



Lia, I like your statement about love (which I seem to have talked about in all my comments on this blog, but then again; love conquers all). Of course love is more important than money, because money won't make you happy in the end. For a short while, maybe, but you need something lasting. Someone to hold on to. But that, of course, depends on whether you think it is important to be happy in your life. And since I guess that most people do so, yeah, love is better than luxury.



Long comment, hope you are satisfied with my replies!



2011-03-28 @ 18:27:31
Postat av: Hedvig

A very nice article Vickan! I actually agree with you, Marie Antoinette was a material girl, and just like you I belive that she bought all those things to make up for her ohterwise boring and unsatisfactoring life. I believe that money can not make you happy and I have also wonderd why celebs do what they do, is it just because they can or because they feel satisfied by it. Well, i guess that I have to become a celeb to get an answer. Anyway, great article! ;)

2011-04-01 @ 11:16:18
Postat av: Hedvig

A very nice article Vickan! I actually agree with you, Marie Antoinette was a material girl, and just like you I belive that she bought all those things to make up for her ohterwise boring and unsatisfactoring life. I believe that money can not make you happy and I have also wonderd why celebs do what they do, is it just because they can or because they feel satisfied by it. Well, i guess that I have to become a celeb to get an answer. Anyway, great article! ;)

2011-04-02 @ 18:51:23
Postat av: Olof

Indeed a splendid article Viktoria!



It is true that Marie Antoinette was a so-called ”material girl” (Great song), but I think that she actually had something that no money can buy. I am talking about the love to her four children. When she was on trial for her life in 1793, she was accused for sexual abuse of her eight-year-old son by the revolutionary tribunal. This was her answer: "If I do not respond, it is because nature refuses to answer such a charge made to a mother. I appeal to all the mothers who are here!"



I think that this is evidence that proves that she was a proud and loving mother even though she lived a quite unhappy life. She also said that her enemies were those that took the children away from her. Maybe she had this strong bond to her children since she was sent away with a dowry to France to become the new queen when she was a small girl. Her life became more or less a spectacle, as you wrote. Nevertheless, the love to her children maybe was what kept her life worth living in her eyes. What do you think?



Once again, superb article!

2011-04-05 @ 21:31:52
Postat av: Olof

Indeed a splendid article Viktoria!



It is true that Marie Antoinette was a so-called ”material girl” (Great song), but I think that she actually had something that no money can buy. I am talking about the love to her four children. When she was on trial for her life in 1793, she was accused for sexual abuse of her eight-year-old son by the revolutionary tribunal. This was her answer: "If I do not respond, it is because nature refuses to answer such a charge made to a mother. I appeal to all the mothers who are here!"



I think that this is evidence that proves that she was a proud and loving mother even though she lived a quite unhappy life. She also said that her enemies were those that took the children away from her. Maybe she had this strong bond to her children since she was sent away with a dowry to France to become the new queen when she was a small girl. Her life became more or less a spectacle, as you wrote. Nevertheless, the love to her children maybe was what kept her life worth living in her eyes. What do you think?



Once again, superb article!

2011-04-05 @ 21:35:12
Postat av: Victoria!

I feel so privilegied to recieve this kind of response! Thanks a lot.



As, you said Hedvig! I do not think that we can actually know why celebrities act the way they do until we are famous ourselves. Because we will be, som day. All of us! ;)



Olof! I like your aspect about the children. I have been thinking of them as well. It is clear that Marie Antionette was very fond of her children. And sure they gave her a reason to live. This could be due to a lot of reasons. I think that she experienced that her life improved a lot since she became a mother. But maybe that was because this was the first time she was actually accepted by the French. Before they thought she was just disable and no good. Her giving life, giving them a heir to the throne made her feel needed and necessary. I think a lot of mothers feel like that. Everyone needs to feel that they play a significant role in their life. If not they might become very depressed, like Marie Antionette.



2011-04-06 @ 11:36:47

Kommentera inlägget här:

Namn:
Kom ihåg mig?

E-postadress: (publiceras ej)

URL/Bloggadress:

Kommentar:

Trackback
RSS 2.0