Returnee reports - Marie Antoinette

Our returnees have worked very hard on their historical reports. Here is Julie's report on Marie Antoinette.

Marie Antoinette: Really Poor

When her last day came, she had her head cut off. People used to say last words, but because she stepped on the executioner’s foot and she said she was sorry for that, she died without saying any last words. Before she died, she used to spend lots of money on pretty fancy clothes. Later she used her power to try to stop the French Revolution, but it was too late.

It helps to understand the time and place in which she lived in order to understand Marie Antoinette.

Welcome to eighteenth century France. It was a hard time here in Paris. Poor people were everywhere. Taxes were high. The king and queen spent lots of money, and there was a bread famine. But the real story is that after the American Revolution, the French thought a revolution was a good idea. Who could imagine the beautiful Marie Antoinette in prison?

Before she became famous, she was a princess in Austria. She came closer to fame when she married Louis XVI. However, she finally became really famous when she got killed during the French Revolution.

Most people did not like Marie Antoinette. After the Diamond Necklace Affair, in which a woman stole a diamond necklace by saying it was for Marie Antoinette, people hated Marie Antoinette more. When people thought Marie Antoinette said, “Let them eat cake,” the people hated her even more. They believed she didn’t understand the poor. Even Marie Antoinette’s executioner thought she was bad! She stepped on his foot, and she said she was sorry. Then he killed her fast. I think Marie Antoinette had many problems that were not her fault and had a poor life.

Unfortunately, we only remember the things that were bad about her. Marie Antoinette supposedly said, “Let them eat cake.” Even though she did not really say it, people believed it and felt really bad. The Diamond Necklace Affair was another important event in Marie Antoinette’s life. Although it was not true, People thought she didn’t want to pay the money for the necklace. Also, she tried to end the French Revolution even though it didn’t work, so the government of France changed. In the end, she was beheaded in France. She died, and there were no more Queens of France.

Many people accused her during her life. She was poor, but I don’t care! When I first saw her picture, I thought she was ugly. I thought she had a wonderful life, but she had a really bad life. She was just born in the wrong time and the wrong place.