A biography of the privileged but unfortunate French queen.
My thoughts
Marie Antoinette, the queen of France during one of the most tumultuous times in European history, is a rich subject for a biography. Antonia Fraser does a good job combing through the mountains of correspondence to, from, and about Marie Antoinette to sketch a sympathetic portrait of her.
Marie Antoinette was a contemporary of Catherine the Great, and it was interesting to read a biography of one and then the other. I found a few similarities between the two famous monarchs - both were forced to leave their families for marriages with men who were physically and emotionally immature. Both were originally from countries that were hostile to the ones they married into. Both were expected to bear heirs and not much else (yet they ultimately eclipsed their husbands - albeit for very different reasons). Both were stifled by a court life that was overly regimented and restrictive. And ... that's pretty much it. Catherine the Great became an effective ruler while Marie Antoinette was swept away with the rest of the monarchy in the French Revolution (which, in turn, horrified Catherine and confirmed her belief that enlightened despotism was not a practical way to rule an empire). Marie Antoinette was the youngest daughter of Maria Theresa, yet her education was severely lacking. Catherine the Great impressed adults with her precocious intelligence when she was a young girl, and as a woman she made a point to educate herself by reading the works of the Enlightenment. Catherine learned to manipulate and work with the politicians and courtiers around her; Marie Antoinette never did. Marie Antoinette was more successful than Catherine in only one area - marital relations. Her relationship with Louis XVI was initially awkward, but they matured into a caring team.
Fraser is a talented historian, but she does a bit too much apologizing for Marie Antoinette. The fact that she was borderline illiterate wasn't her fault, according to Fraser; the blame lies with her negligent tutors and a mother who was far too busy running an empire to properly educate one of her backup daughters. (Marie Antoinette was the fifteenth of sixteen children and was sent to France only after smallpox killed one of her sisters and scarred another so badly that she was considered unfit for marriage.) She may have been flighty, but you can't blame her for that either - that was simply the culture of the French court. She was undoubtedly extravagant, but that was the nature of European royalty.
Even so, the deck was stacked against her. The political climate in France made revolution almost inevitable, although Louis XVI's shaky leadership certainly exacerbated the situation, and the fact that Marie Antoinette was Austrian by birth marked her as a potential enemy no matter who her husband was. The fall of the monarchy, Marie Antoinette's long months in captivity, and her ill-fated attempt to flee to Austria are all compelling reading.
Bottom line
A complete picture of one of the most unfairly maligned historical figures in Western civilization.
Fine print
Marie Antoinette: The Journey, by Antonia Fraser
Genre: biogrphy
Photo from Goodreads
I borrowed this book from the library.
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