Marie Antoinette Would Show Off a Lifestyle Most People Couldn’t Afford
“Marie Antoinette. Nothing but pictures of bright shiny objects, clothes no one else can ever afford, and life at Versailles while the rest of the country suffered. She’d also hashtag EVERYTHING. Yeah, one of those… ‘New clothes! #hott #QueenofVersailles #letthemeatcake #canttouchthis #sun #likeforlike #picoftheday #motherhood #rich #gold #wealth #new #clothes #sun #powderedwig #horses #life #thisisthelife #poorpeoplesuck #poor #lady.” Of course, Marie Antoinette did famously (but falsely) say “Let them eat cake!” While this historical representation of her is just a myth, the fact that she and the French monarchy carelessly indulged while the impoverished of France struggled is very much true.
Popular hatred of Marie-Antoinette contributed to the monarchy’s overthrow in 1792 and to her and Louis XVI’s subsequent imprisonment. When the French people decided to revolt against the corrupt government, Marie Antoinette became an object of spite for the common people. Their fight for liberty, however, was squashed by the monarchy. What Marie Antoinette saw was not liberty, but rebellion and chaos. Marie decided that the revolution must be crushed with mercenary Germanic troops. She believed, deep down, that the people were good-natured and would respect the authority of the monarchy when faced with force. But she was wrong Her rejection of reform provoked unrest, and her policy of court resistance to the progress of the French Revolution finally led to the overthrow of the monarchy in August 1792.