What is the story behind Marie Antoinette?

Question

Why did she say "Let them eat cake"?

Answer 1

The simple answer is 'She didn't'. It's one of those urban myths that has gained credence through repetition over the years. Marie was a much misunderstood woman and tales of her excesses are mainly that, tales. However based on the very small and close circle of friends she had it is not surprising that she was unaware of the ways of the world, being mollycoddled and sheltered. Deep down she was always concerned about the poor and often went out of her way to help them.

The ascribing of the phrase 'Let them eat cake.' when being told that the peasants were starving is not as callous as it may seem. I remember hearing an eminent historian explaining it to me about thirty years ago.

This is the theory.

'Cake' was not the cake that we know. It was brioche, a bread like cake that was plentiful but expensive and eaten by the more well off. It was thought that Marie would be concerned for the peasants so that if they could not afford bread then they should be given the cake free of charge from the bulging supplies at the bakeries. So in being credited with this idea, if not the phrase itself, actually demonstrated her compassion rather than contempt for the people.

She went to her death very bravely, not understanding why she was so unpopular although the people had been primed and incensed by the revolutionaries so much that the death of any aristocrat and especially a queen was to be warmly welcomed.

As she approached the guillotine a bishop told her that now was the time for courage. She replied that the time for courage was past and needed during her life, not her death. On reaching the scaffold she trod on the executioners foot and her last words before dying were an apology to him for her clumsiness. She died bravely and calmly and her head was held aloft to a cheering crowd afterwards.

Answer 2

Read books and study history make up your own mind who
she was I'd suggest getting this book:

Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles, Austria-France, 1769 (The Royal Diaries)

The French Revolution: A History (Modern Library Classics) (Paperback)


The truth is Marie Antoniette never said 'Let them eat cake it'
was actuallly Marie Therese the Wife of King Louis XIV
almost a 100 years before.

Answer 3

First of all the saying "Let them eat cake" is not true, she didn't say it. Marie was bethrowed to Louis XVI when they were 14 and got married at such a young age. When she married they took away all her possesions from her homeland. She was never taught about government and all the political stuff because she was never interested. When Louis XVI's father died they were crowned King and Queen of France, but they were helpless since they were only about 16 years old. King Louis XVI wasn't a very great King since he didn't know any better and had so much debt inherited from previous Kings that was never paid, plus her wife that would spend all their money for ridiculous things. She even had a gambling party for three days! And also the fact that the French helped the Americans during their revolutions. Marie Antoinette on the other hand never thought about her people when she came into power. There were bad rumors about her saying she slept with her son. When the French Revolution errupted women marched on Versailles demanding food since there was no food and that was when everyone thought she said "Let them eat cake." She was Guillotine like her husband and was treated very poorly during their arrest that they threw tomatoes and other stuff to her when she was being brought to the Guillotine. Overall Mari wasn't very famous among the French.

Answer 4

Marie Antoinette was a Austrian princess was that got married to Louis the 16 th as a gesture of peace between nations. The French did not like her because she was foreign. The country was also in turmoil because of two unsuccessful wars and because they helped the Americans during the revolution. The royals started to tax the middle and lower class heavily,. When Marie Antoinette made that statement, the tax on flour and sugar was so high that people could not afford bread. So when the peasants started revolting they caught her and her husband and beheaded them.

Answer 5

The story of Marie Antoinette is: She was sold into marriage (via dowry) at a very young age. She lived a very rich lifestyle, but had no connection with the people of the country. She spent the bulk of her adult life attending parties and trying on dresses, because that was all she knew. She was eventually beheaded. That's the short version. It is said that she said "Let them eat cake" because she was told that the peasants had no bread - she was so disconnected from the people she said they should just eat cake instead not knowing that had no food at all. As a note, historians now believe this never actually happened.

Answer 6

I've heard numerous theories on this, and no one will ever know for sure. Here are the theories I've heard:

1. She didn't understand the idea that people were hungry because they couldn't get food, since not being able to get food (or anything else for that matter) was never an issue for her. She thought they were just sick of their options and wanted something different, so she suggested cake.

2. "Cake" means the crust that forms on the oven when you bake bread. So, she said why don't they eat that stuff.

3. "Cake" was slang for human excrement. Nice.

4. "Cake" meant a cheap form of bread that even the poor had access to.

5. (the most popular theory) She never actually said that.

Answer 7

Writer and director Sofia Coppola puts a new spin on the life and times of one of Europe's most infamous monarchs in this lavish historical drama which fuses a contemporary sensibility with painstaking recreations of the look of the 18th century. Born to Austrian nobility, Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) is only 14 years old when she's pledged to marry Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman), the 15-year-old king of France, in an alliance that has everything to do with politics and nothing to do with love. Sent to France and literally stripped of her former life, Marie weds Louis, but to the consternation of the royal court, he seems either unwilling or unable to consummate the marriage while their advisors clamor for an heir to the throne. Young and more than a bit out of step with the new life that's been thrust upon her, Marie gives herself over to the pleasures of life in Versailles, knowing and caring little of the political intrigue that surrounds her. In time, Marie's trusted older brother, Joseph (Danny Huston), is brought in to coach Louis on the finer points of marital relations, and before long the couple is finally blessed with a child. However, as Marie tends to her children in the gilded cage of her palace and enjoys an affair with a Swedish nobleman, political power plays are throwing France into chaos, and the growing ranks of the poor rebel against the royals and their life of privilege. Also starring Rip Torn, Judy Davis, Steve Coogan, and Asia Argento, Marie Antoinette was given a controversial reception when it premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Answer 8

M. A was fourteen when she was married, her husband was two years older. They did not consumate the marriage for many years. This was because his foreskin was too tight and need to be circumsiced. They ascended the throne when M.A was 18. She prayed for guidance. They had four children and lived a privilaged lifestyle. Brioche was not the term for cake, brioche is egg bread. The term was le Gateau. A small flatter cake of a single layer, dense in texture and dredged in liquor to keep it from molding or going stale. This is not the complete story, but corrections of some of the previous peoples entries.

Answer 9

Marie Antoinette was the daughter of Francis 1 and Maria Theresa. She married Louis XVI at a very young age and lived a lavish lifestyle of parties, and generally unlimited wealth. the peasents of France I believe were hungry and living in terrible conditions but Marie and her husband found out too late. By then the French Revolution took place and her husband was killed I believe. She was thrown into prison with her children and finally taken to the gullitione one day.
To make it short, she was a young girl who married at an early age with no training for ruling. Her mother never taught her, thinking there was no need. She died because of a simple mistake, poor education and her country rebeled against her out of resentment for she was living a lavish lifestyle while they were starving.

Answer 10

"Let them eat cake!" is the usual translation of "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche", misattributed to Marie Antoinette. See Marie Antoinette — Coronation and reign.