Why is Marie Antoinette so controversial? – Carolyn Harris

50 Comments

1. the real issue is that it doesn't matter how benevolent or not she was. whether she spent a ton of money or none, the conclusion remains the same: monarchy is a bad system of government, and as a monarch she had an outsized impact on the people that easily lead to much negativity. these are people who have slaves for pete's sake. marie was, by all accounts, a pretty unremarkable queen, as was her king consort henry. they just happened to be the ones in power at the time when revolution caught up with them. regardless of if she was a good person or not, her role as queen was one that was untenable with what the people desired and needed. if you believe in democracy–and you should otherwise we've got some much bigger problems at hand–then you have to come to the conclusion that monarchy cannot stand.

   the truth is that any revolution will end with the death of the old guard. there's no way to ensure the world is able to change until the old world isn't able to come back and put things as they were. to this end, the french revolution itself was a failure in many ways. not the least of which being napoleon himself who just reinstituted monarchy with himself as the head of state(dictatorship) and rolled back not only france but many other nations in terms of social progress and freedoms(literally brought back slavery).

   thus the conclusion is two-fold: marie antoinette, as a queen, needed to go one way or another. but that doesn't mean that the revolution and the libels were good or just in and of themselves.

2. I am one of the rare cases where I first heard about her from the Fate franchise, not from my history book mainly because France had nothing to do with my country. In Fate she was described as being a queen who was kind to and loved everyone, and more than anything, wanted to grant happiness to her people. I'm sure the game exaggerated her personality a bit but I always thought that she was a well loved historical figure. Her dynamic with Mozart, Charles-Henri Sanson, Jeanne d'arc and other french servants are also really interesting. Some of her lines are a bit sad though, like: " I love everyone. I'll do anything for my people… I did everything… "

3. Hmmm "think you I shall […] " sound like a very poor translation of "Pensez-vous que je devrais […] " which should be "Do you think I should […]"

4. She wasn't the one at fault in my opinion. It was monarchy.

5. Historians do a big mistake when they comment on the person istead of the individual actions

6. يجب ان يحكم على ملوك من خلال صفاتهم شخصية او دور تاريخي الذي قامو بة ، وهل يمكن ان يكون الأقوياء ضحايا الظروف ؟

   هذة هي الأسلة التي تطرح عندما نضع التاريخ امام المحكمة

7. LOL. This story talks Victim of Misogyny, However judge, prosecutor, attrorney, They're all men. what a irony.

8. sofia coppola already set the record straight

9. Kinda like the Philippines' former first lady Imelda Marcos. Living in opulence from taxpayers' money while her country suffered from corruption and poverty she and her husband caused. But unlike Marie Antoinette, Imelda took control of her circumstances, she was determined to climb the social ladder even when she was still young. She made important political decisions with her husband making their rule a conjugal dictatorship.

10. Marie antoinette is that kinda “wrong time wrong place” person

11. That felt sad…to be blamed just for tagging along.. it's like being offered a ride in a stolen luxury car,enjoying its amenities and then be blamed for the actions of the thief.

12. Can you guys to Pedro Albizu campos? He was the president of the Puerto Rican nationalist party who was unfortunately killed. Viva Puerto Rico libre🇵🇷

13. What is this apologetic revisionist history?

14. So she gave Austria military secrets about France. Continually. Yep. That will do it. Even if she was guilty of nothing else that is treason and the penalty back then was the guillotine. Case closed

15. "She lives in lavish while her people starves!"

    Aint that happened in all countries around the world?

16. I just found out that She was based on a game character bloody queen "mary" after she was executed her head was back to her body and all of her blood flow to her dress that she wear before the execution and the dress was all color red now because of her blood

17. cake lady

18. And the phrase "Let them eat cake/Qu'ils mangent de la brioche." is actually from Rousseau's Les Confessions. Book VI.

19. Suggestion for the next History vs. episode: History vs Alexander the First Karadzordzevicz, the former creator of idea of unification of all Southern Slavic nations after the fall of Austrohungary in WW1, and creating the Kingdom of Serbs, Croatians, and Slovenians, later, in 1929., renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which lasted, with hardly going inner religious, national and ideological struggles, until the defeat in April War against Germany in 1941.

20. Even though the arrest of Marie and Louis wad very unfair i had a question,: why didnt the french just let them leave the country if they hated them so much?

21. please do 孝謙天皇 of japan〜〜〜〜

22. I think two important details that I find significant is that 1. Because of her lavish lifestyle, she required a wine cellar and a fancy carriage in her failed escape to Austria, so she might have succeeded in retaining power if she was willing to compromise on this luxury, and 2. Her own mother, the powerful and incredibly enlightened queen of Austria, had criticized her lifestyle and negligence of the French population.

23. History is written by the victor.

    Or, you know, anyone not decapitated…

24. Btw, I’ve been to France, I’ve visited the château de Versailles, our guide (she’s a historian by training) was so hateful of her and her husband!

25. Lock her up! How said that?? 😂

26. Ptincess Sissi knew how to make ppl happy and help them.. but when it comes to Marie Antoinette it was impossible?

27. It's not her fault,you can't know the struggles of poverty until you feel it. She was born with a silver spoon she never saw struggle.

28. Wow, I don't know whether to feel bad for Marie Antoinette or not

29. Neither Marie Antoinette nor her husband Louis XVI were at fault, the blame truly lay with Louis XV and Louis XIV whom racked up the debts and tossed them further along,

30. [성장통 / 나동수]

    꽃이 지지 않는다면 열매가 맺지 않고

    폭염과 찬바람 없이 열매는 익지 않는다.

31. They need to do a new history on trial for Oppenheimer. With the movie coming out it’d probably get quite a few views.

32. The next video you could do could be about Frederick the great. His reign can be quite confusing depending how you look at it.

33. History vs Vlad the impaler

34. "So she was guilty of being Queen?"
    Well-put sir

35. The peasants paid more in taxes than the elites?
    Where else have we heard this happening?

36. Can you do Anne b

37. 4:25

38. I actually love Marie Antoinette she was so glamorous it’s just a shame at how that glamour brought her to her knees and the subsequent end of the glamour that was the French monarchy it was like a fairytale turned into a nightmare

39. Hold up!!! Vaccines were around in the 1770s??

40. I came to the comments thinking I'd see more about how the socio-political and economic conditions of pre-Revolution France sounds a lot like a certain contemporary world power, but I don't. Come on, people. They didn't even hide how much they were trying to imply that we have not learned anything from history. I mean, take your pick of Kardashians to parallel Marie Antoinette. Or any of the pointlessly and undeservedly super-wealthy regardless of gender or nationality.

41. So she was at the right place at the wrong time and knowing what happened after the French Revolution clearly the whole game was rigged against her

42. marie antoinette just one of histories examples of damned if i do and damned if i don't

43. this was a good pov

44. Brioche. If that famous line is true, it references Brioche, not cake. Pas de Gateaux ici.

45. are you interested in making History vs Suharto? This one was so problematic but also kind

46. She was a child, scorned for any move she made. She did something lavish? Scorned. Tried to be more helping and understanding? Scorned. The French Peasants made up horrible rumors to behead her. It's horrible.

47. Marie Antoinette was a human monster and deserved to die although I will admit the court that sentenced her was compromised. While the French starved because of a disease affecting wheat and cereal crops, Marie Antoinette made outrageous expenditures in party, theatre shows, food, fashion, etc…. Even her own Mother reproached her. She was the straw that broke the camel's back and triggered the French revolution. King Louis was a weak king but it was Marie Antoinette that destroyed the French monarchy. To the end, Marie Antoinette never experienced contrition: She was always supremely contemptuous of the French and her surroundings. She earned her death at the guillotine.

48. i think american should stick to theirs history

49. Here's a list of 5 people I'd like to see on here

    Mother Theresa
    Mohandas Gandhi
    Winston Churchill
    Teddy Roosevelt.
    Charles the 2nd of Britain

50. can you please make a "history vs Karl XII of sweden"?

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