Marie Antoinette

 
This is a picture of Marie Antoinette with three of her children.

I'm sure that everyone has heard of Marie Antoinette, or at least her husband, Louis the XVI; the King and Queen of France during the French Revolution. Just to let everyone know, my favorite part about French class is when the teacher occasionally talks about the French monarchy. It has just been a topic that has interested me from the beginning. This summer I finally got the opportunity to visit the oh so famous Palace of Versailles in France and was so excited. The tour guide there carefully explained the significance of  every room and the important historical events that occurred in this godly sized home. I was telling my friend about my Europe adventures when she noted that she had a book about Marie Antoinette; I was ecstatic. My friend let me borrow, "The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette" and I just couldn't put it down. Carolly Erickson, the author and also an historian uses her knowledge on the former Queen to write her own twist of history. I understand that the book is a fiction novel and not an biography but the descriptive passages just make it seem all so real. The unrealistic life she had to live, the hardships she had to endure as her country was rebelling. One wouldn't think that being a princess or Queen can be hard work, but the daily schedule she followed, the lack of privacy just makes myself think, "thank goodness I'm not a queen." I don't really cry when reading, I don't really cry ever but as the novel came to the end and as both Marie and her husband proudly walked to their deaths, I shed a few tears. To me, even with the limited information I have on this topic,  King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were and will always be the "Restorer of French Liberty and True Friend of His People," something they always believed to be true.