tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post5757420390150379517..comments2024-03-23T12:38:46.260+00:00Comments on The History Girls: MARIE ANTOINETTE: a person from history who's always fascinated me. By Adèle GerasMary Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241989732624913706noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-62843133872473100382012-07-10T20:15:29.249+01:002012-07-10T20:15:29.249+01:00I am a card-carrying republican, but that doesn...I am a card-carrying republican, but that doesn't stop me seeing that Marie Antoinette must have suffered. I believe the guillotine was actually introduced as a 'humane' method of execution, but surely, execution is never humane. Just knowing that you are going to be killed must be so dreadful. <br />On the other hand, the people who died of starvation in France, due to the horrendous gap between rich and poor, must also have suffered enormously, and those who saw their children die, and couldn't save them. But I do feel that Marie Antoinette was blamed quite unfairly, just because she was a woman and a foreigner.Leslie Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105465949970430998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-59413479784495631552012-07-08T21:08:43.337+01:002012-07-08T21:08:43.337+01:00I too loved marie Antoinette for her dresses when ...I too loved marie Antoinette for her dresses when I was studying history at a Convent ( a student not a nun!) And what another dimension you've added in respect of her frailties of the body and that awful drawing with her hands tied back. Still to look for that link ANON gave.Dianne Hofmeyrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222157214605257030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-75423181748074576152012-07-08T18:21:40.641+01:002012-07-08T18:21:40.641+01:00Thanks for reminding us MA probably didn't say...Thanks for reminding us MA probably didn't say, 'Let them eat cake.' And for writing a sympathetic post. I've always thought she was treated so spitefully at her trial and executionLaurie Grahamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-23459200237463410582012-07-08T13:55:53.268+01:002012-07-08T13:55:53.268+01:00thanks ANON for that link!thanks ANON for that link!adelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15826710558292792068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-78373381696224852362012-07-08T11:05:34.586+01:002012-07-08T11:05:34.586+01:00Such a sad picture of her on her way to the guillo...Such a sad picture of her on her way to the guillotine. What an appalling time that was...Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-52664078114426516662012-07-07T21:36:14.200+01:002012-07-07T21:36:14.200+01:00The Paul Delaroche exhibition at the National Gall...The Paul Delaroche exhibition at the National Gallery a couple of years ago had a marvellous portrait of her. Painted about 60 years after her death, it showed her before the Revolutionary Tribunal after receiving sentence of death. As ever with Delaroche, it is highly emotive, making you see the ordinary, cruelly-treated woman, facing death with great dignity.<br /><br />It's difficult to find a good online image, this is the best I found:<br /><br />http://www.zooomr.com/photos/artimageslibrary/9887622/<br /><br />http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/delaroche-lady-jane-greyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-43989207977650645062012-07-07T14:57:28.146+01:002012-07-07T14:57:28.146+01:00PS...Anne, I did not know that about MA's mum....PS...Anne, I did not know that about MA's mum. What you learn, eh? Thanks for that...it's fascinating.adelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15826710558292792068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-63286564391092460962012-07-07T14:56:42.968+01:002012-07-07T14:56:42.968+01:00Sue, please don't divulge details of the other...Sue, please don't divulge details of the others! Don't think I could take it! I have obviously led a bit of a sheltered life but I think I know along which lines you're going and don't want to follow you!!! Anne, I'm so pleased you're an MA fan!And must read the 17th century vampire coterie book....I will maybe be a bit stronger after reading Mantel's A place of greater safety but my horror of the guillotine abides, in spite of all Susan says....adelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15826710558292792068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-60833896592122816932012-07-07T12:36:42.813+01:002012-07-07T12:36:42.813+01:00That drawing looks like a cartoon, decidedly unsym...That drawing looks like a cartoon, decidedly unsympathetic, but David was a big fan of the Revolution. I'm not sure how I'd feel about the King and Queen if I was a French peasant of the time, but centuries later we can look at it differently. I definitely wouldn't want to wander into Revolutionary France!Sue Bursztynskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-27581057034749113012012-07-07T11:38:26.641+01:002012-07-07T11:38:26.641+01:00Thanks for - as ever - an interesting post, Adele....Thanks for - as ever - an interesting post, Adele. But the guillotine, 'the most ghastly' method of execution? Oh no, 'fraid not - not by a long chalk, unfortunately.Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-32147520719994430532012-07-07T11:03:04.169+01:002012-07-07T11:03:04.169+01:00Ah, thank you Adele! She's one of my favourite...Ah, thank you Adele! She's one of my favourites, too, and that pic of her on the way to the guillotine is pinned to the noticeboard next to my desk (under the clip of hair from Napoleon - a juxtaposition she would not appreciate, I suspect). <br /><br />Did you know that her mother instigated an investigation into vampirism and as a result of its finding banned the killing of people/mutilation of bodies to prevent vampirism? They get everywhere, those vampires. (MA is part of the vampire coterie of 17th century France in my vampire world.)Stroppy Authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16560035800075465845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-69789878510782239512012-07-07T08:51:49.115+01:002012-07-07T08:51:49.115+01:00I've always known that it's not the done t...<i>I've always known that it's not the done thing to have as a heroine of some kind a woman who is most unpopular in some circles</i><br /><br />Isn't *every* famous woman unpopular in at least some circles? I say we should just admire whomever we admire (female or male) and explain why, and leave people to make up their own minds. If they don't agree, so be it.Michelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15888298679182871669noreply@blogger.com