Marie Antoinette Research Paper

Marie Antoinette The purpose of this paper is to explore Marie Antoinette’s life as Queen of France, and the role she played in the French Revolution. Antoinette lived an extravagantly rich lifestyle and was Queen of France when the French Revolution was born. She moved to France when she was still quite young and spent her teenage years there. Her life as Queen was rough at times because of the French Revolution, but she managed to still have a life outside of the duties of her job. The French often blamed Marie for the economic problems that were occurring in France.

Marie Antoinette was born in Austria in 1755 to the Empress of Austria, Maria Teresa. Born a princess and daughter of Marie Therese, who was known for her ability to
Many people were jealous of Antoinette and Louis’ marriage, including the King’s brother and cousin who thought Louis incapable of being a proper King, and were extremely jealous of his beautiful wife. Fabricated stories, including the Diamond Necklace Affair, circulated throughout France, mostly including Marie Antoinette’s private life and her supposed sexual acts with the men and women of the court. She was accused of sending funds to Austria and the French even challenged the paternity of the royal children. The Diamond Necklace Affair captured the entire nation’s attention since it questioned the morals of the French Queen. Lamotte was a beautiful woman, captivating to everyone, that convinced Prince de Rohan, the Cardinal of France, that Marie Antoinette was interested in obtaining a fabulously expensive diamond necklace made by Louis XV’s lover, Madame du Barry. Claiming she was the lesbian lover of Antoinette, Rohan obeyed Lamotte and went to Boehmer, the Queen’s jeweler to buy the diamond necklace. The charade unraveled when Boehmer went to Marie to collect the money needed to pay for the necklace and she refused. The King and Queen were shocked that Rohan actually believed such a flimsy story, and enraged that he went along with it. Though none of the accusations were true, the story circulated through Europe for many years after and the Queen’s reputations was damaged severely. After the accusations finally seceded, Marie was able to return to the life she was used to, being a devoted mother and wife. Sadly, at the same time her life regained normality, the state of France was in an uproar over their country’s financial issues. The poor were starving and Marie Antoinette’s small contributions to helping them were almost a lost cause. When told of the peasants and their