Marie Antoinette, raw deal or what?

Question

Marie Antoinette: Many French people hated the queen for her Austrian blood and her frivolous ways after having children. She was convicted of treason and guillotined. And never said, "Let them eat cake." It actually was Maria Theresa of Spain (1638-1683} who really quoted it. Being that she was trying to make up for her excessive ways, who think she and the royal family got a raw deal?

Answer 1

Definitely.  She and her husband paid for the excesses of their predecessors.  As Louis's grandfather, Louis XV, said to his mistress on his deathbed, "Apres nous, le deluge."  She made mistakes, but what person her age given wealth and power doesn't?  And what better testimony to her innate class than her last words?  As she mounted the steps of the guillotine, she accidentally stepped on the executioner's toe and said, "Pardon, monsieur."

Answer 2

first of all, it wasn't maria theresa who said that quotable but most likely Robespierre or one of the other major revolutionaries of the time. anything to insight or inflame the people of paris, and by the looks of things...it didn't take much. the royalty of france in the late 1700s paid heavily for the abuses of the past but they also did nothing to alleviate things, the food shortage, etc.  i would've expelled them from the country never to return. if they did, then off with their heads but then i wasn't there. i am not making excuses for what happened, mind you, but there was so many years, centuries of it, of royalty first and everyone last. marie antoinette was like 14 when she took the throne as louis' wife. there were things she coulda' shoulda' done but alas her austrian/french handlers told her wrong. did she get a bad deal? yeah. in today's society, yes. in fact, even the english, who were big on beheading of royals in the past, were shocked when they heard the news and called the french barbaric.  louis' beheading? that too could've been avoided but know what? the manic part of the revolution was so bad, streets of paris were stained in blood for years after and the french needed napoleon to put things straight. the french learned about proportion after that and never again resorted to extremes.  it's also history. it occurred, it happened we're left with lessons of what not to do!