A myth that refuses to die..
Via
Today I Found Out:
- Now, I know what some of you are thinking, “Of course she didn't, she spoke French!” But, in fact, she didn’t say “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” either. In fact, this saying in France actually pre-dated her arrival there by anywhere from about thirty years to as much as a century.
This myth is often stated that on her way to the guillotine, forced by a mob of starving French peasants, she exasperatedly said “let them eat cake!” Another version says that when she heard the people were starving from lack of bread, she suggested, “let them eat cake.” There are numerous problems with both of these versions of the tail, but we’ll just stick with the “let them eat cake” part.
The actual saying “let them eat cake” was first written by the political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his autobiography “Confessions”. At the time, Marie Antoinette was only 10 years old and living in Austria. She didn’t come to France until four years later when she married Louis XVI. More than that, Rousseau mentioned this same phrase in a letter written 18 years before Marie-Antoinette was even born.
In his autobiography, Rousseau references a “great princess”, who, when told the peasants had no bread, said “Well, let them eat brioche.” (brioche being a highly enriched bread). It is thought that either Rousseau coined this phrase himself or he was referring to Maria-Thérèse, who had lived about 100 years before and was the wife of Louis XIV. Historians are divided on which is correct. There is significant evidence that the French royal family believed the phrase originated from Maria-Thérèse and it was a story passed down among them. Indeed, Louis XVIII, in a memoir he penned in 1791, related the story of Marie-Thérèse saying this. In either case, this statement was used to illustrate the disconnect between the aristocracy in France and the plight of the people.
Further, during a brief bread shortage in 1775, which lead to a series of riots, in a letter from Marie-Antoinette to her Austrian family, she states the following: “It is quite certain that in seeing the people who treat us so well despite their own misfortune, we are more obliged than ever to work hard for their happiness.” Hardly something written by someone who was oblivious or unsympathetic to the plight of the poor.
So how did this saying get attributed to Marie Antoinette? Primarily, because the people of France loathed her. If you read up on her history, you’ll find most of this loathing was primarily because she was an easy and very visible target to vent their rage against the French aristocracy on. Marie Antoinette was Austrian and before her marriage to Louis XVI, Austria and France had been bitter enemies (in truth, things didn’t improve too much after their union, though at least open war was avoided until the King was eventually deposed in the revolution).
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