Legacy and Legend

Marie Antoinette's execution marked not an end but a transformation. Almost immediately, her story began evolving from history into legend. Royalists created a cult around the "Martyred Queen," emphasizing her sufferings and maternal devotion. Revolutionaries continued attacking "L'Autrichienne" as symbol of everything corrupt in the old regime.

Her surviving daughter, Marie-Thérèse, released in 1795, became keeper of her mother's memory. She collected testimonies from survivors, preserving details that might otherwise have been lost. Her memoirs, written years later, present Marie Antoinette as saint and martyr, perfect mother and wronged queen. This hagiographic approach influenced royalist interpretations for generations.

The nineteenth century saw Marie Antoinette's rehabilitation accelerate. Romantic writers like Alexandre Dumas made her a tragic heroine. The recovery of her final letter in 1816 revealed her dignity and faith in extremis. When Louis XVIII moved her remains to Saint-Denis in 1815, the ceremony attracted thousands, suggesting popular sympathy had shifted.

But parallel to sanctification ran continued vilification. Republican historians emphasized her political intrigues, financial extravagance, and resistance to reform. The pornographic libelles of the revolutionary period were republished, keeping alive images of sexual depravity and foreign treachery. She remained a political symbol, attacked or defended based on contemporary needs.

The twentieth century brought new perspectives. Feminist historians examined how misogyny shaped her treatment. Psychohistorians analyzed her relationships and motivations. Popular culture embraced her as fashion icon and tragic celebrity. Each generation recreated Marie Antoinette in its own image, finding in her story what it needed to see.