Some Common Myths Thought to be True - Myth 11
Myth 11: Marie Told Masses they Should be "Eating Cake"
The phrase "Let them eat cake" is often attributed to Marie Antoinette, but
there is no evidence she ever uttered it, and it is now generally regarded as a
"journalistic cliché." It may have been a rumor started by angry French
peasants as a form of libel. This phrase originally appeared in Book VI of the
first part (finished in 1767, published in 1782) of Rousseau's putative
autobiographical work, Les Confessions.
Finally I recalled the stopgap solution of a great princess who was told that
the peasants had no bread, and who responded: "Let them eat brioche."
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Marie Antoinette | |
Marie Antoinette, baptized Maria Antonia Josepha, born an Archduchess of
Austria, was Dauphine of France from 1770 to 1774 and Queen of France and
Navarre from 1774 to 1792. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy
Roman Emperor Francis I and Empress Maria Theresa.
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