As Queen of France, Marie Antoinette had no official role and no legitimate political power — her main job was to produce a male heir to continue her husband's royal line. read more
Marie Antoinette was the wife of Louis XVI, the reigning king at the time of the French Revolution. She played various roles in both causing and accelerating the revolution: 1. read more
Marie Antoinette was much maligned, and that was unfair. Her links to the Hapsburgs by birth were bad for her when France and Austria went to war, so that’s one impact she had. Louis was an incompetent and indecisive monarch, who could never decide if he was in favour of the revolution or against it. read more
Louis XVI was the first French king in two hundred years not to have a royal mistress; Marie Antoinette was the first queen to believe that she could be both wife and mistress to her husband. However, by cultivating fashion, taste, and the arts while failing to produce a legitimate heir, Marie Antoinette looked to all the world like a mistress, not a wife, and one whose sexuality was directed away from the King. read more
To the “Start” of the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette’s role was not great or important. Now if she had been a smarter and more intelligent person, she might have helped her insecure husband Louis XVI be a little more confident and decisive. read more
Marie Antoinette: The French Revolution In fact, the nation’s difficulties were not the young queen’s fault. Eighteenth-century colonial wars–particularly the American Revolution, in which the French had intervened on behalf of the colonists–had created a tremendous debt for the French state. read more