Marie Antoinette if you don’t have bread
To whom does the saying “If they can’t find bread, let them eat cake” belong?
Who is Marie Antoinette?
As you all know, the saying “If they can’t find bread, let them eat cake” does not belong to Queen Marie Antoinette. When we think of the Queen, who was subjected to all kinds of curses and insults for centuries because of a word she did not say, it brings to the surface the distortions in the French Revolution. Marie Antoinette was not very different from Rome or other European states in terms of luxurious clothing, lavish palaces, food, drink and entertainment. However, when you think about what she went through, you think that she would rather die than make a name for herself, and God forbid that she should be slandered.
When you see the slander against the medieval woman who stepped on her executioner’s foot on the way to the guillotine and asked for forgiveness, it makes you wonder, what’s the revolution to you, is your problem bread or being a servant of capitalism?
You probably remember what you saw in history class like it was yesterday: “It was 1789 and the French Revolution was in full swing. The poor in Paris rose up because they had no bread to eat. Meanwhile, Queen Marie Antoinette (in a display of hard-hearted indifference, trying to be funny, or just plain stupid) came up with the idiotic suggestion that ‘those who can’t find bread should eat cake’.”
Cake or pastry or pasta?
The first problem is that it was not a cake but a bun called a brioche (the phrase used was originally “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” in French). Alan Davidson’s Oxford Companion to Food says of brioche: “The 18th-century brioche (with a small amount of butter and eggs) was little flavored and not much different from a fresh white loaf or loaf of bread.” In this case, these words could be a well-intentioned attempt: “If they want bread, give them the good kind.” The French bread-like food, made from yeast dough with lots of eggs and butter and a little milk and yeast, is known by different names in Europe. There are even some people who call “brioche” pasta.
Moreover, it was not Marie Antoinette who said these words. This expression had been used in written form as a description of aristocratic decay since at least 1760. jean-jacques Rousseau claimed in his book Confessions that he had heard this expression as early as 1740.
The recent biographer of Marie Antoinette, Lady Antonia Fraser, attributed the phrase to Queen Marie-Thérése, wife of Louis XIV (the “Sun King”), but there are plenty of grand 18th-century ladies who might have uttered it. It is also quite possible that the phrase was coined for propaganda purposes. Some say this was said by her sister-in-law.
Books, movies about Marie Antoinette
Stefan Zweig’s work written in his name really described the queen in an impressive way. I recommend you to read this book to get to know Marie closely, whose name is identified with the French Revolution. In addition, Sofia Coppola’s Marie-Antoinette movie starring Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman is one of the useful cultural artifacts to understand the period.
Sources: 1. The Book of Ignorance – John Lloyd – John Mitchinson 2. Ekshi stuff 3. Wikipedia and Biography.info
