Lady Ocar or Versailles no Bara

I was such a big fan of this manga when I was a kid. I used to watch it as soon  as I got home, after school. It was broadcast again when I was around 7-8. That's how I came to know about this. It's funny that Japanese people are the ones to make me know more about my natal country. Versailles no Bara's author, Riyoko Ikeda, created her manga in the 70's, a decade in which many female drawers started to make their voices heard and publish a lot mangas. In the same "vein", you can also find Lady Mitsuko, inpired by a true story, too, like Versailles no Bara.

Versailles no Bara focuses on Marie-Antoinette's life, in parallel with a fictional character, the mythical Oscar François de Jarjayes. I started reading again the volumes; and I remember why I was such a fan of Oscar. Brave, strong, just, honorable, courageous and respectful of her own principles which allow her to give herself only to the man she loves, despite their social ranks' difference, she's a brilliant character. That's a very powerful story, emphasizing on women's conditions, too, be it about Marie-Antoinette or Oscar. (In some excerpts, in my edition, Oscar sometimes says: "If i were a man, things would be so much easier!")

I'm not a big fan of Marie-Antoinette in this manga. While it depicts her personality, her struggles, her motives well enough, the manga has quite flaws which annoy me more and more. For instance, Louis XVI's representation. He's always seen as a fat and clumsy man, which I dislike since he was so much more than this stupid depiction. Secondly, the love story between MA and Fersen really irks me on many levels. For a few reasons, I don't really believe that they were lovers (I'll explain in a post, but it seems it'll be long....) etc.. So the contrast between Louis XVI and Fersen feels bothersome and unfair. Moreover, Marie-Antoinette's last thoughts might have been far away from about Fersen, seriously. Her children were everything for her; she was completely devastated by her husband's death that occured only 9 months before hers. So I hardly think she was thinking about Fersen and her moments with him when her last minute approached. While we don't know exactly what happened between them, I feel the story has been way too romanticized in the manga.

(Author Riyoko Ikeda awarded with the Légion d'Honneur in France for her contribution to the French culture.)

Nonetheless, the books are still enjoyable to read, the story/plot quite interesting and the drawings breathtaking. But I think Oscar, in some parts, really steals the spotlight from the queen. She was probably inspired by the real Chevalier D'Eon, a man who often disguised himself as a woman to run missions for the kingdom. He had known Marie-Antoinette, too. Oscar's father did exist; or at least, the man who inspired her father did: François de Jarjayes who really planned to save Marie-Antoinette when she was in jail, at the Conciergerie.
Of course, there are some anachronisms, and for a question of esthetism, Riyoko Ikeda drew her characters' outfits out of inspiration by reality instead of copying it loyally. Same for the hairstyles etc. Nonetheless, instead of being a nuisance to the whole plot, this re-creation, this interpretation help to build a very unique universe in the manga genre.

Marie-Antoinette and actresses

If a film about Marie-Antoinette was to be made again, these are my choices of actresses:

Annabelle Wallis

Jennifer Lawrence

Leelee Sobieski

From what I can see, Marie-Antoinette is still a great source of inspiration. For example, here's Katy Perry's perfum ad:

Mmh, this post gave me some ideas about my dream's cast for a film about the queen. I should develop one later. Watch out for this ;)

Marie-Antoinette as she arrived in Versailles

How was Marie-Antoinette as she travelled through European lands to meet her future husband?

She was a happy child, spoiled and well raised.
Dancing and playing music were among her favourite leisures.
She tried to read more and study better. Nevertheless, these two activities remained secondary to her occupations for a long time.
Most of contemporaries didn't consider her shy, which could be a good and important point since she was to be the first lady of France, a future queen. Moreover, a great and numerous court was supposed to surround her from day 1.

As arts were very much appreciated in Versailles, she promised to brighten the aging court.
Physically, she offered some satisfaction: blond, blue-eyed, very fair-skined (all her life MA would be known for her beautiful pale complexion), smiling and graceful. But it didn't seem enough: she was still short in size, her breasts were rather small. However, hopes were allowed since she was only 14 and a half when she arrived. So she had all her time to mature and become a woman.

As for her weight, there are some contradictory opinions. Some historians say she was a bit skinny when curvy women were considered beautiful and appealing; others say that Louis XV noticed her slight overweight. Marie-Antoinette, according to a few portraits and a sculpture, had a double chin.

Upbrought in a warm family with strict moral codes, Marie-Antoinette barely knew about the frivolity in the French court. The latter was also filled with intrigues and gossips. Furthermore, the French king shamelessly showed off his new mistress, countess du Barry, a woman of low birth and it seemed, former prostitute.

Compliant, generous, kind-hearted, Marie-Antoinette was all in all ready to live in this corrupted foreign court at first sight. Nonetheless, she probably lacked a great deal of knowledge about Versailles' real codes, since her mother might have overlooked this important point; it could have certainly helped MA to lead a better life in Versailles. Though respectful and conscious of her rank, Marie-Antoinette was also lively and a follower to more simplicity. So Versailles' rigid ceremonial and rituals, and its court filled with old-nobility families, overshadowed the gossips, rumours that ruined her.

Preparations for a marriage or Marie-Antoinette's Fate

The political strategists from Marie-Thérèse led her to her dream: making her youngest daughter Marie-Antoinette future queen of France.
Her sister Marie-Caroline married with the king of Naples a few years before Marie-Antoinette went to France. Indeed, one of their big sisters died and MC had to replace her. As for Marie-Elisabeth, she was disfigured by illness and was considered unmarriable, finally.

(the portrait they sent to the French king as the lilly flower can be seen embroidered to her ermine coat).

Their father, François-Etienne died when Marie-Antoinette was around 9.
The first talks for a marriage between a dauphin (French heir to the French throne) and an archduchess must have started about 1764.
This marriage was seen as an extension of the alliance between France and Austria. Indeed, some years before everything was concluded for MA and Louis-Auguste, a conflict opposed Prussia and England against France and Austria. It ended up in disaster, and both Louis XV and Marie-Thérèse renounced to some of their land possessions. From that moment, France tried to maintain its alliance with Austria, but the French king still felt some mistrust towards this country. Like England (mostly with the competitions between French king François I and English king Henry VIII during the Renaissance times), Austrian sovereigns were considered as rivals.

Choiseul, a French nobleman, worked on a marital project between the two countries in order to make the bond between them much stronger. Indeed, Bourbons and Habsbourgs had both a lot of prestige and this new form of alliance could only make it brighter and more powerful.

From 1766 to 1769, diplomats exchanged many letters about Marie-Antoinette and the union between the princess to dauphin Louis-Auguste. If she already pleased with her pretty face and good manners, her lack of sturdy education started to worry her mother. So in 1768, the empress really began to catch-up for her daughter's short comings.

Marie-Antoinette made tolerable progress in French, history etc but it remained superficial enough. The most important was to get her to speak the best French possible. As she had all the graces required for a princess, her entourage felt sure about her social success.

It seemed the little princess underwent some physical make-over: her new hairstyle coiffed her (to arrange her high forehead), a dentist took care of her teeth (badly aligned at first) and they sewed for her new dresses in a more French style. We have to remember the French court was the nest of fashions in all categories possible.

A portrait is sent to the French court. It probably was received with both satisfaction and contentement. As for Marie-Antoinette, she only received a painting of her future husband plowing a field. I think it was done so in order to make her see her future husband's qualities (a great worker? a humble  and healthy young man?). Though such a choice of representation can still be seen as strange. And she probably didn't complain because no one reported a sign of disappointment from her part.

On June 13rd, 1769, Marie-Antoinette was officially asked in marriage by the French king for his grand son Louis-Auguste.