Marie Antoinette was accused of heartlessness, ignorance and extravagance. She was much criticized and hated by the French people, but maybe they judged her too harshly. To say there's a lot we can learn from this gracious lady, and it was my pleasure to show her in a different light in my latest performance.
Photo Credits: Mike Shaw
Marie Antoinette was a revolutionary. She did break with royal protocols all the times. She was often seen as inappropriate in her actions, as an unwelcome foreigner and wasteful spender. Various incidents fed the gossip and finally ruined her reputation. The little village and farm on the grounds of Versailles, where she threw occasional luxurious parties, became a symbol of excess and escape from her royal duties. But if you look closely, she actually took a very progressive role, when she commissioned the architect Richard Mique to build the Hamlet in Trianon gardens. It was not only a little rustic retreat for her in order to feel free, her idea was that the village provides food for the royal family and gives an example of self-sufficiency to other nobles. She wanted to modernize the monarchy and supported French craftsmanship while helping the poor. She changed things on a small level, since she didn’t have real political power. But this is how every change in history is happening, right?!
Photo Credit: Mike Shaw
Louis XVI was full of kindness towards Marie Antoinette, and she loved him dearly. They just had different interests in life. Marie Antoinette didn’t like the royal lifestyle, felt trapped and struggled with depressive episodes. Her extravagant fashion and hairdos were the ultimate way to express herself. People assumed she is a selfish woman obsessed with her appearance and having fun, but if you read more about her history, you can see that she was a rebellious, independent woman with strong emotions, that manifested in her eccentric way of dressing.
Photo Credit: Mike Shaw
Marie Antoinette used her clothing as an indirect form of protest. It was not only her style - it was a revolution. For my performance, I created two little companions that inspired her: Josephine, the dragon, which is grown out of her tiny cage, and Hector, the deer skeleton. Josephine symbolized her desire for greater freedom. She was stuck in the tiny cage in Marie Antoniette’s hair with all the feelings of entrapment, dissolution, and helplessness due to lack of social power. Her daily routine was restricted by norms and expectations. When Marie Antoniette talked to Hector, the deer skeleton, she voiced complaints about too many rules. She did not appreciate the strict code and etiquette of her rank, but Hector gave life advice, he gained from Joseph Beuys’ dead rabbit: “There are certain rules to follow, to break other rules and to create something new.” Marie Antoinette made clear that she was going to live according to her own rules, and he answered: “It’s up to you to break the rules, but you needs to know and question everything, because your actions are a reaction to something and nothing ever appeared out of nothing.” She quickly understood that everything was a variation or combination of something that already existed and that being entrapped was a chance for freedom.
Photo Credit: Mike Shaw
Hector had a hard time binding her bitterness, resentment and anger, “Did you had chicken for breakfast?!” She replied: “I am beyond chicken!” A reference to Beyond Meat that sublates meat. She couldn’t move in her position and felt robbed of any purpose and sense of joy. She placed more importance on relationships and sacrificed her own needs and emotions. This minimized the risk of rejection, but also resulted in very imbalanced power relations. So far being in harmony with her environment was a successful strategy for survival. But what if you suddenly recognize you are completely replaceable and have no impact with your actions? It’s the worst feeling to not feel valued and that you shaped your identity and life around the ideas and values of other people. She was tired of making others happy to remain in secure standing in the royal family and to avoid isolation. She wanted to be alone, because this was the only way to personally develop and love herself. There are many ways to censor yourself to make others feel ok, but it creates a lack of identity and cognitive dissonance. That day, she realized, it was time liberating herself from her royal corset and move freely in a short skirt - to look less like a queen but being powerful like a warrior that brings up the resistance.