Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman (1932)

by Stefan Zweig

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Stefan Zweig based his biography of Marie Antoinette, who became the Queen of France at the age of fifteen, on the correspondence between her and her mother, and her great love the Count Axel von Fersen. Zweig analyzes the chemistry of a woman's soul from her intimate pleasures to her public suffering as a Queen under the weight of misfortune and history. Zweig describes Marie Antoinette in the King's bedroom, in the enchanted and extravagant world of the Trianon, and with her children. And in his account of 'The Revolution', he describes her resolve during the failed escape to varennes, her imprisonment in the Conciergerie and her final tragic destiny under the guillotine. Zweig's account has been the definitive biography of Marie Antoinette since its publication, inspiring Antonia Fraser and the recent film adaptation.… (more)

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English (15) Spanish (9) Italian (3) Catalan (2) French (2) All languages (31)

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archivomorero | Nov 9, 2022 |

Book received from Edelweiss.

This is a reissue of an older book. I really enjoyed this book about Marie Antoinette. I thought reading it was a great compliment to the book I had read earlier in the year about her once she was captured and imprisoned during the revolution. I only knew the basics about her prior to reading this, and I had known nothing about her childhood and her age when she came to France to marry Louis XVI. I had already had quite a bit of sympathy for her, but reading about her life just makes me more firm in my belief that being a Princess is not something you actually want. It can be a very rough and lonely life, even though you live in a life of luxury. (

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Diana_Long_Thomas | Mar 5, 2017 |

Compelling biography of Marie Antoinette from her childhood through marriage, queendom to death. Original at the time for not shying away from the more prurient details of the royal marriage as previous Victorian biographies may have. Strange to recall how much closer in time the author's life was to the events described than our own, when other European upheavals would have been still keenly felt. (

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rrmmff2000 | May 13, 2014 |

Esta biografía narra la vida de la reina de Francia María Antonieta. La joven austriaca de 14 años contrae matrimonio con Luis XVI en 1770 y vive en Versalles una vida llena de placeres y lujos pero también de desgracias.

l.sacristan1 | Oct 18, 2013 |

Una magnífica biografía de María Antonieta, en la que vemos lo que supuso en aquella época su vida llena de lujo y su despreocupación por el pueblo parisino. Cuando se quiso dar cuenta de sus errores, ya era demasiado tarde. (

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Laura_DM | Oct 15, 2013 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Zweig, Stefan	Author	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Paul, Cedar	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Paul, Eden	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Publisher Series

Fischer Taschenbuch (2220)

Grove Great Lives

La Segona Perifèria (18)

岩波文庫赤

Is contained in

Gesammelte Biografien: Maria Stuart Nietzsche Casanova Joseph Fouché Magellan Marie Antoinette Dostojewski Erasmus Sigmund Freud Tolstoi ... Menschheit Über Schriftsteller und mehr by Stefan Zweig

Maria Stuart / Marie Antoinette. Bildnis eines mittleren Charakters. by Stefan Zweig

Contains

マリー・アントワネット〈上〉 (岩波文庫) by シュテファンツヴァイク

マリー・アントワネット〈下〉 (岩波文庫赤 437-2) by シュテファン・ツワイク

Is abridged in

Family Treasury of Great Biographies Volume 02 by Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest Great Biographies 05 by The Reader's Digest Association

Reader's Digest Great Biographies in Large Type: Washington / Antoinette by Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest Auswahlbücher 52 (Afrika Kitabu / The Double Image / Marie Antoinette / I Start Counting) by Reader's Digest

▾Awards and Honors

Distinctions

Publishers Weekly Bestseller (Non Fiction – 1933)

Notable Lists

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (Swedish)

Список любимых книг Бориса Акунина (Биография, 10)

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman

Original title

Marie Antoinette, Bildnis eines mittleren Charakters

Alternative titles

Marie-Antoinette

Original publication date

1932

1933 (French translation)

People/Characters

Marie Antoinette

Louis XVI, King of France

Maria Theresa

Louis XV, King of France

Madame du Barry

(show all 9 items)

Important places

Versailles, Île-de-France, France

Paris, France

Important events

Related movies

Marie Antoinette (1938 | IMDb)

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

Upon dozens of German, Italian, and Flemish battlefields, the Hapsburgs and the Bourbons had engaged in deadly strife, each party hoping to make itself predominant in Europe.

Quotations

Last words

Information from the German Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.

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Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

German

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Petit appartement de la reine

▾Book descriptions

Stefan Zweig based his biography of Marie Antoinette, who became the Queen of France at the age of fifteen, on the correspondence between her and her mother, and her great love the Count Axel von Fersen. Zweig analyzes the chemistry of a woman's soul from her intimate pleasures to her public suffering as a Queen under the weight of misfortune and history. Zweig describes Marie Antoinette in the King's bedroom, in the enchanted and extravagant world of the Trianon, and with her children. And in his account of 'The Revolution', he describes her resolve during the failed escape to varennes, her imprisonment in the Conciergerie and her final tragic destiny under the guillotine. Zweig's account has been the definitive biography of Marie Antoinette since its publication, inspiring Antonia Fraser and the recent film adaptation.

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