Marie-Antoinette is a 2022 French-British historical drama/biographical series created by Deborah Davis, writer of The Favourite, and produced by Canal+ (via StudioCanal) and The BBC.
As the title indicates, it is based off the life of Marie-Antoinette (Emilia Schüle), the youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa who became the last queen consort of the kingdom of France before the Revolution. The series follows her time as the Dauphine of France in Versailles after she was married to the heir apparent, Louis Auguste (Louis Cunningham), grandson of King Louis XV (James Purefoy), starting in 1770.
Canal+ ordered the series following the end of Versailles, to which it is very much a Spiritual Successor starting more or less a hundred years later at the same place. The first season premiered in France on October 31, 2022 and consists of eight episodes. PBS started broadcasting the series in the USA in Spring 2023.
Not to be confused with the 1938, 1989 and 2006 films.
Marie Antoinette provides examples of:
- Altar Diplomacy: Marie Antoinette is married to the Dauphin Louis to strengthen the diplomatic ties between the French crown and the Holy Roman Empire.
- Arranged Marriage: Marie Antoinette didn't decide of anything regarding her marriage to the Dauphin Louis Auguste, much less so being sent to the French royal court. Everything was done out of Altar Diplomacy.
- Awful Wedded Life: Downplayed with Provence and his wife Josephine. They don't like each other much, but they work well together and Provence admits that they make a good team.
- Big Brother Instinct: Joseph arrives for a surprise visit, with orders from his mother to save Antoinette and Louis's marriage, but it's also clear the siblings adore each other. He acts as ambassador, big brother and marriage counselor, and thanks to his interventions, the royal marriage is finally consummated.
- Cosplay: Marie Antoinette isn't just a lover of fashion and style, she is a cosplayer before the term was invented. Sure, her peasant outfits are condescending and tone deaf, but they are pretty. Truth in Television as the real Marie Antoinette was known for and got criticized for exactly this sort of thing.
- Costume Porn: As befits a Costume Drama about the legendary queen, there's plenty of eighteenth century opulence on display.
- Dances and Balls: Plenty of them, and Antoinette quite enjoys them.
- Dance of Romance: Marie Antoinette meets Count Axel von Fursen at a ball, and they share a romantic dance with a long Held Gaze.
- Dirty Old Man: King Louis XV has a much stronger libido than his grandson and makes it known he'd be happy to father the new heir. Marie Antoinette rebuffs him.
- Establishing Character Moment:
- Marie Antoinette being trained for the very rigid etiquette of the French royal court and having much troubles with it, for her life as a Spirited Young Lady at the warmer and more lenient Austrian royal court is about to end.
- The first time Marie Antoinette meets Louis Auguste, she first confuses his brother with him, then when he's first seen it's in his dirtied hunting garb bringing game he just hunted on his own, hinting at his unusual hobbies for someone like him. His lack of self-confidence is also quite visible from the get-go.
- King Louis XV taking his courtesan Madame du Barry on his lap, feeding her suggestively and kissing her.
- Foregone Conclusion: The number of main characters that will eventually lose their heads is outright depressing.
- I Want Grandkids: Empress Maria Theresa wants Marie Antoinette to produce heirs not only to maintain the French royal dynasty, but also to make her proud.
- Heroes Love Dogs: It's gut wrenching when the French princesses separate Marie Antoinette from her beloved pug, Mops. Antoinette fights for her little dog's return and is delighted when Louis delivers him to her.
- High-Class Call Girl: The naive Antoinette initially misunderstands what Madame Du Barry's position is, not understanding that she is the king's official mistress. Antoinette is scandalized when she discovers the truth, but Du Barry turns out to be a complicated character who by her own words is just trying to survive in brutal world. She is in it for the money but she also seems to have genuine affection for the king.
- Historical Beauty Update: In the show, more than a few characters who were reportedly not attractive in real life are played by beautiful actors made up to look
slightly less attractive than the actors playing beautiful characters.- Louis Auguste was chubby, charmless and unattractive. Here he is thin, handsome and even a bit graceful but he sometimes holds himself in an awkward way.
- Provence may have been a little more socially graceful than his brother, but he certainly wasn't handsome and he was very obese at the time of his marriage.
- Josephine was dismissed as ugly and/or plain by most men who met her in real life, including her husband, but she's also a prime example of hollywood homely in the show as her actress, Roxann Duran is quite lovely.
- Homoerotic Subtext: Scads of it.
- Marie Antoinette has an intense friendship with Princess Lamballe, and her early lessons with Madame Du Barry are highly suggestive. In fact, rumors circulate around Versailles that Antoinette takes her female friends at lovers. The show goes so far as to imply this might be true.
- Although he seems somewhat asexual, Louis is much more interested in romping with his friends than consummating his marriage.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Marie Antoinette's trajectory. She starts off shy and unsure, but she develops a spine.
- Malicious Slander: Notes, in the form of paper doves, appear around Versailles accusing Marie Antoinette of all sorts of absurd things, and her enemies find them quite amusing. Later, an image of the queen as an Ostrich, symbolizing adultery, appears and outright accuses her of having an affair with Charters.
- Sexless Marriage:
- Marie Antoinette and Louis, although they awkwardly try and fail. Years into the marriage, thanks to Joseph's efforts, including hiring a prostitute to tutor Louis, the marriage is finally consummated.
- Provence and Josephine also don't consummate their relationship, as he finds her so unattractive he is physically unable to perform.
- Spare to the Throne: Provence is this, and he even refers to himself as the spare. It's a big deal when he and his wife claim to have conceived a child before Marie and Louis.
