With superb and intriguing scholarship, these essays capture the complexity of Marie-Antoinette's image from the Old Regime to the present day. The collection stands out for its readability and its insightful analysis of the representation of gender, politics, and sexuality. -- Suzanne Desan, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Marie-Antoinette: Writings on the Body of a Queen brilliantly captures the many facets of the legendary Queen. Through their analyses of correspondence, pamphlets, archives, and iconography, the authors show the complex networks of slander and passion that shaped Marie-Antoinette's fate. Ultimately, the book also provides sobering insights into the suspicions always generated by the fear of women's empowerment. -- Marie-Helene Hunt, Princeton University
Dena Goodman has assembled a terrific collection of essays on Marie-Antoinette. It brilliantly reveals how this inkblot of a queen, a mother, and a woman became so potent a symbol in the French Revolution, and has remained so since. And it shows what some of the most original historical scholars have been up to. -- Keith Michael Baker, Stanford University
Splendid...Showcases work by dix-huitiemistes in history, art history, and literary studies. The contributors, using a variety of sources and methods, analyze the figure of the dauphine/queen from many angles and, in so doing, exemplify creative scholarship in contemporary cultural history. Collectively, the authors transcend traditional petite histoire by examining texts, pictures, and incidents in detail and by speculating about the larger meanings of it all. -- H-France
Splendid... showcases work by dix-huitiemistes in history, art history, and literary studies. The contributors, using a variety of sources and methods, analyze the figure of the dauphine/queen from many angles and, in so doing, exemplify creative scholarship in contemporary cultural history. Collectively, the authors transcend traditional petite histoire by examining texts, pictures, and incidents in detail and by speculating about the larger meanings of it all.
. -- H-France
