Queen Marie Antoinetttte Analysis

The rise of the modern discipline of history occurred in the 19th century, largely due to the work of Leopold von Ranke. In his book The History of the Latin and Teutonic Nations, Ranke emphasized a “scientific” sort of history, and therefore early history relied on a very specific set of primary sources, focused on “[showing] what actually happened” (Ranke 58) and presenting only facts, and was told “from above” in that it emphasized the role of high politics and key figures in historical events (lecture 9/29). Recently, the features of the study of history have begun to shift; as evidenced by the study of the French and Haitian Revolutions and the rise of cultural, gender, and social history, the discipline of history has become much more

In her essay, Hunt utilizes pornographic pamphlets involving Queen Marie Antoinette in order to analyze the attitudes of the French regarding gender roles, and in this way she questions the traditional interpretation of the French revolution as a period of immense change. The pornographic pamphlets, which were circulated by French Revolutionaries, sexualized Marie Antoinette in order to debase her and destroy her reputation (lecture 10/20). Hunt argues that, since King Louis XVI was not included in these pamphlets, the French Revolutionaries did not simply wish to overthrow the monarchy, but also wished to enforce “a separation of women from the public sphere” (Hunt 213). Thus, as Hunt emphasizes, the French Revolution may be seen as a period that is actually continuous with the past, as the revolutionaries actually based their change on the maintenance of traditional cultural views regarding gender roles. In making her argument through the guises of culture and gender, Hunt is able to tell history “from below” in that she analyzes French cultural perceptions, such as those towards gender, and does not focus only on key figures and main events (lecture 10/20). In addition, Hunt’s methods allowed her to make use of unorthodox sources, such as pornographic pamphlets, and to employ these sources to decipher the cultural views of the French during this time period. Thus, by analyzing the French Revolution through the study of French culture and gender roles, Hunt is able to include new sources and perspectives in order to gain a more complete understanding of how the French Revolution affected society during that time