Quote traditionally attributed to Marie Antoinette
This article is about the phrase. For other uses, see Let them eat cake (disambiguation).
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (left) who coined the phrase "qu'ils mangent de la brioche" in 1765. In the years following the French Revolution, the quotation became attributed to Marie Antoinette (right), although there is no evidence that she said it.
"Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French phrase "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche",[1] said to have been spoken in the 18th century by "a great princess" upon being told that the peasants had no bread. The French phrase mentions brioche, a bread enriched with butter and eggs, considered a luxury food. The quote is taken to reflect either the princess's frivolous disregard for the starving peasants or her poor understanding of their plight.
Although the phrase is conventionally attributed to Marie Antoinette, it can actually be traced back to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions in 1765, 24 years prior to the French Revolution, and when Antoinette was nine years old and had never been to France. The quote was only attributed to her decades after her death, and historians do not believe that she said it.[2][3][4]
^Booth, Trudie Maria (2005). French Verbs and Idioms. University Press of America. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-7618-3194-5.
^Fraser, Antonia (2002). Marie Antoinette: The Journey. Anchor. pp. xviii, 160. ISBN 978-0385489492.
^Lever, Évelyne; Temerson, Catherine (2000). Marie-Antoinette: The Last Queen of France. St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 63–65. ISBN 978-0312283339.
^Lanser, Susan S. (2003). "Eating Cake: The (Ab)uses of Marie-Antoinette". In Goodman, Dena; Kaiser, Thomas E. (eds.). Marie Antoinette: Writings on the Body of a Queen. Routledge. pp. 273–290. ISBN 978-0415933957.
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