As queen of France, Marie Antoinette suffered what were likely the harshest criticisms ever laid against any queen or mistress in France’s long history. There were two major factors that combined to propagate this dark new level of acidic criticism—one was the blooming public sphere, and the second was the scandalous “Diamond Necklace Affair.”

Literacy rose greatly over the course of the 18th century and, not coincidentally, the annual output of printed publications tripled by the end of Louis XV’s reign and expanded exponentially throughout Louis XVI’s kingship. Royal censorship had also been greatly reduced by this time, and a massive “black market” for books and extremely popular underground publications flourished during this period. Also, coffeehouse culture and print culture collided during the mid-to-late 1700s, giving Parisians open forums in which to share the gossips and criticisms circulating via the underground pamphlets.

Having endless numbers of pamphlets and an equally infinite number of readers eager to snap them up would be no good without a juicy story, however. This, of course, was exactly what the people received with the Diamond Necklace Affair. On August 11th, 1784, a social climber named Rohan and a prostitute named Nicole Leguay met in the gardens of Versailles. Nicole was a stunning look-alike of Marie Antoinette, and she was indeed believed to be the queen by Rohan that night. To get on Marie’s good side—a necessary evil for anyone with social ambitions at Versailles—Rohan was led to believe that if he procured a fabulously bejeweled necklace on her behalf, it would be a great favor.

The scam was revealed when jewelers Boehmer and Bossange inquired directly to Marie Antoinette over payment for the grandiose diamond necklace. They presented her with an invoice that she had apparently signed (though it was actually a clever forgery). The queen was furious and had Rohan arrested and marched off to the Bastille. Yet, in addition to the countless aristocrats who sued to the king on Rohan’s behalf, at one point over 10,000 people came to the doors of the Bastille demanding Rohan’s release. He was eventually acquitted, much to the queen’s dismay.

The consequences of this affair were severe for Marie Antoinette. The mere fact that a common street prostitute—one who engages in underhanded, nocturnal dealings to obtain absurdly expensive jewelry—could be so easily mistaken by a nobleman for the queen of France was incredibly damaging to the queen’s already blackened reputation. Furthermore, as this hatred of the queen began to boil over, it became inevitable that it would spill onto the monarchy itself. Though Marie would always be the ultimate villainess, she could never be completely untangled from Louis and, thus, from the monarchy itself. She was not a mistress who could be surreptitiously cut away or a political advisor who could be dismissed. She was a queen, and this fact had inescapable consequences.

1. The second paragraph of the passage serves to

(A) elucidate further the mechanisms by which disdain for a public figure grew
(B) contrast two factors that spurred criticism of the queen
(C) explain the endemic corruption of the French court
(D) discuss the results of a famous scandal
(E) detail reasons for Marie Antoinette’s unpopularity as well as the consequences



2. The passage implies that a significant proportion of the French aristocracy

(A) was jealous of the queen’s riches
(B) read coffee house pamphlets
(C) proved more loyal to Rohan than to the queen
(D) were less literate than the general populace
(E) became leaders of the Revolution



3. According to the passage, readership of books and pamphlets increased in the late 18th century because

(A) the education of women nearly doubled the number of readers
(B) the literacy rate tripled during the reign of Louis XV
(C) there were more exciting scandals to write about than there had been in previous times
(D) government censorship had relaxed
(E) the number of coffee houses increased



4. The author’s tone could best be described as

(A) arrogant and supercilious
(B) prim and meretricious
(C) thoughtful and disinterested
(D) sober but lascivious
(E) analytical but enthusiastic