The 48 Laws Of Power

purchased

underher

name,

and

during

the swindlers‘ trialherlavish

lifestyle

became

public:

People

heardaboutthe

money

she

spent

on

jewels

anddressesandmaskeddances.

Theygave

herthenickname“Madame

Deficit,”

andfromthenonshebecamethefocusofthe

people‘sgrowing

resentment.
Whenshe

appeared

inher

boxat

the

opera

the

audience

greeted

herwith

hisses.Even

thecourt

turned

against

her.Forwhileshe

hadbeen
running
up

her

hugeezcpenditures,

the

country

washeadedfor

rum.

Five

years

later,

in

1789,

an

unprecedented

event

took

place:

thebe

ginning

oftheFrench

Revolution.The

queen

didnot

worry—-let

the

peo-

ple

havetheirlittle

rebellion,

sheseemedto

think;

itwouldsoon

quiet

downandshewouldbeabletoresumeherlifeof

pleasure.

That

year

the

people

marchedon

Versailles,

forcing

the

royalfamily

to

quit

the

palace

andtakeresidenceinParis.Thiswasa
triumph

forthe

rebels,

butitoffered

the
queen

an

opportunity

tohealthewoundsshehad

opened

and

establish

contactwiththe

people.

The

queen,

however,

hadnotlearnedherlesson:

Notoncewouldsheleavethe

palace

during

her

stay

inParis.Her

subjects

couldrotinhellforallshecared.

In 1792 the

royalcouple

was

moved

fromthe

palace

toa

prison,

asthe

revolution

officially

declaredtheendofthe

monarchy.

The

followingyear

LouisXVIwas

tried,

found

guilty,

and

guillotined.

AsMarie~Autoinette

awaitedthesame

fate,

hardly

asoulcametoherdefense-—notoneofher

formerfriendsinthe

court,

notoneof

Europe’s

othermonarchs

(who,

as

membersoftheir

owncountries’

royal

families,

hadallthereasoninthe

worldtoshowthatrevolutiondidnot

pay),

notevenherown

family

in

Austria,

including

her

brother,

whonowsatonthethrone.Shehadbe

cometheworld’s

pariah.

InOctoberof

1793,

she

finally

kneltatthe

guillo-

tine,

unrepentant

anddefianttothebitterend.

Interpretation

From

earlyon,

Marie—Antoinette

acquired

themost

dangerous

ofattitudes:

Asa.

youngprincess

inAustriashewas

endlessly

flatteredand

cajoled.

As

thefuture

queen

ofthe

Frenchcourtshe

was

thecenterof

everyone’s

atten-

tion.Sheneverlearned

tocharm

or

please

other

people,

to

becomeat-

tunedtotheirindividual

psychologies.

Sheneverhadtoworkto

get

her

way,

tousecalculafionor

cunning

ortheartsof

persuasion.

Andlike

every-

onewhois

indulged

froman

earlyage,

sheevolvedintoamonsterofin-

sensitivity.

Marie-Antoinettebecamethefocus

ofan

entire

country’s

dissatisfac-

tionbecauseitisso

infuriating

tomeetwitha

person

whomakesnoeffort

toseduce

you

or

attempt

to

persuadeyou,

evenif

only

forthe

purpose

of

deception.

Anddonot

imagine

thatshe

represents

a

bygone

era,

orthat

sheisevenrare.Her

type

is

today

morecommonthanever.Such

types

live

intheirown

bubble—they

seemtofeel

they

areborn

kings

and

queens,

andthatattention

isowed

them.

They

do

not

consider

anyone

else’:

na-

ture,

butbulldozeover

people

withthe

selfirighteousarrogance

ofaMarie-

Antoinette.

Pampered

and

mdulged

as

children,

asadults

they

stillbelieve

toldtosit

down

onthe

gmis

and

enjoy

themselves.

A

fler

the

meal

C

yrus

askedIhem

which

they

pn'ferred—

yest:2rday’.s

workor

today’;

amusement;

and

they

replied

thatit

wasindeed.a

farcry

from

the

previousday

‘s

misery

totheir

present

pleasures,

'l'hi.s‘waxthe

anywc-rwhich

Cyrus

wtmlecl;

heseized

upon

itatonceand

proceeded

to

lay

bare

whathehadinmind.

“Men

of

Persia,"

he

said,

“listentome:

nhey

myorders,

and

you

will

beableto

enjoy

athou~

smtd

pleasures

as

good

asthiswithum

ever

turningyour

hands[0

meniallabor.‘

but,if

youdisobey,yester-

day's

taskwillhethe

patternof

innumerable

others

you

willbe

fU7‘t‘(’!l

to

perform.

Take

my

adviceandwin

yuurfreedom,

lamthe

mandestined

to

under-

take

your

liberation,

andatis

mybelief

that

you

areamarch

for

the

Medesinwarorin

ltvcrythirzg

elm.Itis1/11’

truthItell

you.

Donot

delay.

but

flingoff

the

yokeofxhryagcs

at

once.

"

TheI’ersi¢m.9had

long

resentedIheil‘

subjec-

(iontotheMales.A:

last

they

hurl

{amid

a

(earlier,and

welcomed

withenthusiasmthe

pmspecr

ofliberty.

...

Onthe

[JYIESEIII

ocrasinn

thePersians

under

Cyrux

r().\‘(!

against

the

Malesand

from

then

onwardswerernaslers

ofA:ia.

me;

HlS'i'ORlES,

llERUl)0'I‘U.‘i.

FIFTHCENTIZRYB.c..

LAW

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369