Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average WomanMarie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman
Score Classic
What it's about
Marie Antoinette was fourteen when she left Austria to marry the future Louis XVI of France. Stefan Zweig follows her from the glittering, frivolous years at Versailles, where she became a symbol of royal excess, through the French Revolution, her family's imprisonment, her husband's execution, her trial, and her own death on the guillotine in 1793. He shows how an ordinary woman was shaped and destroyed by extraordinary events.
Why it's worth reading
It spent months at #1 on the New York Times list in the 1930s. Zweig was one of the most popular writers in the world, and his psychological biographies still read beautifully.
You'll love it if you liked
Peter the Great
War and Peace
The Guns of AugustGood to know
Zweig takes some liberties with interpretation, and later historians have revised parts of the story. It's sympathetic to her.
By the numbers
- Readers97 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller43 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #102 of the 290 memoirs and biographies we rank
- #170 of the 762 classics we rank
- #539 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
True story, Moving
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Quick answers
Is Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman worth reading?
Yes. It spent months at #1 on the New York Times list in the 1930s. It ranks #539 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 77.9 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman about?
Marie Antoinette was fourteen when she left Austria to marry the future Louis XVI of France. Stefan Zweig follows her from the glittering, frivolous years at Versailles, where she became a symbol of royal excess, through the French Revolution, her family's imprisonment, her husband's execution, her trial, and her own death on the guillotine in 1793. He shows how an ordinary woman was shaped and destroyed by extraordinary events.
How long does it take to read Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman?
About 12 hours (496 pages), or about 3 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman?
If you liked it, try Peter the Great by Robert K. Massie, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy or The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman.