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The 'Scandalous' Life of Marie Antoinette
- Interview
- History
They called her a treasonous nymphomaniac who bankrupted France for diamonds and cake. The revolutionaries didn't just execute Marie Antoinette - they waged a brutal smear campaign to ruin her first. But what if almost everything you’ve been told about 'Madame Déficit' is a lie? From fake royal sex scandals to a black-market diamond heist that brought down a monarchy, this is how a teenage Austrian princess became the most hated woman in Europe. Joining Dan is Kate Williams, author of 'Regina: A New History of Women and Power’. Produced by James...
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B2 · Upper-intermediate
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- 90% of the words are B1 or easier.
- 184 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
- 251 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.
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Marie Antoinette became the ultimate symbol
.
The poster girl for the excessive monarchy
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Is this episode right for you?
B2 · Upper-intermediate
Comfortable if you already follow TV news
- 90% of the words are B1 or easier.
- 184 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
- 251 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.
Transcript
The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.
harder words (B2+)
Glamorous, extravagant, scandalous, deeply misunderstood, Marie Antoinette became the ultimate symbol of the French Revolution. The poster girl for the excessive monarchy
that feasted while the country starved, who drape themselves in jewels as people died in the streets. At one point, she was the most hated woman in France, the woman they blamed for it all.
But did she deserve it? Marianne Twinnett, she was a teenage arch-Duchess, she was a princess from Vienna, sent across Europe as a political bargaining chip to secure an alliance
That was the opening. The rest of the episode (53 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.
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