Reference:   Shueisha bunko 2, 92-99 (tankoubon 3);   not in anime

[ Fersen has returned to France after four years and renewed his relationship with Antoinette.   Oscar begins to worry about his effect on Antoinette.   After hearing court gossips about Antoinette and Fersen, Oscar goes to see Antoinette and kneels before her. ]

Antoinette:	What's wrong, Oscar? You're rather formal today.
Oscar:	I, Oscar François, have come prepared to receive any type of punishment. I'm afraid that I have some advice to give you. Your Majesty!   Have you forgotten your role as the Mother and Queen of France? There are gossips about you and Count Fersen all over court. Have you considered the danger it will cause you if it reached the King and the people? Even if those weren't true, there are many in court who are dissatisfied with your recent gambling and dealings with Mme. de Polignac. It's not just the people who think this way. I beg you, Your Majesty, do something. You'll run into terrible danger otherwise.
Antoinette:	Thank you, Oscar, for taking such care to consider my affairs. But you don't seem to understand. Don't you understand what a woman's heart is seeking? I was merely 14 when I married into France as the Crown Princess. I was just a child who enjoyed playing around and knew nothing about first love. For the Austro-French alliance, I've become the Crown Princess, the Queen, and the Mother of France. I had forgotten that Marie Antoinette is merely a woman. But, Oscar François, as a woman wouldn't you understand? I'm a human being beneath my role as Queen. I'm a woman with a heart for living. I'm a woman who want to love, to be loved, to wait for someone to sweep me off my feet just like everyone else. Fersen ... My youth was spent meeting him and falling in love with him. He was my first love. Not even God can stop my heart from reaching out to him, my love from blossoming like a crimson flower. His Majesty is an admirable man, kind and diligent, and I respect him with all my heart. But, but I don't love him! We're husband and wife in name only. Oh ... I want to forget such emptiness! That's why I keep dancing and singing, showing off beautiful dresses, playing and playing day and night!
[ Oscar leaves ]
Oscar:	{{ Why? Even though I'm a woman ... I couldn't understand Lady Antoinette's loneliness and suffering. [ flashback to Antoinette's words ] Don't you understand what a woman's heart is seeking? As a woman ... Oh ... }} André!
André:	Oscar!
Oscar:	{{ I was 11 when Father asked me to dedicate my life to serving Lady Antoinette. But, but I could only watch as Lady Antoinette became trapped in criticisms and scandals. I could not protect her at all even though I was right beside her. I could not protect her at all! }}

 

One of the debates among historians is whether and how much Marie Antoinette understood the consequences of her extravagance and wanton behaviors.   Whatever the truth may be, Antoinette is clearly made to appear more sympathetic in this story.   In both the manga and anime, she is as much a victim of her own carelessness as she is a scapegoat for historic wrongs.   This scene from the manga tells us that Antoinette's frivolous acts are a reaction against her assigned roles and their associated constraints.   We are asked, like Oscar, to sympathize with her stifling boredom and feelings of worthlessness as a woman.

Does the author succeed?   As a reader, I'm quite moved by Ikeda's kinder Antoinette, though I still have issues with Antoinette's ostrich approach to things.   Oscar is also awestruck, but for very different reasons.   For Oscar, her inability to save Antoinette is perhaps much more distressing than her inability to understand Antoinette's feelings.   Antoinette's rejection of her advice is essentially an indication of her failure as a Palace Guard and personal friend.

And what will Oscar do then, we wonder.   I think at this point Oscar is still unsure about the idea of love, which is why she cannot empathize with Antoinette.   Then, in an attempt to help Antoinette, she becomes more involved with Fersen and ends up falling for him.   While it's true that Oscar starts to show an interest in Fersen after the runaway horse incident, I think her initial feeling is more admiration than love.   That admiration develops into love when she starts to see the qualities that attract Antoinette to Fersen and take on Antoinette's viewpoint.

Note that the anime does not show the dialogues in the manga.   Instead, Oscar goes to see Antoinette and then leaves without saying what she intended.   She later explains to André that she could not bear telling Antoinette such things when she appears to be so happy with the children.

Scenes Index