Monologue: Struggle of a Fallen Queen
Deficit. Conspiracy. Starvation. Murder. Butchery. War. Incest. Are not these the accusations brought against me by the people of France? I was a queen, and you took away my crown; a wife, and you killed my husband; a mother, and you deprived me of my children. . . Only the gentle love of a mother can bare the wounds I so agonizingly possess. For a mother, who so lovingly and tenderly doted upon her own children, to be accused of such heinous crimes as incest. . . Have you no compassion as to the falsehood of these natures?
Thrust upon the throne at seventeen, one had but little time to prepare for the arduous roles a naive girl such as myself faced. However, standing upon my own ground, I do but take responsibility for the course of my own actions, not those in which the court has accused me of. Yes, it is true the fact I have lead an extraordinary lifestyle; but it is not my fault for downfall of the French nation. This happened long before my marriage took place! In spite of my title, I seemed a manifest target to lay France's financial disputes upon due to my nation of birth, Austria. The lasting rivalry between the two countries has christened me "l'Autrichienne"and left me an atrocious reputation. Despite these accusations, I stand for my title, my family, my innocence, and France.