At first her aunts—­Mmes.  Adelaide and Sophie—­succeeded in partially estranging her from Louis XV., who had taken a strong fancy to his granddaughter; but this influence was soon overcome—­then these aunts turned against her.  Her popularity, however, increased.  Innumerable instances might be cited to show her kindness to the poor, to her servants, to anyone in need—­a quality which made her popular with the masses.  In time almost everyone at court was apparently enslaved by her attractions and endeavored to please the dauphiness—­this was about 1774, when she was at the height of her popularity.

However, there developed a striking contrast between the dauphiness and the queen; Burke called the former “the morning star, full of life and splendor and joy.”  In fact, she was a mere girl, childlike, passing a gay and innocent life over a road mined with ambushes and intrigues which were intended to bring ruin upon her and destined eventually to accomplish their purpose.  By being always prompt in her charities, having inherited her mother’s devotion to the poor, she won golden opinions on all sides; and the reputation thus gained was augmented by her animated, graceful manner and her youthful beauty.

Little accustomed to the magnificence that surrounded her, she soon wearied of it, craving simpler manners and the greater freedom of private intercourse.  When, as queen, she indulged these desires, she brought upon herself the abuse and vilification of her enemies.  While dauphiness, her actions could not cause the nation’s reproach or arouse public resentment; as queen, however, her behavior was subject to the strictest rules of etiquette, and she was responsible for the morals and general tone of her court.  This responsibility Marie Antoinette failed to realize until it was too late.

Upon the accession of Louis XVI., a clean sweep was made of the licentious and discredited agents of Mme. du Barry, and a new ministry was created.  The former mistress, with her lover, the Duc d’Aiguillon, was banished, although Mme. Adelaide succeeded in having Maurepas, uncle of the Duc d’Aiguillon, made minister.  Marie Antoinette had little interest in the appointment after she failed to gain the honor for her favorite, De Choiseul, who had negotiated her marriage.

The queen then proceeded to carry out her long-cherished wishes for society dinners at which she could preside.  Her every act, however, was governed by inflexible laws of etiquette, some of which she most impatiently suffered, but many of which she impatiently put aside.  With this manner of entertaining begins her reign as queen of taste and fashion, for Louis XVI. left to his wife the responsibility of organizing all entertainments, and her aspiration was to make the court of France the most splendid in the world.  From that time on, all her movements, her apparel, her manners, to the minutest detail, were imitated by the court ladies.  This custom, of course, led to reckless extravagance among the nobility, for whenever Marie Antoinette appeared in a new gown, which was almost daily, the ladies of the nobility must perforce copy it.