With live captions by Stagetext.

Celebrate Women’s History Month 2025 by looking closely at the multi-faceted character of Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793) – one of the most famous and fascinating people in French history.

While today she remains an icon of style, she is likewise considered both a scandalous individual and a tragic figure, who was guillotined after a show trial. But we’ll see that there is still so much more to the ‘last queen of France’. Professor Seth will demonstrate how Marie-Antoinette was a fine amateur musician, had discerning taste in furniture, was a loving mother and a faithful friend. She will also reveal how the Queen was required to rise to far-reaching political circumstances, which changed French history forever.

About the speakers: Catriona Seth FBA is the Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of All Souls College. A specialist of the Enlightenment, she has published widely (in French) on the literature and cultural history of the period.

Take part at the museum: No ticket required, drop in on the day. Join us in the Theatre for this special talk.

Watch online: This talk will also be broadcast live from the museum. Book a free ticket online to receive a Zoom link. Ticketholders will also receive a link to view a recording of the talk, which will be available for two weeks only.   

Stagetext captions will be available both online and in the lecture theatre.