Let Them Eat Cake Significance

Let them eat cake is the traditional translation of the french phrase qu ils mangent de la brioche spoken in the 17th or 18th century by a great princess upon learning that the peasants had no bread.

Let them eat cake significance.

The phrase let them eat cake is the translation of the old french saying qu ils mangent de la brioche which literally means let them eat brioche. According to historical legend marie antoinette s cry of let them eat cake was the straw that broke the camel s back during the french revolution. It was first told in a slightly different form about. The usual interpretation of the phrase is that marie antoinette understood little about the plight of the poor and cared even less.

Because cake is more expensive than bread the anecdote has been cited as an example of marie antoinette s obliviousness to the conditions and daily lives of ordinary people. It is widely attributed to marie antoinette 1755 93 the queen consort of louis xvi. The original french is qu ils mangent de la brioche that is let them eat brioche brioche is a form of cake made of flour butter and eggs. That aside what s even more convincing is the fact that the let them eat cake story had been floating around for years before 1789.

She is supposed to have said this when she was told that the french populace had no bread to eat. As the story goes it was the queen s response upon being told that her starving peasant subjects had no bread. Let them eat cake is the most famous quote attributed to marie antoinette the queen of france during the french revolution.