Noble Blood follows the stories of some of the most influential and famous royals in history. In the very first episode of the year-old podcast, the life and death of the infamous French Queen Marie Antoinette is investigated.
Author Dana Schwartz writes and hosts Noble Blood. Continuity throughout the podcast is maintained through Schwartz as the only host and having a distinct focus on telling the untold tales of historical figures. In this specific episode, a slow and steady, but not monotonous, tone is used to regulate the pace of the podcast. Schwartz regularly uses extended pauses and emphasis on certain words and phrases to draw attention to points she considers important. The episode also has very simple music in the background that doesn’t detract from the storytelling aspect of it all. In multiple instances, the music stops suddenly to build suspense and drama. No interviews or firsthand experiences are included because of how long ago the events occurred, so the story feels less personal, but Schwartz uses detailed descriptions to help listeners visualize the unfolding events.
Although many are aware of Marie Antoinette, they only hear horror stories of her promiscuity and extravagant indulgences. Noble Blood chose to tell a different narrative. The episode begins with a description of the execution of Princesse de Lamballe, one of Marie Antoinette’s favorite ladies-in-waiting. The French lady was killed after she refused to swear her hatred of the queen she once worked for. After her death, the French people took her head on a pike to a hairdresser, who did her hair in the neoclassical style Marie Antoinette was known for, and then brought her head to Marie’s window.
Opening with a gruesome scene depicting the ruthlessness of the starving, angry French people introduces the idea that the French royals are the victims of this tale. King Louis XVI, Prince Louis Joseph, and Princesse de Lamballe were used to illustrate the antagonism of the French people. Louis Joseph was considered “brainwashed” into believing the ways of the revolution, and the king and lady highlighted how French aristocrats were killed purely for being upper class. Marie Antoinette herself is painted as a woman undeserving of what she faced in prison. Schwartz often recalls small gestures of kindness Marie received from people who met her, and she never described Marie as anything less than polite. The unusual portrayal of the royals as victims and the French people as antagonists is continually hinted at through other aspects of the episode.
The episode follows a mostly-chronological sequence after Princesse de Lamballe’s death is described in the introduction. Schwartz introduces the concept of Marie Antoinette’s “first death” just minutes into the podcast, which piques interest due to the word choice “first death” mirroring the “second death” referred to in the title of the episode. Schwartz begins with 13-year-old Marie, who just came to France from Austria and is immediately isolated from every aspect of her old life. The loneliness the French queen experiences is a recurring theme that Dana Schwartz uses to further characterize Marie as a woman in a foreign country who lacked the support she needed during troubling times.
As Marie Antoinette’s death nears, Schwartz again makes a connection between her supposed “first” and “second” deaths with an interesting statement: “The second death of Marie Antoinette also began with being stripped down.” These parallel concepts along with others add a layer to the podcast that elevates it from a historical podcast to one that provides a different perspective to people or events listeners may have never thought of before.
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