Initials M. A Marie-Antoinette et ses avatars

In scholarly discourse as well as in common parlance, “Marie-Antoinette” refers both to a person and a historical figure, the intertwining of which has created a fictional character. Yet in the consumer culture that supersedes traditional media, a new entity – let’s call it “M. A” – replaces and obviates these previous incarnations. With a modicum of defining features (such as the apocryphal quip “Let them eat cake!”), M. A. is neither a person nor a character, but a type, the decadent aristocrat who gets to play the part of history’s first fashion victim and poster girl for French-made luxury goods.