Marie Antoinette still stirs debate

A big thanks for the wonderful pieces on Marie Antoinette [“What’s All This About Conceit and Cake” and “More to the Story After 200 Years of Bad Press,” Oct. 22]. They were informative and first-rate.

A friend in Canada saw the film at a fundraiser for breast cancer research. He said the audience of 1,500 stood and applauded the screen. According to him, the Italian woman who designed the costumes deserves an Academy Award hands down. He is sparse in praise as a rule, so I take it as a ringing endorsement.

Ya done good, as a Texan boy I worked with used to say.

CRAIG CARR

West Hills

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MARIE ANTOINETTE was not a “recklessly extravagant ruler” [“More to the Story After 200 Years of Bad Press,” Oct. 22]. She may have been extravagant, but she was not a ruler. She was the queen consort to the king of France. He was the ruler. It was he and his ministers of state who were responsible for governing, or misgoverning, the country.

In those days, queen consorts were responsible for bearing heirs, which Marie Antoinette obligingly did, finally. Whatever else they did was what their husbands permitted and thought they could afford.

RON SAMUELS

Studio City