Visiting the Conciergerie today, I felt like I was transported back in time. I have this feeling quite often in Paris, probably because of how well the buildings have been preserved. For today’s visit, though, it really helped put me in the right mindset to try and understand what Marie Antoinette and the other prisoners went through. I had some conflicting feelings because the building was so beautiful, but it obviously had a dark history. Although our visit was self-guided, I felt like I learned a lot about the Terror of the French Revolution and gained new insight into the figures we have been studying.

I was particularly intrigued by the information about Marie Antoinette, who up until the past few days had been a pretty two-dimensional figure to me. One of the informational signs captured the image I have had of her: “a monster whose sacrifice was necessary for the Republic to live.”  But as our tour guide touched on yesterday, this is a stereotypical image that many powerful women get pushed into. Of course, Marie Antoinette did many horrible things and wasn’t a fit ruler, but her portrayals (perhaps unfairly) gloss over any details that give her an ounce of humanity. Visiting the place in which she was imprisoned helped remind me that she did suffer for her actions, and no doubt changed during her imprisonment.

Finally, this visit has also made me think about Helen Maria Williams’ experiences in prison. Understanding the conditions described in both Williams’ work and in the information provided at the Conciergerie, I am able to better imagine what that experience was actually like. It was clearly a very messy, violent time.