Today, I’m taking you through Marie Antoinette’s infamous hamlet, the model village on the grounds of the Petit Trianon and Versailles. Though most people think of the space as an elite playground where the Queen pretended to be a farmer, I take a look at the discursive basis for the site (Rousseau!), the 18th century interest in the pastoral, and the blending of rural and aristocratic sensibilities. Oh, and there’s also a dairy- I almost titled this episode ‘Let Them Drink Milk.’

Learn more and bibliography available at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mhcDhgxgmvXX78Pyt4LYzyfXfT95BVB-ytWlAnxhTW0/edit?usp=sharing