Thursday, January 5, 2012

Twitter Ye Not - Execution of Louis XVI


Twitter Ye Not - Execution of Louis XVI

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 21st of January 1793, King Louis XVI of France was executed by guillotine in the Place de la Révolution (now Place de la Concorde) in Paris, after being found guilty of high treason by the revoltionary National Assembley. Here, we imagine the Twitter feed for that dramatic day.

On the right stands Louis XVI, re-named Citizen Louis Capet after his deposition, about to get the chop from Madame Guillotine.

Facing him is Madame Defarge, from Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities, a tricoteuse or knitter who sat, booed and purled as the heads came off. The basket in front of her contains three balls of wool (red, white and blue for Liberté, Egalité and Fraternité) and the têtes of two ex-aristos. They had it coming...

Both Louis and Defarge wear the Phrygian Bonnets or Liberty Caps of the revolution, with a tricoleur cockade apiece.

1 comment:

in a drawing room said...

Great blog. I'll be around.