Page "Empress Myeongseong" Paragraph 73

Court officials remarked that when the Queen Consort ascended the throne, she was extremely exclusive in choosing who she associated with and confided with.

In this remark, her relationship with the royal court from the very beginning strongly resembles the relationship of Marie Antoinette with her court.

Both women found court etiquette restricting but both women strictly adhered themselves to traditional laws to impress and to gain respect of the aristocracy.

Both women also did not consummate their marriage on their wedding night, as court tradition dictated them to.

Adding onto their frustrations, both women found immense difficulty in conceiving a healthy heir.

The Queen Consort's first attempt ended in despair and humiliation ; she conceived a male heir but he shortly died after his birth due to poor health.

Her second attempt found success, but Sunjong was never a healthy child, often catching illnesses and lying in bed for weeks.

Both Marie Antoinette and the Queen Consort also never were able to truly connect and fall in love with their husbands until their times of troubles brought them together.

In the end, both women were destined for tragic endings ; one being guillotined by her people, misunderstood and her name wrongly distorted ; the other brutally assassinated by the Japanese.