Today’s blog post is set in the 17th century when the king of France was Louis XIV. I am writing to the King as a French peasant who has been allowed to tour Versailles in the format of a letter on the topic of my reaction to the palace with an incorporation of my thoughts and concerns on my well-being.
Dear Majesty,
I have been given the wonderful opportunity to tour the magnificent Versailles and it was beautiful. There were so many rooms and I heard that apparently you can house at least 10,000 people! I can see how much money must have been put into it. If only the same amount of effort and money was put into the well being of our people and our country. Clearly you don’t understand how hard it is to live in France if you are poor; because the prices of things like food and taxes are extremely high. It is nearly impossible to afford anything, but obviously you wouldn’t understand that considering how large your living space is. I can barely afford to pay your taxes, let alone buy food and provide for my family.
I must admit that you have done amazing things for our glorious France, like encouraging the arts and making us one of the wealthiest states in Europe. With that in mind there are still many people who are struggling and it’s such a pity to see that so much money has been used for this grand place rather than the people. You do not treat the people here fairly, we were all living happily and in peace with the Edict of Nantes and that was revoked so now the Protestants are leaving which is extremely unfortunate because that is causing a serious blow to our economy.
Versailles is a perfect symbol of your wealth Sun King, but that wonderful display of wealth is not shown throughout France. I think as a King you are not doing your job too well, you are neglecting the poor and your duties. The last king said there should be “a chicken in every pot” and unfortunately I don’t think you have followed through with that. I admire that you put so much time and effort into something so beautiful; I just wish you did the same for your people.
Thank you for your time,
A struggling subject
(“Palace of Versailles.” Photo. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Versailles.)
