Scenes from the marriage of Louis XIV
Subtitle: nuptial fictions and the making of absolutist power
By: Abby E. Zanger.
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Stanford, Calif
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
Subjects: Louis XIV, King of France, 1638-1715 -- Marriage.; Marie Thérèse, Queen, consort of Louis XIV, King of France, 1638-1683 -- Marriage.; Symbolism in politics -- France -- Public opinion.; Public opinion -- France -- History -- 17th century.; Marriages of royalty and nobility in literature.; Despotism -- France.
Description: This book radically revises our understanding of the construction of symbolic power in the age of absolutism by examining the fictions that emerge from visual, narrative, and ceremonial representations of (and reactions to) the 1660 marriage of Louis XIV to the Spanish infanta. Drawing on semiotics, the history of theater and spectacle, gender studies, and anthropology, the author reconsiders the nature of representation in absolutist political culture.

The book is not intended as a history of the marriage. Rather, the author analyzes in detail exemplary moments or scenes from the royal wedding, in particular uncovering the dialectic at the heart of nuptial fictions.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-237) and index.