What historic event is represented by the phrase "Let them eat cake!"?

The phrase "Let them eat cake!" is commonly believed to represent Marie Antoinette's response to the suffering of the French peasantry during the food shortages that contributed to the French Revolution. This statement reflects an alleged disconnect between the elite and the common people, as it suggests that, if the poor were without bread, they could simply eat cake, an extravagant and inaccessible luxury for most at the time.

Marie Antoinette, though she may not have actually uttered this phrase, became a symbol of the opulence and indifference of the French monarchy toward the plight of the lower classes. This misattribution highlights the growing resentment among the populace that contributed to revolutionary fervor. The revolution ultimately aimed to address such inequality and the perceived detachment of the royal family from the realities of their subjects' lives.

In this context, the phrase has transcended its origins to symbolize the broader issues of class disparity and the failure of those in power to empathize with the struggles of ordinary people, making "Let them eat cake!" a quintessential representation of the tensions that led to the upheaval of the French Revolution.