The prospect was thrilling for me, especially given how quickly many dismiss neurodivergence as a modern concept, rather than one that has simply gone undocumented and dismissed for much of human history. Though I now realize I was reading far too much into it, it initially appeared as though Louis was being portrayed as neurodivergent.
What initially struck me as interesting was that when the audience was first introduced to Louis, he was quiet, awkward, and more fixated on hunting than on his new wife. Putting aside the tension that comes from an arranged, political union with someone you don't know, and the veritable culture shock that is Versailles, the two initially didn't seem to have much in common. Adaptations of the early days of their marriage all agree that things were rough at the outset. To give a concrete example, it's best to look at Marie and Louis' relationship. In trying to be all things at once, the series opens itself up to a lot of comparisons with other period dramas, but this is not something that works in Marie Antoinette's favor. Under showrunner Deborah Davis, it's clear the show is trying to go for something different, edgy yet restrained, glamorous yet gritty. The early days of Louis and Marie's marriage are familiar ground to anyone who has studied the French monarchy - as I had to for longer than I'd care to remember - for those who grew up on Kathryn Lasky's Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles, or most notably those familiar with Sofia Coppola's Kirsten Dunst-starring film of the same name. The first six episodes of the series follow Marie as she finds her way in court, and learns how to play the Versailles game, gradually growing into her role as princess, even as her role as wife to Louis feels increasingly difficult to master. Versailles is an adjustment for the young princess, who is not used to the machinations of a court as toxic as Versailles, and who finds herself in constant opposition with King Louis XV's ( James Purefoy) mistress Madame Du Barry ( Gaia Weiss), his daughters Adelaide ( Crystal Shepherd-Cross) and Victoire ( Caroline Piette), and Louis' brother the Count of Provence ( Jack Archer).
The series follows Marie (Schüle), beginning in her final days as an Austrian Archduchess as she is taken to France to be married to the Dauphin Louis ( Louis Cunningham) - soon to be Louis XVI.
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