For theoretical background, this book considers the Petit Trianon to be a highly representative ‘place of memory’ as defined by Pierre Nora (1984–1992). Subscribing to a rehabilitative history narrative, Chapter 1 represents contextual theoretical background for the analysis of the four major narratives (historical, cinematic, architectural and heritage) of Marie Antoinette and the Petit Trianon. To this end, the chapter clarifies the wider context of the evolution of ‘places of memory’ throughout history, using nationalist theories to analyse the rift between the Royal/Christian tradition and the new ‘religion’ of nineteenth-century nationalism. In addition to Nora’s ‘places of memory’, the views of Benedict Anderson (1991); Eric Hobsbawm (1983) and Pierre Bourdieu (1984) generate the classic testimony for this particular argument.