Queen Marguerite herself is described by historians and novelists
as a singularly attractive woman, both physically and mentally.
Of a little above the average height, her figure was well-rounded
and graceful, her carriage dignified and commanding. One writer
thus describes her: "Her eyes were full, black, and sparkling;
she had bright, chestnut-coloured hair, and complexion fresh and
blooming. Her skin was delicately white, and her neck admirably
well formed; and this so generally admired beauty, the fashion
of dress, in her time, admitted of being fully displayed." To
her personal charms were added a ready wit and polished manners.
Her thoughts, whether spoken or written, were always clearly
and gracefully expressed. In her retirement, at the close of
her life, she often amused herself by writing verses which she
set to music and afterwards sang, accompanying herself upon the
lute, which she performed upon skilfully.

Regarding her personal character there has been diversity of
opinion--as, indeed, there has been in the case of nearly every
exalted personage. After her separation from the king, she was the
subject of a scandalous attack, entitled _Le Divorce Satyrique, ou
les Amours de la Reyne Marguerite de Valois_; but this anonymous
libel was never seriously considered. M. Pierre de Bourdeville,
Sieur de Brantôme (better known by the final name), who gives
many facts concerning her later life in his _Anecdotes des Rois
de France_, is a staunch adherent of hers. Ronsard, the Court
poet, is also extravagant in his praises of her, but chiefly of
her beauty. Numerous other poets and romancers have found her
life a favourite subject. Meyerbeer's opera, _Les Huguenots_,
is based upon her wedding, and the ensuing Massacre. Dumas's