change my mind

for the life of me I can’t understand why everyone loves empress Elizabeth of Austria.  When I was born my mother named me “sisi” because she really liked those Romy Shneider movies where Elizabeth was sold as “the compassionate people’s empress”. Now it’s been years since I started researching her for myself and yet I still can’t understand what the hell did this woman do besides having a tiny waist and nice hair. The more I learn about Elizabeth the more I find her insufferable.  I understand that she lived in a sexist society and science at that point wasn’t developed enough to give her the mental health support she needed, but damn that woman was selfish and self-absorbed to a fault. she had enormous privilege and yet couldn’t turn it into anything good.

Today’s media portrays her as a Diana predecessor.  A woman whose fierce heart contrasted with the stuffiness of the royal court but this narrative isn’t true for either of the aforementioned women.  at least lady D was very good at charity work, Empress Elizabeth was very happy in her fancy villas, traveling around Europe, writing self-congratulatory poems, and being completely oblivious to her children's needs or her duty as an empress.

So it seems to me that she’s still known only because she was pretty, but I'm desperate to change my mind. soooo if anyone would care to educate me on the matter I’d be very happy to learn.