The Re- June, 1929
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
by Iilnrgnret .Alice Gustnfson. AeB. University of Kansas. 19270 of Homunce T,nngunges and the l1'ncul"cy of the Graduate School of the Unive1,sity of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the re- quirements for the degree of f:iASTHH OF AHTS. Approved by: EG~ Hcnd of Depo.1,tnent June, 1929. ADflIE'NHE J~EGOUV HEUit IN DHfi.1.IJ\. ADHinnm r.;r::coUVRI:UH IN DHJ'if,TA INDEX page Lifo of t~dr')icnno Lecouvreu~."••o••·--··•·····•oo•• l Drnmnti~ntions of Her Lifeo o ... o ..... .,, ••••• ~ ... o • ..,. •. 21 0 n iHlrienne Lecouv1~cur by Be1.,aud o.nd Valo:r~y ••• D •• 26 "Adrionne T..1eoouvPetrrn 1Jy Scribe nncl Legouvefo•oeo 36 n Adrienne Locouv1.,eurn by Snrnh Be1'"7!luu~t •• •..... 56 conclusion• • • 9 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 -> e 0 II lit I> 0 0 0 0 • • 1lr llt o· 0 ., • G •• 0, • .. 78 Notes•••••••••••••••••••••~O•••••••••••••••••••• 93 Bibliogrnph:g'oo•••••••o••••••••••eo•••o•••••••••• 104 T,IFB OF ADRim:nm LEGOU\THEUH INTRODUCTION In this discussion of Adrienne Lecouvreur on the stnge the follm~.ring plays wil 1 be studied.~ "Ad-rienne T,ecouvreur" , lf130, by M. r.i. J\ ntony-Be'reucl and Va.lo ry,, "Adrienne Leoouvreur" , l849, · by M.u. Seribe nnd IJe- gouve, nn d "AdI'ienne Lecouvreurn, 1907, Mme Snra.h Bernhardt. Tho purpose of this study is not to con•· sider them from fl litHra:ry strmdpoint but to compnre the portrnynl of' Adrienne T,ecouvreur in ea.ch of the respoct:tve plays with the histo1~1cnl facts of he~ life. f.dr.ienne Lecouvreu~, one of the most colehrated /' of French actresses, wHs born nt Damery, near Epernay. (1) in Chompiu~ne, Ap11 il 5, 1692. She was t~·1e first act1,,ess in France to achieve not· only renown on tho stage but ot the sAme time consideration in society. Her father, Hobert Couvreur, a hatter by trncle, married Marie Bouly. The s:.me year of Adrienne's birth the .family (2) moved to tho more inmortant town of' Fismes. Ten years later (1702) Robert Couvrmn.,, set un his shop at Pn1·ls.J w1)ere Adrienne received he1, early education from the "Filles de l'Instruction Chr~tiennen, rue du Gindre. In 1705 v:ns born hera si.ster, Mnrie-r.'fnrguerite, who Ja.ter uns to be tnken core o.f by Adrienne vdth whom she lived. By hnppv coincidence t11e fnmily took up its nhode in 2 Paris in the faubourg Snint-Gormain neur tho Comedic- Fra:ngaise, w!1ich neighborhood encou1~ngod t 11e t<'nden- cies alroody v1ell ma1-ilrnd in the younp~ J\dr':tennc_,, for 'the obbe d'Allainval relates, nPlusieurs des bou:rgeois de Fi~1es.'n'ont d:tt que des son enfm~ce, cllc se pln1sait a' reciter/ des vers et qu ' tils 1 ottil'ln iont souvont dnns leurs mnisons pour 1 1 entendre. Ln d.emoiselle Le Couvreur etni t rio ces pe:rsonnes extrno1-icUnnires qui . (3) se creentI elles-memes.J\ tf In 1705 so: ·c :roung 'people of the neighhor1hoo<l banded together to p;ive the trngody n Polyeucte" , to be followed by "Deuil", a one net play ~n verse by Thomns Corneille. Practice vms held nt a groco:ri' s in the 1~ue Perou, Adrienne playing Pnuline v1'1 th p;ront success. :N.ews of these rehearsals cnrne to I.'"mQ ln I / presidente Du Gue, who then lent tho little troupo her house, rue Garanciere, ·' and invited to the f.irst representation the bent of society from the court and from the cl ty. Ho-:1eve1'l the firr~t plnv, t1·,~ t11 agedy, \va.s barely over wl1en, nt the inst:tg'nti.on of the "Come- diens fran~aisn \":ho, veP:"v .icnlo1 1s of their privilege, had even wished to have the troupe nrrested, the police entered rmd forbade the performance~ tl1e second plnv not being acted. Tho young amnteurs took refuge \7ithin t'he precincts of the Temple, v:hm1 e, under the protec- • A tion of the grand prieur de Vendome, Adrienne plnyed 3 some time longer. ( tf) Another" stroke of luck t!DS that the nctor IJe Grand, nevrly n1~ri1.ve'.·l . f1•om Polnnd nnd .1ust recel ved '' sociJtnire~ hnd for n laundress J\drienne' s mmt J \~1ho so interested . hirn 111 the tnlen"ts of her niece thnt he· mRde Adrienne "' ,, his p1.,ot&g~e, giving '\1or oxccllent trnining; for though only n mediocre a.ctor he wns n good inst1"ll.lctoro His reoommendn i.; ions of her to his friend" l:ille Fonpre, di- roct1.,ess of the theater of T.Jille, brought he:r nn engage- ment t.o plfr~ thQre in 1708. She traveled nbout the ncrl~l1ern provinces, acted in the thevte~s. of Lorr~aine end l\lso.ce and bccmno the lending nctress of the thea- tei., of Tinn~villo aftGr hnving plvyed at the court of Lorrn:i.ne. It is thought she even nppeared f!t Metz and Verdun. In 1711 she ··wo.s premiere' actrice at the thea- ter of Strasbourg and became very popular. I / "Sn vocation intimo, en effet, n'nva:i.t PH!1. ,ete I sc decJa1?er quc sn vocntion.. dramatique. Tout, en el le, indiqnait (l~.i?i qu' elle aurnit une des- tine'e de tenclrerrne et d' e'motion; cnP la nature lui a.vn:tt donneI uno sensib il1te.• / dol·/ i ante, tm c<m ur loyal, _,.. I • I I uno Amo aJ:>dente, expa.nsi ve et desintercssee. Et les I vulga1'ites de tout ordre, parmi losquelles sr:t profes- /' sion l'nvnit .)eteo dos l'enfnnce, loin de contrarier /\ I I ces clispositi-)ns natives, les nvait plutot developpees. Corrnne il A. r~rive souvent aux 8tres que leur milieu 4 f I f froisse, elle s'etait, pnr reaction, replica sur ellc- meme et n.ffin~e interieuroment •••Elle ava:tt ninsi trop d' attrai t pour n' et re pas J'Jernarquee de bonne heuro et I (5) courtisee." Baron D--- a young officer of the regiment of Pi- cardy in garrison at Lille, is said to have been the (6) first of 11er o.dmirers. TJittle is 1movm of him except thnt he died suddenly leaving violent desnalr in the heart of his mistress •. However Hhe recovered)fo:r in (7) 1710 she had a daughter, Elizabeth-f1d1.. ienne, by Philippe Le Hoy• an of'ficer of the duke de Lorrn ine. I Some name as fnthor o.f this child tllle Fonpre's bro- .t1ler, the actor Glavel, v1ho ·was o. comrade of I.1lle Le- ( 8) couv1..,eur' s. A few years later sho accepted t"· o a tten- tions o.f Frangois de Klinglin, VInyo1., of Strasbourg, and in 1716 gave birth to a second daughter, Fran9oise- (9) . Catherine-Ursule. Very· much grieved over the Count de IClinglin' s marrin.:."!.;e, s 11e left Strasbourg to settle derinitely in Paris. Her career at t:1e Cornedie-F·ranrnise soon began. I I On May 14, 1717, she na.de her debut as 'Electro in the play of the smne nmrie (1708) by Crebillon (1674-1762)1 / ' . ( 10) and as Angelique in J.1oliere 's n Geo1'lge Dandina ( 1668} • Hor success was so b1'lillinnt that s11e wns nd111itted, a / mont!1 later, n Comedienne ordinaire du roi" • beginning, as it was rem.a "keel, whe1~e other gx,ent nct1•esses usually 5 end. Her triumphs were due laPgely to her courage in nbandonln~ the stilted style of elocution then in us~. "on lui donne ln gloiro, dit le Mercure (mars 1730), I cl'nvoir intrnduit la. declamation simple~ noble et na.- (11) turelle, et d'en avoir bnnni le.rchanttt. "Elle ~to it, dit un contm:nporain, d tune taille rn6d:tocre; elle nvo.it. la tete et les 4paules bien pla- cdes ~ les ye.we pleins do f eu., la bouche belle, le nez I I ·un peu aqullin, benucoup. d 'agremeni; dans 1 'air et les ma.nieres ·' un mnintien noble et asnur~. Q:uoiqu t elle 'n' eut pns beaucoup d 'embonpoint' sn f'igure n' of.frni t I I I , . point le desagrement nttnohe a la ma:lgreur: ses traits eta1ent bien mo.rqu~s' et convennbles pmn... exprimer a.vec fncili t~ tou.t;ea les passior~s de 1 t nme. 'Le gout, la recherc~1e, la richesse. de sn parure donnaiont. un nou- '- ..., I "\ venu lustre a. son nir imposont, a· sn dema1-iche noble, a. I I (12) ses gestc~s precis et tou.iours onergiques". To this imposlng bearing nnd cxpresslon o:f her fentuT'es, ns well as her introduction of the court dress (13) in tho parts o.f quocns and p1.,incesse s J is due the re- ' (14) r.mrlt, n C 'est une reino parmi des comediens n. rre are told that tho night of. her first appearance in Paris, one man, not en rried m~.rav by t'he universal onthusiasm, t?ould rema.1--k fron time to time~ tr Bo~, cela.! n intinm f':.j_nr,; t":rit the rest vms not equally good. TUle Lecou,rreur hoard of this nndasked him to dine with hell. 6 This rrian v:as Du !Sarsais, the phllosonhrn_, and grnr1mn.rian, a. simple, naive man, v~r:r frank nnd little accustomed. to society. Before sitting doym to dilmer he as1wcl Mlle Lecouvreur to 1,,ecite A.