The Idler in FranceBlessington, Marguerite, Countess of
History
The Idler in France
Blessington, Marguerite, Countess of
France -- Description and travel; France -- Social life and customs
Went last night to see Mademoiselle Mars, in "Valérie." It was a
finished performance, and worthy of her high reputation. Never was
there so musical a voice as hers! Every tone of it goes direct to the
heart, and its intonations soothe and charm the ear. Her countenance,
too, is peculiarly expressive. Even when her eyes, in the _rôle_ she
enacted last night, were fixed, and supposed to be sightless, her
countenance was still beautiful. There is a harmony in its various
expressions that accords perfectly with her clear, soft, and liquid
voice; and the united effect of both these attractions renders her
irresistible.
Never did Art so strongly resemble Nature as in the acting of this
admirable _artiste_. She identifies herself so completely with the part
she performs, that she not only believes herself for the time being the
heroine she represents, but makes others do so too. There was not a dry
eye in the whole of the female part of the audience last night--a
homage to her power that no other actress on the French stage could now
command.
The style, too, of Mademoiselle Mars' acting is the most difficult of
all; because there is no exaggeration, no violence in it. The same
difference exists between it and that of other actresses, as between a
highly finished portrait and a glaringly coloured transparency. The
feminine, the graceful, and the natural, are never lost sight of for a
moment.
The French are admirable critics of acting, and are keenly alive to the
beauties of a chaste and finished style, like that of Mademoiselle
Mars. In Paris there is no playing to the galleries, and for a simple
reason:--the occupants of the galleries here are as fastidious as those
of the boxes, and any thing like outraging nature would be censured by
them: whereas, in other countries, the broad and the exaggerated almost
invariably find favour with the gods.
The same pure and refined taste that characterises the acting of
Mademoiselle Mars presides also over her toilette, which is always
appropriate and becoming.
Accustomed to the agreeable mixture of literary men in London society,
I observe, with regret, their absence in that of Paris. I have
repeatedly questioned people why this is, but have never been able to
obtain a satisfactory answer. It tells much against the good taste of
those who can give the tone to society here, that literary men should
be left out of it; and if the latter _will_ not mingle with the
aristocratic circles they are to blame, for the union of both is
advantageous to the interests of each.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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