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Comédie-Française Books
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Mademoiselle (Marguerite-Joséphine Weimer) George
Mémoires inédits de Mademoiselle George, publiés d'après le manuscrit original
"Mémoires inédits de Mademoiselle George, publiés d'après le manuscrit original" by P.-A. Cheramy is a collection of unpublished memoirs likely written in the mid-19th century. This work reflects the life and experiences of the famed French actress Mademoiselle George, including her formative years, career in theater, and interactions with notable figures of her time. It offers a glimpse into the artistic milieu of the period and the personal anecdotes that shaped her career and life. The opening of the memoirs introduces Mademoiselle George's background, describing her early life as the daughter of a traveling theatrical family. The text details her upbringing in the theater, including her first performances as a child and the profound influence of her family’s artistic pursuits. As she transitions into her career and studies under prominent actresses of the time, the narrative captures her excitement for the stage as well as her determination to succeed in a competitive environment. This segment sets the stage for a vivid exploration of the theatrical world she inhabited, marked by her personal reflections and admiration for her contemporaries.
Gaston Maugras
Les comédiens hors la loi
"Les comédiens hors la loi" by Gaston Maugras is a historical account written in the late 19th century. It investigates why actors were long treated as socially and religiously suspect, tracing their status from sacred ritual origins through Roman infamy, Christian condemnation, medieval liturgy, and modern rehabilitation. Drawing on councils, laws, and vivid episodes, it clarifies how prejudice formed, persisted, and waned. This study will appeal to readers interested in theater history, church–state relations, and shifting cultural norms. The opening of the work frames the subject with the 1884 Saint‑Roch mass honoring Corneille, contrasted with the punishment of a Paris curé for a similar service in 1763, and cites a lively press debate to show how misunderstood the Church’s treatment of actors remains. The author sets out his plan to survey actors’ legal and religious status from Greece and Rome through the Middle Ages to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, listing key sources. He first shows the stage arising from religious rites—honored in Greece—then becoming infamous at Rome as performances passed to slaves and to mass entertainments of the circus, mimes, and pantomimes, despite their continuing pagan-sacral character and imperial favor. He then explains the early Church’s rationale for condemning spectacles and denying sacraments to performers unless they quit the stage, notes emperors’ mixed measures (including Justinian’s permission for converts to leave the profession), and describes the decline of theaters in the West under barbarian invasions while they endured in the East. Finally, the narrative sketches the medieval revival of drama within churches—liturgical plays for major feasts alongside the unruly Feast of Fools—before the excerpt breaks off.
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