‘Potier, Talma, and Mademoiselle Mars were ten times millionaires, and did not live like other human beings; the great tragedian ate raw meat, and Mademoiselle Mars sometimes drank dissolved pearls, in imitation of a celebrated Egyptian actress.’
Honoré de Balzac, César Birotteau, 1837 (translated by Katharine Precott Wormeley)
Mademoiselle Mars was one of the most celebrated actresses of the early 19thcentury. She began her career at an early age at Versailles and Palais-Royal theatre before joining the Comédie Française. Her contemporaries praised her beauty, but also her talent. She first made herself known for parts she played as innocent maidens before she established herself as the tragic actress of Paris, ‘the greatest actress of Europe’ according to the Emperor Napoleon.
