Félicité de Genlis

Stéphanie Félicité du Crest de Saint-Aubin, comtesse de Genlis (1746-1830) is today mainly known for her writings on pedagogy and for her extensive memoires, giving posterity detailed insight into the social life of the aristocracy in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. However, at the time, Genlis also had a prominent role within the théâtre de société.

Portrait of Madame de Genlis by Marie Victoire Lemoine (1781).

Genlis came from a family of the gentry, and was trained in singing, dancing, and playing the harp from an early age. She also acted within the théâtre de société as a child, and soon started to write her own comedies and dialogues.^[1]In 1763 she married the count Charles Alexis Brûlart de Genlis (1737-1793). She climbed the social ladder through her artistic talents, became popular within aristocratic circles and organised numerous performances and concerts.^[2]  In the late 1770s, she became gouverneur at court, responsible for the royal twin daughters, and from 1782 also of the education of the princes, including the future king Louis-Philippe.^[3]

Genlis produced a large number of publications during her lifetime, including her collections of plays: Théâtre à l’usage des jeunes personnes, 4 volumes (1779/80), and Théâtre de société, 2 volumes (1781).

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References

[1] Marie-Emmanuelle Plagnol-Diéval, Madame de Genlis et le théâtre d'éducation au XVIIIe siècle, (Oxford, 1997), p. 83-86.

[2] Marie-Emmanuelle Plagnol-Diéval, Le théâtre de société: un autre théâtre? (Paris, 2003), p. 35-36.

[3] Gabriel De Broglie, Madame de Genlis (1985), p. 111-17.  

Sources

De Broglie, Gabriel, Madame de Genlis (1985), p. 111-17.  

Plagnol-Diéval, Marie-Emmanuelle, Madame de Genlis et le théâtre d'éducation au XVIIIe siècle, (Oxford, 1997), p. 83-86.

Plagnol-Diéval, Marie-Emmanuelle, Le théâtre de société: un autre théâtre? (Paris, 2003), p. 35-36.