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La Faustin
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
260 pages, Paperback
Published February 21, 2008
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About the author
Edmond de Goncourt
644 books37 followersFrench writer and literary and art critic Edmond-Louis-Antoine Huot de Goncourt published books and founded the Académie Goncourt. His brother is Jules de Goncourt.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 17, 2017
La Faustin
Edmond de Goncourt (1822-1896)
‘La Faustin’ is the name of a brilliantly successful actress of her time.
Events take place in the 19th century, in Paris, mostly at the Théatre-Français, her present role being Phèdre, in the play by Racine.
I have read Phédre by Euripide some years ago and remember her being the wife of Thésée, falling in love with her stepson, beautiful young Hippolyte. She hides her love, pretending to hate him.
Several pages cover rehearsals of the brilliant dialogs in Racine’s interpretation of this classic tragedy. Such is the beauty of these dialogs, it brings this historic play to a present life-like situation. Maybe I should dare say, it improves upon Euripide.
I quickly put Racine’s Phédre on top of my ‘to read’ list.
The actress La Faustin is of modest origins. Her basic education just sufficed to start as an actress in small theatres in the suburbs of the grand city. Ambition and talent move her up the professional and social ladder, but also her ability to give away body and soul to the right man on the way.
La Faustin does not hide that she had and still has many lovers. There is a hierarchy in the role of each. The elderly, rich and influential protector, the permanent lover, and the occasional, unexpected encounter of a sweat smelling male from the population.
As an actress, she is surrounded by top-level Parisian society, artists, musicians, by a crowd of admirers, at her theatre, at her home, at her table, almost day and night. She loves being courted and teases the men around her, but she knows how to make it look artful and elegant.
One day, while relaxing in her bath, the maid announces the visit of Lord Annandale, she cannot remember that name, but the maid knows the young man, as one of Madame's previous lovers, William Rayne. All excited now La Faustin gives orders to introduce the visitor, right there and then.
Lord Annandale, or William Rayne, had been posted for three years in East India by his father, who had disapproved of his son’s liaison with a French actress. The father had now died and the young Lord, now rich and free to choose a wife, had come to renew his love affair, and eventually ask La Faustin to be his wife.
It took the actress some time to overcome her attachment to her profession and to follow the young Lord to a castle in a neighboring country.
Some wonderful weeks and months went by, full of love and heavenly happiness.
Still, the more time went by, the less La Faustin could make up her mind to accept the young Lord’s continuous proposal for marriage. She started having regrets for her life as an actress, which was really her state of mind, in body and soul.
Meanwhile, Lord Annandale had a strange visitor from England, an older and mean character, with all the attributes of a devil worshipper, Mephistopheles in person. The two men spent many long days together in private and secret conversations.
One night, Lord Annandale, while opening a window, faints and falls to the floor, calling for help.
La Faustin on her own succeeds to drag him onto the bed and then sends the servants for a doctor. The doctor could not make any sensible diagnose as to the cause of this seemingly deadly attack.
At this point the story takes a completely different turn, it now feels like evolving into a dark nightmare, like a horror story by E. Allan Poe.
The Lord remains between life and death for several days and nights. He seems dead but aware of what is going on around him. His face produces a horrible grimace like a smile.
And then....
it is impossible to guess the outcome to the very last page, the last phrase, and the last words.
I will have to leave it to my fellow readers to discover it.
Edmond de Goncourt (1822-1896)
‘La Faustin’ is the name of a brilliantly successful actress of her time.
Events take place in the 19th century, in Paris, mostly at the Théatre-Français, her present role being Phèdre, in the play by Racine.
I have read Phédre by Euripide some years ago and remember her being the wife of Thésée, falling in love with her stepson, beautiful young Hippolyte. She hides her love, pretending to hate him.
Several pages cover rehearsals of the brilliant dialogs in Racine’s interpretation of this classic tragedy. Such is the beauty of these dialogs, it brings this historic play to a present life-like situation. Maybe I should dare say, it improves upon Euripide.
I quickly put Racine’s Phédre on top of my ‘to read’ list.
The actress La Faustin is of modest origins. Her basic education just sufficed to start as an actress in small theatres in the suburbs of the grand city. Ambition and talent move her up the professional and social ladder, but also her ability to give away body and soul to the right man on the way.
La Faustin does not hide that she had and still has many lovers. There is a hierarchy in the role of each. The elderly, rich and influential protector, the permanent lover, and the occasional, unexpected encounter of a sweat smelling male from the population.
As an actress, she is surrounded by top-level Parisian society, artists, musicians, by a crowd of admirers, at her theatre, at her home, at her table, almost day and night. She loves being courted and teases the men around her, but she knows how to make it look artful and elegant.
One day, while relaxing in her bath, the maid announces the visit of Lord Annandale, she cannot remember that name, but the maid knows the young man, as one of Madame's previous lovers, William Rayne. All excited now La Faustin gives orders to introduce the visitor, right there and then.
Lord Annandale, or William Rayne, had been posted for three years in East India by his father, who had disapproved of his son’s liaison with a French actress. The father had now died and the young Lord, now rich and free to choose a wife, had come to renew his love affair, and eventually ask La Faustin to be his wife.
It took the actress some time to overcome her attachment to her profession and to follow the young Lord to a castle in a neighboring country.
Some wonderful weeks and months went by, full of love and heavenly happiness.
Still, the more time went by, the less La Faustin could make up her mind to accept the young Lord’s continuous proposal for marriage. She started having regrets for her life as an actress, which was really her state of mind, in body and soul.
Meanwhile, Lord Annandale had a strange visitor from England, an older and mean character, with all the attributes of a devil worshipper, Mephistopheles in person. The two men spent many long days together in private and secret conversations.
One night, Lord Annandale, while opening a window, faints and falls to the floor, calling for help.
La Faustin on her own succeeds to drag him onto the bed and then sends the servants for a doctor. The doctor could not make any sensible diagnose as to the cause of this seemingly deadly attack.
At this point the story takes a completely different turn, it now feels like evolving into a dark nightmare, like a horror story by E. Allan Poe.
The Lord remains between life and death for several days and nights. He seems dead but aware of what is going on around him. His face produces a horrible grimace like a smile.
And then....
it is impossible to guess the outcome to the very last page, the last phrase, and the last words.
I will have to leave it to my fellow readers to discover it.
May 26, 2012
A French fin de siècle work of realism, La Faustin focuses on the feelings and sensations of the eponymous protagonist of the book, a parisian actress of considerable talent and elegance.
During the first chapter La Faustin tells her sister about a romance she enjoyed some years ago with "the only man (she) has truely loved." The rest of the novel revolves around the whims of the actress, preparations for her next role, her endeavors into society - including some parties - and her love of the spotlight. Eventually she is reunited with her lost love, for the better or the worse.
While I've read quite a few English translations of French novels before, this is the first one that really makes me regret not being able to read the original version. Perhaps it's just badly translated - the translation still being very Français by employing a huge amount of French vocabulary and expressions - but I kept on stumbling over sentences that seemed out of place and couldn't help but believe that many of them are only in the book, because they sound absolutely wonderful in the original version.
It's very likely that I'd give the French original at least a star more, especially when considering that this book was highly praised for its use of language by accomplished authors of the time like Huysmann and Wilde, whose Picture of Dorian Gray obviously took some inspiration from La Faustin.
During the first chapter La Faustin tells her sister about a romance she enjoyed some years ago with "the only man (she) has truely loved." The rest of the novel revolves around the whims of the actress, preparations for her next role, her endeavors into society - including some parties - and her love of the spotlight. Eventually she is reunited with her lost love, for the better or the worse.
While I've read quite a few English translations of French novels before, this is the first one that really makes me regret not being able to read the original version. Perhaps it's just badly translated - the translation still being very Français by employing a huge amount of French vocabulary and expressions - but I kept on stumbling over sentences that seemed out of place and couldn't help but believe that many of them are only in the book, because they sound absolutely wonderful in the original version.
It's very likely that I'd give the French original at least a star more, especially when considering that this book was highly praised for its use of language by accomplished authors of the time like Huysmann and Wilde, whose Picture of Dorian Gray obviously took some inspiration from La Faustin.
July 26, 2024
"Актриса Фостен" посвящен выбору, вставшего перед героиней, выбору между любовью и искусством, профессией. Приверженцы натурализма, братья Гонкур, интересовались внутренним миром, мельчайшими нюансами психологических переживаний. Но, на мой взгляд, с этой задачей они не совсем справились, поскольку финал делает Фостен просто чудовищем. Мне кажется, мало кто из людей способен на такое поведение в минуту смертной агонии любимого. Либо любви не было, либо психика неадекватна, но я думаю, что авторы просто переусердствовали в желании патетического провозглашения верховенства искусства над человеческим, и получился совершенно нереальный финал.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews