DOI article:
Meunier, Dauphin: Madame Réjane
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21215#0201
Madame Rejane
By Dauphin Meunier
Afabulous being, in an everyday human form ; a face, not
beautiful, scarcely even pretty, which looks upon the world
with an air at once ironical and sympathetic ; a brow that grows
broader or narrower according to the capricious invasions of her
aureole of hair; an odd little nose, perked heavenward; two
roguish eyes, now blue, now black ; the rude accents of a street-
girl, suddenly changing to the well-bred murmuring of a great
lady; abrupt, abundant gestures, eloquently finishing half-spoken
sentences ; a supple neck—a slender, opulent figure—a dainty foot,
that scarcely touches the earth and yet can fly amazingly near
the ceiling ; lips, nervous, senuous, trembling, Curling ; a frock,
simple or sumptuous, bought at a bargain or created by a Court-
dressmaker, which expresses, moulds, completes, and sometimes
almost unveils the marvellous creature it envelops ; a gay, a grave
demeanour ; grace, wit, sweetness, tartness; frivolity and earnest-
ness, tenderness and indifference ; beauty without beauty, im-
morality without evil: a nothing capable of everything : such is
Woman at Paris : such is the Parisienne : and Madame Rejane is
the Parisienne, is all Parisiennes, incarnated.
What though our Parisienne be the daughter of a hall-porter,
what though she bea maid-servant, acourtesan, or an arch-duchess,
she
By Dauphin Meunier
Afabulous being, in an everyday human form ; a face, not
beautiful, scarcely even pretty, which looks upon the world
with an air at once ironical and sympathetic ; a brow that grows
broader or narrower according to the capricious invasions of her
aureole of hair; an odd little nose, perked heavenward; two
roguish eyes, now blue, now black ; the rude accents of a street-
girl, suddenly changing to the well-bred murmuring of a great
lady; abrupt, abundant gestures, eloquently finishing half-spoken
sentences ; a supple neck—a slender, opulent figure—a dainty foot,
that scarcely touches the earth and yet can fly amazingly near
the ceiling ; lips, nervous, senuous, trembling, Curling ; a frock,
simple or sumptuous, bought at a bargain or created by a Court-
dressmaker, which expresses, moulds, completes, and sometimes
almost unveils the marvellous creature it envelops ; a gay, a grave
demeanour ; grace, wit, sweetness, tartness; frivolity and earnest-
ness, tenderness and indifference ; beauty without beauty, im-
morality without evil: a nothing capable of everything : such is
Woman at Paris : such is the Parisienne : and Madame Rejane is
the Parisienne, is all Parisiennes, incarnated.
What though our Parisienne be the daughter of a hall-porter,
what though she bea maid-servant, acourtesan, or an arch-duchess,
she