Rebecca Doyle, Class of 2022, History

This 1903 French postcard features a studio portrait of the famous French actress Sarah Bernhardt as Napoleon II, the lead role in the play L’Aiglon. Ambitious actresses of the19th and early 20th century often played young men on the stage to build their reputations because there was a lack of complex or prestigious female roles. Bernhardt falls within this tradition—an 1896 biography states that she “conquered the first rank” of acting fame through her role as a boy named Zanetto in Le Passant—however, what sets her apart is that she played her most famous “breeches roles” late in her life, after she had already become an international star. In 1899, while in her 50s, she became one of the first women to play the role of Hamlet, and her interpretation of the play was both greatly admired and criticized for this innovation. A year later, playwright Edmond Rostand wrote L’Aiglon and the lead role of Napoleon II specifically for her. Bernhardt’s production and performance were wildly successful in France and created a patriotic frenzy, leading many to buy postcards of her in her role as Napoleon II, such as this one. She continued performing L’Aiglon into her 70s, even after a leg amputation. In both of these roles, Bernhardt’s age amazed audiences alongside her gender. Her agility and vitality defied societal presumptions about the usefulness of aging women. Bernhardt argued that older women like her, with their wisdom and adaptability, were best positioned to play younger men such as Hamlet and Napoleon II.

Source

“Sarah Bernhardt dans L’Aiglon,” Boyer & Bert, 1903. Postcards of female and male impersonators and cross-dressing in Europe and the United States, 1900-1930, Box 2, Folder 3, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library, ID#RMM07778_B2_F3_219_01. https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/ss:24416316

Bibliography

Baring, Maurice. Sarah Bernhardt. New York: D. Appleton-Century Co., 1934.

Cobrin, Pamela. “She’s old enough to be a beautiful young boy: Sarah Bernhardt, breeches roles and the poetics of aging.” Women & Performance: a journal of feminist theory 22, no 1 (2012) 47-66.

Gottlieb, Robert. Sarah: The Life of Sarah Bernhardt. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010. Silverthorne, Elizabeth. Sarah Bernhardt. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2004.

Wisner, Arthur. Sarah Bernhardt, Artist and Woman. New York: A. Blanck, 1896.