Date of Award
Spring 5-1-2007
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
First Advisor
Christopher J. Fischer
Second Advisor
Keri A. Berg
Third Advisor
Steven A. Stofferahn
Abstract
During the late nineteenth century rapid modernization, the liberalization of the press and theatre, as well as the proliferation of photography brought about the impetus for the development of a celebrity-driven mass media. Two women who would come to fame during this era, Sarah Bernhardt and Rachilde, utilized these innovations to create spectacular public personas which emphasized each woman's idiosyncrasies while confounding notions of gender. With her dramatic performances, extravagant publicity stunts and countless world tours Bernhardt became synonymous with the promise of progress in late-nineteenth century France; while Rachilde utilized the mass media in order to create a bizarre and unsettling public persona which emphasized the anxieties of the era. Through their clever manipulation of the mass media in the gaining of fame both Bernhardt and Rachilde contributed to the archetype of the modem mass-media celebrity -a figure just coming to form in the late nineteenth century.
Recommended Citation
Harris, Amy Marie, "Female Curiosities: Sarah Bernhardt, Rachilde and the Use of Spectacle in the Gaining of Fame in Late Nineteenth-century France" (2007). All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3395.
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/etds/3395
Included in
Cultural History Commons, European History Commons, Theatre and Performance Studies Commons, Women's Studies Commons