| Mademoiselle Duclos | |
| Birth Name: | Marie-Anne de Châteauneuf |
| Birth Date: | c. 1668 |
| Birth Place: | France |
| Death Date: | 1748 |
| Death Place: | France |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 1693–1733 |
| Spouse: | Duchemin fils (?–1730) |
Marie-Anne de Châteauneuf (c. 1668–1748), known as Mademoiselle Duclos, was a French stage actress. She had a long career at the Comédie-Française and played leading roles in tragedies by Racine and other major playwrights of her era. One of the most famous actresses of the Comédie Française in Paris, her declamatory acting style drew increasing criticism over time for its artificiality.[1] [2]
She came from a family of actors – her grandfather, whose name she took, was at the Théâtre du Marais – she debuted without much success at the Opéra-Comique. She was born in Paris to Auguste-Pierre Patissier de Chateauneuf (known as Chateauneuf), and Catherine du Ruffin.[3]
Duclos made her debut on the Paris stage at the Opera, achieving only moderate success. She then studied at the Comédie-Française, first appearing there on October 27, 1693, in the role of Justine in the tragedy Géta by Nicolas de Péchantré. She became a full member of the company in 1694. From 1696 onward, she took over leading tragic roles from the actress Champmeslé.
Over her long career, Duclos created and performed roles including:
The playwright Houdar de la Motte composed a laudatory ode to Duclos entitled La Déclamation. Three stanzas of this poem are cited under her portrait as Ariadne in a 1714 engraving by Louis Desplaces, after Nicolas de Largillière's painting.
While admired early on, Duclos' declamatory and artificial acting style increasingly drew criticism in the early 18th century as performers like Adrienne Lecouvreur pioneered a more naturalistic approach. Her critics included playwrights like Jean Dumas d'Aigueberre, Lesage (who satirized her exaggerated delivery as the character Didon in Gil Blas), and Voltaire.
Playwright Jean Dumas d'Aigueberre wrote:
Alain-René Lesage made unflattering remarks about her in the Book III of Gil Blas. He wrote:
According to anecdotes, audience members also mocked aspects of her performance. At the premiere of Houdar de La Motte's Inês de Castro, some in the audience laughed when the children appeared onstage, to which an outraged Duclos broke character and rebuked them for laughing "at the most touching part of the tragedy!"
Voltaire was also very critical of Mademoiselle Duclos. He composed the following poem around 1715:
He also mocked her in the famous “Credo” anecdote of Questions sur l'Encyclopédie:
“I'll bet Mademoiselle does not even know her ‘Credo.’ - Ah, ah, she said, I do not know my ‘Credo’! I will recite it to you. ‘Pater Noster who...’ Help me, I don't remember the rest.”[4]
In 1725 she married the young actor Duchemin Jr., who was thirty-eight years her junior. She was 55 years of age and Duchemin was 17.[5] The couple separated five years later. She left the stage in 1736 and died in 1748.[6] [7]