http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/1400598

Olympe de Clevès : a romance of the court of Lotus XV

Historical romance set in Avignon, Lyon, and Paris in 1727-1729, featuring a former Jesuit novice, Bannière, and a beautiful actress, Olympe de Clèves, who gains the attention of the attention of Louis XV's courtiers in their search for a suitable mistriss for the young king. In the fictional actress Olympe, Dumas created one of his most vividly realized and "modern" female characters, a woman of personal integrity and independent means who can live and love as she sees fit. In the words of the Duc de Richelieu, "These infernal theatrical women, when they have once lowered themselves, are unmanageable. Ah! the woman who emancipates herself is worth ten men; but she has treated you badly, my poor friend."

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