The Lady of the Camellias (La Dame aux Camélias in French) is a novel written by Alexandre Dumas fils. It was first published in 1848. Later, Dumas adapted the story into a play, which first performed at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris, France, on February 2, 1852. The play became very popular immediately. Soon after, Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi created an opera based on the story in 1853. The opera is called La traviata, and the main female character, Marguerite Gautier, was renamed Violetta Valéry in the opera.
In some English-speaking countries, the novel is known as Camille. Sixteen different versions of the story have been performed on Broadway alone. The main character, Marguerite Gautier, is based on Marie Duplessis, who was the real-life lover of the author.
Summary and analysis
Alexandre Dumas fils wrote La Dame aux Camélias when he was 23 years old. The novel was first published in 1848. It is based partly on the author’s own life, including his short love affair with a courtesan named Marie Duplessis. Set in mid-19th-century France, the story follows the tragic love between Marguerite Gautier, a courtesan who suffers from tuberculosis, and Armand Duval, a young man from a middle-class family. Marguerite is called la dame aux camélias because she wears a red camellia when she is menstruating and not available for love, and a white camellia when she is available to her lovers.
Armand falls in love with Marguerite and convinces her to leave her life as a courtesan to live with him in the countryside. Their peaceful life is disrupted when Armand’s father, worried about the scandal caused by their relationship, persuades Marguerite to leave. Armand believes Marguerite left him for another man, Count de Giray, until her deathbed. He visits her as she dies, surrounded by friends, and promises to love her forever.
The story is told after Marguerite’s death by two men: Armand and an unnamed narrator. Early in the novel, the narrator learns that Armand has been sending camellia flowers to Marguerite’s grave, showing that his love for her never fades.
Some scholars believe that Marguerite’s illness, tuberculosis, was also used as a metaphor for syphilis. At the time, tuberculosis was seen as fashionable and attractive in women, but the disease and Marguerite’s death were portrayed as a way to cleanse her of past sins.
Dumas fils portrays Marguerite as a virtuous woman despite her past, and the suffering of the two lovers is shown as deeply moving. Unlike the love story in Manon Lescaut (1731), where the man loves a woman who refuses to give up her luxurious lifestyle, Armand loves a woman who is willing to sacrifice her wealth and lifestyle for him. The novel also describes life in Paris during the 19th century and the difficult lives of courtesans.
Stage performances
Dumas fils wrote a stage version of his story that first performed on February 2, 1852, at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris. Eugénie Doche created the role of Marguerite Gautier, who acted opposite Charles Fechter as Armand Duval. Doche later said she performed the role 617 times before her death in 1900. She noted that Dumas fils wrote in his introduction that "Mme. Doche is not my interpreter, she is my collaborator."
In 1853, Jean Davenport performed in the first American version of the play. This version changed the name of the main character to Camille, a choice many American actresses later followed when playing the role.
In 1875, English playwright James Mortimer adapted Dumas fils’s play into a new drama called Heartsease. This version premiered at the Princess’s Theatre in London. The story was set in England, and Marguerite Gautier was renamed Constance Hawthorne, now an actress instead of a courtesan. Helen Barry created the role, and William Rignold performed as Herbert Maitland, the character based on Armand. During the play’s first performance, Rignold reportedly told the audience, "Stop! You who have wives, mothers, or daughters—remember that there is a lady on stage!" Later, Helena Modjeska performed in a revised version of Heartsease at the Court Theatre.
The role of Marguerite Gautier became highly sought after by actresses. It was performed by many famous actors, including Sarah Bernhardt, Laura Keene, Eleonora Duse, Margaret Anglin, Gabrielle Réjane, Tallulah Bankhead, Lillian Gish, Dolores del Río, Eva Le Gallienne, Isabelle Adjani, Cacilda Becker, and Helena Modjeska. Bernhardt became closely linked to the role after performing it in Paris, London, and on Broadway, as well as in the 1911 film. Ida Rubinstein, a dancer and organizer, later performed the role on stage in the 1920s, with guidance from Bernhardt before her death.
Of all Dumas fils’s plays, La Dame aux Camélias remains the most well-known worldwide. In 1878, Scribner's Monthly noted that "not one other play by Dumas fils has been received with favor outside of France."
Adaptations
The success of the play inspired Giuseppe Verdi to create music based on the story. His work became the opera La traviata, written in Italian by Francesco Maria Piave. On March 6, 1853, La traviata opened in Venice, Italy, at the La Fenice opera house. The female main character, Marguerite Gautier, is renamed Violetta Valéry, and the male main character, Armand Duval, is renamed Alfredo Germont.
La Dame aux Camélias has been made into about 20 different movies in many countries and languages. Many famous actors have played the role of Marguerite Gautier, including Sarah Bernhardt, María Félix, Clara Kimball Young, Theda Bara, Yvonne Printemps, Alla Nazimova, Greta Garbo, Micheline Presle, Francesca Bertini, and Isabelle Huppert.
There have been at least nine movies titled Camille based on La Dame aux Camélias:
– Camille (1915): An American silent film directed by Albert Capellani, adapted by Frances Marion, and starring Clara Kimball Young as Camille and Paul Capellani as Armand.
– Camille (1917): An American silent film directed by J. Gordon Edwards, adapted by Adrian Johnson, and starring Theda Bara as Camille and Alan Roscoe as Armand.
– Camille (1921): An American silent film starring Alla Nazimova as Camille and Rudolph Valentino as Armand.
– Camille (1926): An American silent film directed by Fred Niblo, starring Norma Talmadge as Camille and Gilbert Roland as Armand.
– Camille: The Fate of a Coquette (1926): An American short film by Ralph Barton, made from his home movies, loosely based on La Dame aux Camélias.
– Camille (1936): An American film directed by George Cukor, starring Greta Garbo as Camille and Robert Taylor as Armand.
– Camille 2000 (1969): An Italian film directed by Radley Metzger, adapted by Michael DeForrest, and starring Danielle Gaubert as Marguerite and Nino Castelnuovo as Armand.
– Camille (1981): A French-Italian film known as La Dame aux Camélias or Lady of the Camellias, directed by Mauro Bolognini, and starring Isabelle Huppert as Alphonsine.
– Camille (1984): A television film directed by Desmond Davis, adapted by Blanche Hanalis, and starring Greta Scacchi as Camille and Colin Firth as Armand.
– Camille (1998): A French television film directed by Jean-Claude Brialy, starring Cristiana Reali as Camille and Michaël Cohen as Armand.
Other film adaptations of the story include:
– Kameliadamen (1907): A Danish silent film directed by Viggo Larsen and starring Oda Alstrup, Larsen, Gustave Lund, and Robert Storm Petersen.
– La Dame aux Camélias (1911): A French silent film directed by André Calmettes and Henri Pouctal, starring Sarah Bernhardt, Lou Tellegen, and Paul Capellani.
– La Signora delle Camelie (1915): An Italian silent film directed by Baldassarre Negroni, starring Hesperia, Alberto Collo, and Ida Carloni Talli.
– La Signora delle Camelie (1915): An Italian silent film directed by Gustavo Serena, starring Francesca Bertini and Serena.
– Prima Vera (1917): A German silent film starring Erna Morena.
– Arme Violetta (1920): A German silent film starring Pola Negri.
– Damen med kameliorna (1925): A Swedish film directed by Olof Molander, starring Uno Henning and Tora Teje.
– La Dame aux Camélias (1934): The first sound film adaptation, directed by Abel Gance and Fernand Rivers, and starring Yvonne Printemps and Pierre Fresnay.
– Laila (1942): An Egyptian musical film starring Laila Mourad.
– The Lady of the Camellias (1944): A Mexican film directed by Gabriel Soria, adapted by Roberto Tasker, and starring Lina Montes and Emilio Tuero.
– The Lady of the Camellias (1947): An Italian film directed by Carmine Gallone, starring Nelly Corradi.
– La Dame aux Camélias (1953): A French film directed by Raymond Bernard, adapted by Jacques Natanson, and starring Gino Cervi, Micheline Presle, and Roland Alexandre.
– Traviata '53 (1953): An Italian film directed by Vittorio Cottafavi, starring Barbara Laage, Armando Francioli, and Eduardo De Filippo.
– La mujer de las camelias (1953): An Argentine film directed by Ernesto Arancibia,