Madame Sarah by Cornelia Otis Skinner

Madame Sarah' by Cornelia Otis Skinner Life engenders life, energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich." Sarah Bernhardt in 'Madame Sarah' p. 14. Madame Sarah' occupies a significant place in the incessant flood of biographies that hit the world of literature every year. This genre has been given the most attention because of the fact that we all find lives of rich and famous rather intriguing and thus worth exploring. This is the very reason Madame Sarah was warmly received when it was first published in 1967.

Apart from being a witty account of the life of one of the greatest French theatre actresses of all time, the book sold well because of the credentials of the author, Cornelia Otis Skinner, who herself was a fine actress. Since the subject belonged to the same field as the author, we get an in depth first hand account of Bernhardt's life. Sarah Bernhardt was popularly known as the Divine Sarah for her truly amazing theatre performances.

The woman who appeared in plays such as "The Merchant of Venice" and "The Death of Cleopatra" led an interesting though scandalous life and thus this book makes for highly engrossing reading. Written in a straightforward witty fashion, the author takes the reader along on a wild journey while she explores different facets of Bernhardt's life.

In the introduction of the book, the author tries to establish the credibility of her work by stating that she "has tried to sort out from a mass of conflicting research what seems most likely to ring true." This was done because Sarah Bernhardt's life and her biographies especially the one written by her granddaughter were full of contradictions. She blames the "starry-eyed.. chronic admiration" of Bernhardt's granddaughter for several biographical inaccuracies.

For this reason, she tries to view her subject's life objectively though we see her becoming partial on some occasions. However for most part of the book, the author has hung on her healthy skepticism especially when writing about Bernhardt's love life and some important romantic rumors. Though Skinner has mostly remained objective and detached, there are occasions when she has let her sympathetic side take over. For example she has presented a compassionate account of Bernhardt's scandalous affair with Belgian aristocrat.

However in order to further establish the credibility of her work, she has presented two views of this affair. On the one hand Skinner shows that Sarah was probably forced by her lover's uncle to leave, as he didn't want her to hurt the image of the aristocratic family. According to the other version of the story, Sarah was shunned by her love when he learned about her pregnancy.

Regarding the first version of this sordid affair, Skinner notes, "It might perhaps be uncharitable to point out that when Madame Sarah related these events to Louis Verneuil and subsequently to her granddaughter, when she had already performed La Dame aux Camelias well over a thousand times." Skinner concedes she is as uncertain of the truth as her readers but chooses to go with the first version writing, "There is no question that Sarah Bernhardt's adventure.