![](http://www.tumblr.com/share/photo?source=http%3A%2F%2Flibbymurphy.com%2Fhumancomedy%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F000%2F059%2F1951845%2Clarge.jpg%3F1382211614&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Flibbymurphy.com%2Fhumancomedy%2Falbums%2Ffasion%2Fcontent%2Fla-fosse-aux%2F" title="La Fosse aux Lions"%3ELa Fosse aux Lions%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EAlfred André Géniole
(French, 1813–1861)
La Fosse Aux Lions (Opéra) [The Lion’s Den (Opera)], mid-19th century
Lithograph
Gift of Eugene L. Garbaty, 1951.84.5
Lions came to the theater to see and be seen, a point made clear in this print. As one observer said, “It was considered good form to show oneself on Mondays at the [Théâtre des Français] and Fridays at the Opéra, but to have fun, one went to the boulevard theaters.” Theatergoers often did little more than “show them-selves” at a performance, not because they lacked
interest in the plays, but because they lacked stamina.
It was not uncommon for the Théâtre Français to put on a five-act tragedy and a five-act comedy in one night.
The use of English words was another way for the smart set to distance themselves from the plodding bourgeoisie. The term “fashionable” was an English im-port describing the extreme sartorial self-conscious-ness and nonchalance of the dandy or lion. Dandyism, invented in England by the famous dresser Beau Brummel, was the topic of Balzac’s 1830 Treatise on Elegant Living, published in La Mode, the same paper that published Gavarni’s fashion plates. The dandy, Balzac explained, distinguished himself from the hard-working bourgeois in the time he took to get dressed and in the careful selection of fashion accessories.
– Nul n'aura de talent, hors nous et nos amis... – Yes !
—No one will be talented, except us and our friends.
—Yes!
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The Human Comedy: Chronicles of 19th-Century France
La Fosse aux Lions
Alfred André Géniole (French, 1813–1861) La Fosse Aux Lions (Opéra) [The Lion’s Den (Opera)], mid-19th century Lithograph Gift of Eugene L. Garbaty, 1951.84.5
Lions came to the theater to see and be seen, a point made clear in this print. As one observer said, “It was considered good form to show oneself on Mondays at the [Théâtre des Français] and Fridays at the Opéra, but to have fun, one went to the boulevard theaters.” Theatergoers often did little more than “show them-selves” at a performance, not because they lacked interest in the plays, but because they lacked stamina. It was not uncommon for the Théâtre Français to put on a five-act tragedy and a five-act comedy in one night.
The use of English words was another way for the smart set to distance themselves from the plodding bourgeoisie. The term “fashionable” was an English im-port describing the extreme sartorial self-conscious-ness and nonchalance of the dandy or lion. Dandyism, invented in England by the famous dresser Beau Brummel, was the topic of Balzac’s 1830 Treatise on Elegant Living, published in La Mode, the same paper that published Gavarni’s fashion plates. The dandy, Balzac explained, distinguished himself from the hard-working bourgeois in the time he took to get dressed and in the careful selection of fashion accessories.
– Nul n'aura de talent, hors nous et nos amis... – Yes !
—No one will be talented, except us and our friends. —Yes!