UNE MAITRESSE À L'OPÉRA. - Vous voyez cette petite danseuse brune qui ballonne en ce moment.... eh bien, mon cher! je l'ai depuis huit jours..... elle est folle de moi!.....

Abstract

The director of a theatre in that period paid his leading actor very well, while the understudy received no salary at all or even had to pay for the privilege of acting. Most of the actors had a very insecure existence. Pretty young ladies who were using the stage as a stepping-stone for a position in society as a matter of rule had to pay for the chance to appear on stage.