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Abstract reproduced with the permission of the author
Yvette Guilbert was a performer commanding icon-like status in fin de siècle Paris. Yet despite her popularity and financial success, she was so dissatisfied with her audiences’ superficial appreciation of her repertoire that she attempted (less successfully) to forge a new career as an ambassador of old French chansons.

This thesis discusses significant influences on Guilbert’s career as well as the socio-political and musical contexts within which she worked. It examines evidence, including Guilbert’s own writings, to explain her paradoxical despair and frustrated career aspirations. Significantly, it also reveals both the important role of Realism and Naturalism and Guilbert’s desire to incorporate social commentary in her performances. Included in the thesis are appendices that provide details regarding contemporary venues, genres of artists and chansons and texts of chansons and monologues from Guilbert’s repertoire.

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