A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Dumesnil, Marie Frances
DUMESNIL, MARIE FRANCES,
A celebrated tragic actress, was born in Paris in 1713, went upon the stage, in 1737, and remained popular until the moment of her retirement, in 1776. She died in 1803, having preserved her intellectual powers to the last. She displayed her talents most strikingly in queens and lofty characters, especially in the parts of Merope, Clytemuestra, Athaliah, and Agrippina. When she exerted her full powers, she surpassed all her theatrical contemporaries in exciting emotions of pity and of terror.