Madame Sans-Gêne (play)

Madame Sans-Gêne is a historical comedy-drama by Victorien Sardou and Émile Moreau, concerning incidents in the life of Cathérine Hübscher, an outspoken 18th-century laundress who became the Duchess of Danzig. The play is described by its authors as "three acts with a prologue" ("Comédie en trois Actes, précédée d'un prologue").

It premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville, Paris, on 27 October 1893, starring Réjane in the title role. The play was revived many times in France and toured in the English provinces in 1897. It was also adapted as an opera, in 1915, and .

The first scene of the play is set in Cathérine Hübscher's laundry in the Rue Sainte-Anne, Paris, on 10 August 1792. Cathérine, who always speaks her mind, is known as "Madame Sans-Gêne" of which an approximate English translation is "Madame Without-Embarrassment". She is engaged to Sergeant Lefebvre, a member of the Revolutionary forces. She rescues a young Austrian nobleman, Count Neipperg, from the pursuing militia. Lefebvre has the chance to betray Neipperg's hidden presence, but respects Cathérine's desire to protect him. Once the hue and cry has died down they help him escape.

The rest of the play is set at the Château de Compiègne in September 1811, during the reign of Napoleon I. Lefebvre, who has married Cathérine, has distinguished himself in the army and has been appointed Marshal of the Empire and Duke of Danzig. He and his wife are visited by Neipperg, who has been at the French court (where the Empress, Marie Louise, is Austrian) but is now obliged to leave, suspected of an affair with the wife of a high-ranking Frenchman.

At a soirée Cathérine – sans-gêne as ever – offends the emperor's sisters and the ladies of the court by her plain speaking. Napoleon tells Lefebvre that it is his duty to divorce Cathérine and marry someone more suitable, reminding him that he himself renounced his beloved Joséphine to remarry for duty. Lefebvre refuses. Napoleon sends for Cathérine, who reminds him of her past contributions to the Revolutionary cause in general and to Napoleon in particular: she nonplusses him by producing an old laundry bill of his that she had permitted to go unpaid when he was a penniless young soldier. She wins him round from anger to flirtatious good humour, and he agrees to drop the suggestion of divorce.

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