ABSTRACT
Oscarine was premiered on 15 October 1888 at the newly renovated Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens in front of a distinguished Parisian audience. Critics and audiences were well aware that Oscarine was a thinly veiled adaptation of Adolphe Adam's Le Postillon de Lonjumeau. Act 1 introduces Oscarine as a dilettante composer, whose Wagnerism reveals itself to be highly problematic, and whose authority—based solely on her affluence—derails Philibert's natural talent from the true path of national art. This act addresses in one fell swoop questions of gender-specific creativity, of artistic authority, and of the dangers of foreign art. Act II explores the confrontation between French and German-inspired art in the conflict played out between Oscarine and Réginette, while finally, in Act III, true French womanhood and true French art triumph in the happy ending. Both the art and the morality of the Third Republic are thus preserved, and from so secure a position, even a performance of Thusnelda is a possibility.
