Demimonde whom Captain Rawdon Crawley lusts after in his younger days. Becky Sharp is perceived as a demimondaine before she is presented at court, and then becomes one when she travels through Europe after her husband abandons her. Possibly the most famous portrayal of the demimonde, albeit from before the word was coined, is in Verdi's opera "La traviata" (1853). The opera, in turn, was inspired by Alexandre Dumas the younger's "La Dame aux Camélias;" Marguerite Gautier, the heroine of the book and subsequent play, was based on Marie Duplessis, 1840s Paris courtesan and mistress to a number of prominent men,
La Fille aux yeux d'or and directed by Jean-Gabriel Albicocco. La Fille aux yeux d'or La Fille aux yeux d'or (English: The Girl With the Golden Eyes) is a novella by Honoré de Balzac. It is the third part of the Thirteen series, which includes the short stories "Ferragus" and "La Duchesse de Langeais". It is also part of his "La Comédie humaine" novel sequence. The story follows the decadent heir Henri de Marsay, who becomes enamored of the eponymous beauty, Paquita Valdes, and plots to seduce her. He succeeds but becomes disillusioned when he discovers she is also involved with another lover and so