Among works of Western fiction depicting life on the theatrical stage, “The Actress” is a classic—perhaps the best that has ever been written in this field. Edmond de Goncourt in “The Actress” created a distinctive fusion of novel and research, intertwined and complementing each other, shedding light on the fate and work of the main heroine, Juliette Fossetaine, a great actress shaped by Goncourt in the image of the famous tragic performers of the French stage.