Madame X (original title La Femme X) is a 1908 play by French playwright Alexandre Bisson (1848–1912). It has been adapted for the screen numerous times. The play has been cited as an example of the literary tradition of portraying the mother figure as being "excessively punished for slight deviation from her maternal role".
The protagonist is a woman who has been thrown out into the street without any money by her jealous husband, when he discovers she has been carrying on an affair. She is not even allowed to see their young son. She sinks into depravity.
Twenty years later, she has become the mistress of a criminal. When he finds out that her husband is now the Attorney General, her lover decides to blackmail him. Desperate to shield her son from her disgrace, she shoots and kills her lover.
By chance, the lawyer assigned to her turns out to be her own son, on his first case. He is puzzled and frustrated when she refuses to defend herself in court, or even to provide her name (which forces the tribunal to identify her as "Madame X"). During the trial, her husband shows up in support of his son. When the defendant sees that her husband recognizes her and is about to speak out, she makes an impassioned plea, not for mercy but for understanding of what drove her to murder. As she had intended, the hidden message silences her husband. When she faints from the strain, she is carried into a private chamber. There, she kisses her still-unaware son and dies.
Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau (née Avegno, 29 January 1859 – 25 July 1915) was born in New Orleans but grew up from the age of eight in France, where she became a Parisian socialite known for her beauty. She occasionally posed as a model for notable artists. She is most widely known as the subject of John Singer Sargent's painting Portrait of Madame X (1884). It created a social scandal when shown at the Paris Salon.
Of European Creole ancestry, Virginie was taken at the age of eight by her widowed mother to France in 1867 following the American Civil War. She was educated in Paris and married Pierre Gautreau, a wealthy businessman.
Gautreau was born Virginie Amélie Avegno in New Orleans, Louisiana, on 29 January 1859, the daughter of Anatole Placide Avegno (3 July 1835 – 7 April 1862) and Marie Virginie de Ternant of Parlange Plantation, a descendant of French nobility. She had a sister, Valentine Marie, who died as a young child of yellow fever. Their parents were white Creoles; their father Anatole was the son of Philippe Avegno (originally Italian) and Catherine Genois.
Madame X (Greek title I Agnostos) is a 1954 Greek drama film directed by Orestis Laskos. It is based on the 1908 play Madame X by French playwright Alexandre Bisson (1848-1912).
A woman is thrown out of her home by her jealous husband and sinks into depravity. Twenty years later, she finds herself accused of murder for saving her son, who does not know who she is. He finds himself defending her without knowing her background.
Madame X et ses enfantsTout l'hiver sans chauffageCaravane pour des gensMême pas du voyageEt pourtant comme elle ditC'est pas elle la plus mal lotieElle en connaît qui couche dehorsDans les parages
Quand y a toutes ces voitures de sportDans les garagesMadame à savoir commentFait deux fois plus que son âgeElle s'endort avec des gantsAu fond d'un sac de couchageEt pourtant comme elle ditC'est pas elle la plus mal lotieElle en connaît qui restentAccrochés aux grillagesEn espérant qu'un camionManque le virageC'était un pays charmantC'était un pays comme il fautElle dit, elle dit maintenantMaintenant on prendQuelques photos des mourantsAu lieu de leur donner de l'eauElle dit pas ça méchammentPour l'instant...Madame X et ses enfantsToujours pas de chauffage