Duse achieved a unique power of conviction and verity on the stage through intense absorption in the character, "eliminating the self" as she put it, and letting the qualities emerge from within, not imposed through artifice.

She came to fame in Italian versions of roles made famous by Sarah Bernhardt, such as La Dame aux camélias.

While she made her career and fame performing in the theatrical "warhorses" of her day, she is remembered for her association with the plays of Gabriele D'Annunzio[4] and Henrik Ibsen.

[4] She travelled on tour to South America, and upon her return a year later she formed her own company, meaning that she would assume the additional responsibilities of both manager and director.

In contrast to Bernhardt's outgoing personality, which thrived on publicity, Duse was introverted and private, rarely giving interviews.

Comparisons of Duse to Bernhardt with regard to their acting talent were common, with warring factions arguing over their relative merits.

Those who thought Duse the greater artist included George Bernard Shaw, who saw both actresses in London within the span of a few days, in the same play.

Shaw gave his nod to Duse and defended his choice in an adamant oratory quoted by biographer Frances Winwar.

In 1896, Duse completed a triumphant tour of the United States; in Washington President Grover Cleveland and his wife attended every performance.

Mrs. Cleveland shocked Washington society by giving, in Duse's honor, the first-ever White House tea held for an actress.

Around the time of Duse's retirement, she met and became involved in an affair with Italian feminist Lina Poletti, a former lover of writer Sibilla Aleramo.

In 1968 her granddaughter Eleonora Ilaria Bullough (aka Mary of St Mark as a Dominican nun) donated the last items to the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice.

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, "her art depended on intense naturalness rather than stage effect, sympathetic force and poignant intellectuality rather than the theatrical emotionalism of the French tradition.