Following this success, she acted in several revivals and classics, and many French writers offered her new plays. In 1887, she acted in a stage version of the controversial drama "Thérèse Raquin" by Emile Zola. Zola had previously been attacked due to the book's confronting content. Asked why she chose this play, she declared to reporters, "My true country is the free air, and my vocation is art without constraints." The play was unsuccessful; it ran for just 38 performances. She then performed another traditional melodrama, "Francillon" by Alexandre Dumas, "fils" in 1888. A short drama she wrote herself, "L'Aveu", disappointed both critics and the audience and lasted only 12 performances. She had considerably more success with "Jeanne d'Arc" by the poet Jules Barbier, in which the 45-year-old actress played Joan of Arc, a 19-year-old martyr. Barbier had previously written the librettos for some of the most famous French operas of the period, including "Faust" by Charles Gounod and "The Tales of Hoffmann" by Jacques Offenbach. Her next success was another melodrama by Sardou and Moreau, "Cleopatra", which allowed her to wear elaborate costumes and finished with a memorable death scene. For this scene, she kept two live garter snakes, which played the role of the poisonous asp which bites Cleopatra. For realism, she painted the palms of her hands red, though they could hardly be seen from the audience. "I shall see them," she explained. "If I catch sight of my hand, it will be the hand of Cleopatra."