Ruy Blas," and in a translation of
"King Lear." Already she had riveted the attention of the public and
the press, who saw that a brilliant future lay before her.

At the end of 1872 she appeared at the Comedie Francaise, and with
such distinction that she was retained, first as a pensionnaire, at a
salary of six thousand francs, and afterward as a _societaire_. Her
successes were rapid and dazzling, and whether she appeared in modern
comedy, in classic tragedy, or as the creator of characters in
entirely new plays, the theatre was always crowded. Her melodious
voice and pure enunciation, her singularly varied accents, her
pathos, her ardent bursts of passion, were such that her audience, as
they hung upon her lips, forgot the caprices and eccentricities by
which she was already characterized in private life. It seemed,
however, that Sarah's ambition was to gain personal notoriety even
more than theatrical fame; and by her performances of one kind or
another outside the theatre make herself the talk of society. She
affected to paint, to chisel, and to write; sent pictures to the
Salon, published eccentric books, and exhibited busts. She would
receive her friends palette in hand, and in the dress of a male
artist. She had a luxurious coffin made for her, covered with velvet,
in which she loved to recline; and she more than once went up in a
balloon.

Her caprice, whether in private or public, was altogether unrestrained.
In 1880 Emile Augier's admirable comedy, "L'Aventuriere," was revived at
the Comedie Francaise, and the author confided the part of Clorinde to
Sarah Bernhardt. After the first representation, however, she was so
enraged by an uncomplimentary newspaper criticism that she sent in her
resignation to M. Emile Perrin, director of the theatre, quitted Paris,
and went to England, where she gave a series of representations, and,
appearing there for the first time, caused a veritable sensation in
London society. Meanwhile, M. Perrin instituted against her, in the name
of the Comedie Francaise, a lawsuit for breach of contract, with damages
laid at three hundred thousand francs. It was at this juncture that
Sarah accepted the offers of an enterprising manager for a tour in
America, where she achieved no less phenomenal successes than in Europe.

A sensational account of this American tour was afterward published by
one of her associates, Mlle. Marie Colombier, under the title of
"Sarah Bernhardt en Amerique."