Sarah Bernhardt in Her White Coffin, 1886

Although she had been acclaimed in male parts from the start of her career, for her third Shakespeare venture, after Cordelia (1869) and Lady Macbeth (1884), Sarah Bernhardt chose to play Ophelia in 1886 at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin with Philippe Garnier as the eponymous hero. The part of Ophelia echoed the necrophiliac trend of the nineteenth century, her personal attraction for death when she staged her death in her white-upholstered coffin, and her famous performances of death on stage. However, her portrayal did not meet the expectation of her admirers. The curtain fell after only twenty-three performances, leaving no time for taking the iconic photos in the Nadars’ studio. Exactly at the same time, the Comédie-Française was preparing another production of Hamlet with Mounet-Sully in the title-part, which impressed the symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé so much that he coined the term “Hamletism” as the emblem of the time. In her wish to challenge Mounet-Sully, her former partner and lover, with her version of the same play, Sarah Bernhardt made some wrong choices: the text she commissioned did not meet with approval; Phillipe Garnier as Hamlet did not convince; her role as Ophelia disappointed her admirers. However, the tragedy of Hamlet became one of her long-standing successes at the turn of the century when she played the part of the eponymous hero, adding Hamlet to her many cross-dressed roles. There were no qualms concerning age, gender, mannerisms; she was Hamlet, on stage and in the animated film shown at the 1900 International Exhibition in Paris. KEYWORDS: William Shakespeare; Hamlet; Ophelia; Sarah Bernhardt; Mounet-Sully; coffin