Editing Sarah Bernhardt (section)

===Debut and departure from the Comédie-Française (1862–1864)===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="250">
File:Ma double vie sarah bernhardt 136.jpg|Debut of Bernhardt in ''[[Les Femmes Savantes]]'' at the Comédie Française, 1862
File:Sarah Bernhardt, par Nadar, 1864, sepia.jpg|Sarah Bernhardt in 1864; age 20, by photographer [[Nadar (photographer)|Félix Nadar]]
File:Sarah Bernhardt by Félix Nadar 2.jpg|Bernhardt photographed by Nadar, 1865
</gallery>

Bernhardt studied acting at the Conservatory from January 1860 until 1862 under two prominent actors of the Comédie Française, [[Joseph-Isidore Samson]] and Jean-Baptiste Provost. She wrote in her memoirs that Provost taught her diction and grand gestures, and Samson taught her the power of simplicity.{{Sfn|Bernhardt|2000|pages=102–103}} For the stage, she changed her name from "Bernard" to "Bernhardt". While studying, she also received her first marriage proposal, from a wealthy businessman who offered her 500,000 francs. He wept when she refused. Bernhardt wrote that she was "confused, sorry, and delighted—because he loved me the way people love in plays at the theater."{{Sfn|Bernhardt|2000|page=96}}

Before the first examination for her tragedy class, she tried to straighten her abundance of frizzy hair, which made it even more uncontrollable, and came down with a bad cold, which made her voice so nasal that she hardly recognised it. Furthermore, the parts assigned for her performance were classical and required carefully stylised emotions, but she preferred romanticism and fully and naturally expressing her emotions. The teachers ranked her 14th in tragedy and second in comedy.{{Sfn|Tierchant|2009|pages=42–44}} Once again, Morny came to her rescue. He put in a good word for her with the National Minister of the Arts, [[Camille Doucet]]. Doucet recommended her to Edouard Thierry, the chief administrator of the [[Comédie-Française|Théâtre Français]],{{Sfn|Tierchant|2009|pages=42–44}} who offered Bernhardt a place as a ''pensionnaire'' at the theater, at a minimum salary.{{Sfn|Skinner|1967|pages=34–35}}

Bernhardt made her debut with the company on 31 August 1862 in the title role of Racine's ''[[Iphigénie]]''.{{Sfn|Tierchant|2009|pages=45–46}}<ref group="note">In her memoirs, Bernhardt gives the date of her debut as 1 September.</ref> Her premiere was not a success. She experienced [[stage fright]] and rushed her lines. Some audience members made fun of her thin figure. When the performance ended, Provost was waiting in the wings, and she asked his forgiveness. He told her, "I can forgive you, and you'll eventually forgive yourself, but Racine in his grave never will."{{Sfn|Skinner|1967|page=37}} Francisque Sarcey, the influential theater critic of ''L'Opinion Nationale'' and ''Le Temps'', wrote: "she carries herself well and pronounces with perfect precision. That is all that can be said about her at the moment."{{Sfn|Skinner|1967|page=37}}

Bernhardt did not remain long with the Comédie-Française. She played Henriette in [[Molière|Molière's]] ''[[Les Femmes Savantes]]'' and Hippolyte in ''L'Étourdi'', and the title role in [[Eugène Scribe|Scribe's]] ''Valérie'', but did not impress the critics, or the other members of the company, who had resented her rapid rise. The weeks passed, but she was given no further roles.{{Sfn|Tierchant| 2009|page=47}} Her hot temper also got her into trouble; when a theater doorkeeper addressed her as "Little Bernhardt", she broke her umbrella over his head. She apologised profusely, and when the doorkeeper retired 20 years later, she bought a cottage for him in Normandy.{{Sfn|Skinner|1967|page=38}} At a ceremony honoring the birthday of Molière on 15 January 1863, Bernhardt invited her younger sister, Regina, to accompany her. Regina accidentally stood on the train of the gown of a leading actress of the company, Zaïre-Nathalie Martel (1816–1885), known as Madame Nathalie.<ref>{{cite book |last= Monval |first=Georges |title= Comédie-française (1658–1900): Liste alphabétique des sociétaires depuis Molière jusqu'à nos jours |location=Paris |publisher=Aux Bureaux de l'Amateur d'autographes |year=1900 |page=93}}</ref> Madame Nathalie pushed Regina off the gown, causing her to strike a stone column and gash her forehead. Regina and Madame Nathalie began shouting at one another, and Bernhardt stepped forward and slapped Madame Nathalie on the cheek. The older actress fell onto another actor. Thierry asked that Bernhardt apologise to Madame Nathalie. Bernhardt refused to do so until Madame Nathalie apologised to Regina. Bernhardt had already been scheduled for a new role with the theater, and had begun rehearsals. Madame Nathalie demanded that Bernhardt be dropped from the role unless she apologised. Because neither yielded, and Madame Nathalie was a senior member of the company, Thierry was forced to ask Bernhardt to leave.{{Sfn|Gold|Fizdale|1991|page=52}}