« Être sa chair et ses os » Sarah Bernhardt, Mounet-Sully et Paul Mounet incarnent les héros shakespeariens

Sarah Bernhardt, Mounet-Sully and Paul Mounet encountered the world of Shakespeare at the outset of their careers, remaining faithful to him until the end. Setting aside consideration of the polemical debates aroused by some of the adaptations used, this article seeks to understand how these great artists measured up to the great Shakespearean texts such as Hamlet and Othello, and how their audiences and critics reacted to masterpieces so far removed from the celebrated French notion of “good taste”.