In 1863 Paris, France, young Sarah Bernhardt auditions at the Comédie-Française for director Edouard Thierry and principal actress Madame Nathalie. Rather than performing a scene from a play, Sarah recites the “Two Pigeons Fable.” Despite her unorthodox choice of material, and several interruptions from Madame Nathalie, Sarah passes the audition. Upon returning home, Sarah tells her mother, Madame Bernhardt; the family’s benefactor, Duc de Morny; and the maid, Mamselle, that she will be “the greatest actress who has ever lived.” During a rehearsal of the Molière play Tartuffe Sarah employs a more natural approach to acting, and antagonizes Madame Natalie by mocking her heavily mannered style. At the performance, Sarah loses her patience with Madame Nathalie’s imperious attitude and shoves the actress across the stage, where she lands on top of Thierry. Sarah refuses to apologize and is dismissed from the company. At the Bernhardt home, Duc de Morny awakens Sarah from a nap in her coffin with the news that his friend, Montigny of the Théâtre de l'Odéon, will give her an interview. Montigny hires Sarah, in spite of her reputation for being “disruptive and crazy.” She debuts with the company in a command performance for Emperor Napoleon III, who Montigny describes as a “complete idiot.” Sarah offends the emperor by reciting a poem by political exile Victor Hugo, which embarrasses her employer but also intrigues audience member Henri de Ligne, a Belgian prince, who asks Sarah to dinner. Following a disastrous performance at the Odéon, which nearly drives Sarah to suicide, Henri takes her to his chateau in Belgium. Although she loves Henri and enjoys living in luxury, Sarah returns to Paris to resume her career and moves herself and Mamselle into an apartment, under protest from her mother. Madame Bernhardt is further horrified to discover that Sarah is pregnant and has no intention of telling the father. Nearly a year later, Henri learns of the birth of their son, Maurice, and begs Sarah to marry him, but she refuses, explaining that becoming a princess will end her acting career. They never see each other again. Through the intervention of her friend, playwright Victorien Sardou, Sarah is able to return to the Théâtre de l'Odéon, though Montigny has not forgiven her for abandoning his production the previous year. Over time, Sarah becomes the theater’s star attraction and demands that Montigny pay her in gold at the end of every performance. One morning, while Montigny and Sardou visit Sarah in her home, Mamselle delivers the news that France and Prussia are at war. Sarah responds by becoming a nurse and turning the theater into a makeshift hospital. After seeing a soldier die with a smile on his face, Sarah has a revelation about the nature of death. On the final day of the war, Sarah is sent to the front to boost the soldiers’ morale, but instead she witnesses a defeated army of men returning to their homes. Later, Montigny and Sardou offer Sarah the role of a terminally ill woman in the Alexandre Dumas play Camille. . On opening night, Sarah performs her death scene with a smile, bringing tears to the eyes of audience members. Afterward, Sarah receives an ovation as she enters a restaurant, where she meets Aristide Damala, a disgraced Greek attaché and the lover of an actress named Marie. Damala’s feigned disinterest in Sarah intrigues her and she invites him to her home the following day. When Damala fails to show, Sarah throws a tantrum and leaves no vase unbroken. Later, when Montigny scolds Sarah for leaving town on a balloon excursion, she resigns from the theater, claiming her contract is too restrictive. Sometime later, Sarah partners with impresario Edward Jarrett for a tour of England, for which she selects the plays and hires the actors. When Sarah arrives in London, she discovers that Marie has brought Damala along, so Sarah summons him to her townhouse. Upon arrival, Marie calls Damala a “hanger-on,” demanding that he leave the tour. Damala asks to join the company and seduces Sarah during his audition. They soon marry, but Damala proves himself to be a poor actor and an unfaithful husband, seeking comfort from Marie after he receives scathing critical notices. Sarah is aware of Damala’s faults, but dismisses Jarrett’s advice to divorce her husband. The tour is a triumph for Sarah and a crowd gathers to bid her farewell at Victoria Station in London. Upon returning to Paris, however, Sarah discovers that the newspapers have been carrying scandalous stories of her stay in England, accusing her of numerous immoral acts and of hating her country. Upon learning that Marie was the source of these rumors, Sarah forces her way into Marie’s home and threatens the actress with a whip. Marie locks herself in the bedroom while Sarah demolishes the parlor. Unable to find work, Sarah restores an old theater where she will star in her own productions. Meanwhile, Sarah learns that Damala has been spending her money on expensive gifts for his various lovers, and when she confronts him, he demands his freedom. Sarah opens her new theater with a production of Joan of Arc. Mamselle warns Sarah that she is about to face an angry mob rather than an audience, but the actress refuses to be intimidated. Making her entrance, Sarah is greeting by heckling and a barrage of rotten vegetables. She stands firm and delivers a patriotic speech, which quiets the hecklers. The audience is soon transfixed and the play concludes with a standing ovation, reestablishing Sarah as the greatest star of the French theater.