AsthemanyHamletsonwhichthecurtainhadriseninmytimepassedinlongprocessionthroughmymemory，Iseemedtomyselfsomuchoftheirworld，andsolittleoftheworldthatarrogantlycallsitselftheactualone，thatIshouldhardlyhavebeensurprisedtofindmyselfoneofthelessconsideredpersonsofthedramawhowereseenbutnotheardinitscourse。
I。
Thetroubleinjudginganythingisthatifyouhavethematerialsforanintelligentcriticism，thecaseisalreadyprejudicedinyourhands。
Youdonotbringafreemindtoit，andallyoureffortstofreeyourmindareaspeciesofgymnasticsmoreorlessadmirable，butnotreallyeffectiveforthepurpose。Thebestwayistoownyourselfunfairatthestart，andthenyoucanhavesomehopeofdoingyourselfjustice，ifnotyoursubject。Inotherwords，ifyouwenttoseetheHamletofMme。
Bernhardtfranklyexpectingtobedisappointed，youwerelesslikelyintheendtobedisappointedinyourexpectations，andyoucouldnotblameherifyouwere。Tobeideallyfairtothatrepresentation，itwouldbebetternottohaveknownanyotherHamlet，and，aboveall，theHamletofShakespeare。