Frequently she [Carrie] had considered the stage as a door through which she might enter that gilded state which she had so much craved. Now, as in Chicago, it came as a last resource in distress. Something must be done if he [Hurstwood] did not get work soon. Perhaps she would have to go out and battle again alone. . . .

They were talking at the breakfast table, a morning or two later, when she brought up the dramatic subject by saying that she saw that Sarah Bernhardt was coming to this country. Hurstwood had seen it, too.

--From Chapter XXXVII of Sister Carrie