With his verse tragedies, the French dramatist RACINE fulfilled the theoretical claim of classical poetry to adapt tragic events to the moral and social norms of his time by means of spiritualization and exaggeration. He changed the complicated, extremely eloquent Baroque theater by replacing complex intrigues with simple actions on the one hand and reflection and self-knowledge on the other hand by replacing the Baroque technique of surprise.
The French dramatist JEAN RACINE was born on December 22, 1639 in La Ferté-Milon (near Soissons). His father was LOUIS RACINE. The boy attended the Jansenist School of Port-Royal. His humanistic training (intensive study of Greek) was of great importance for the later dramatic work on the renewal of French tragedy. However, RACINE’s debuts on the stage and at court, as well as personal ambition, soon led to a break with the anti-theater Jansenists (1666). Despite some scandals and affairs, his successes brought him the encouragement of NICOLAS BOILEAU-DESPRÉAUX (1636-1711), influential politicians (JEAN-BAPTISTE COLBERT, 1619-1689, a French statesman, founder of mercantilism) and the royal family (King LUDWIG XIV. and his sister-in-law HENRIETTE). In 1673 he became a member of the Académie française. In 1677, after court and theater intrigues, he retired as a playwright, and in the same year he became court historiographer.
Literary work
Already in the first tragedy performed by MOLIÈRE’s actors, “La Thébayde ou les frères ennemis” (1664; German “The Thebais or The Enemy Brothers”), which deals with man’s tragic addiction to his past, RACINE made the effective material for himself Greek mythology. However, the piece received little attention. In “Alexandre le Grand” (1666; German “Alexander the Great”) he flattered the general virtues of LUDWIG XIV with idealized historical material and imitated modern romance with gallant love adventures and a precious style. The final breakthrough came with “Andromaque” (1668; German “Andromache”), the drama inspired by EURIPIDES, HOMER and VERGIL about the events that followed the Trojan War, in which people are no longer at the mercy of the gods, but of their own passions and impulses . Contrary to PIERRE CORNEILLE’s (1606–1684) heroic, strong-willed image of man and aristocratic ethos, faint-hearted egoism, suspicious observation and mutual betrayal of people despairing of themselves. Consequently, he took “Bérénice” (1671; German “Berenike”), the tragedy of a painful, involuntary renunciation of love, as an opportunity to paraphrase his humanistic concept of tragedy as “tristesse majestueuse” (“sublime melancholy”), as mental suffering, which no longer required the theatrical accessories of baroque gothic tragedies. RACINE reacted to criticism of this new concept of tragedy with “Bajazet” (1672; German), a harem tragedy from a contemporary Turkish milieu. In the center of “Iphigénie” (1675; German “Iphigenie”) he placed the ancient idea of human sacrifice, however, for reasons of the contemporary art concept, it was weakened to the suicide of the Eriphile.
With “Phèdre” (1677; German “Phädra”, by F. SCHILLER, see PDF “Jean Racine – Phaedra”), the classic French tragedy once again exhausted all its possibilities: RACINE, based on the material model of EURIPIDES, designed the proclaimed by Jansenism uncontrollable predetermination of man psychologically convincing in perfect Alexandrians. The last two plays, which RACINE wrote for the students of Saint-Cyr at the suggestion of the religiously strict MADAME DE MAINTENON, take up biblical material (“Esther”, 1689, German; “Athalie”, 1691, publicly performed 1716; German “Athalja” ).
RACINE also wrote a comedy based on ARISTOPHANES, “Les plaideurs” (1669; German “The process addicts”), which proved him to be a gifted satirist, as well as courtly and spiritual poetry (“Cantiques spirituels”, 1694; German “Geistliche Geistliche Gesänge”) and the treatise justifying Jansenism “Abrégé de l’histoire de Port-Royal” (created between 1695 and 1699, published 1742; German “Outline of the History of Port-Royal”).
Classic poetry
With his five-act verse tragedies, RACINE fulfilled the theoretical claim of classical poetry to adapt tragic events to the moral and social norms of his time by means of spiritualization and exaggeration. He transformed the complicated, extremely eloquent Baroque theater by replacing complex intrigues with simple actions on the one hand, and reflection and self-knowledge on the other hand by replacing Baroque techniques of surprise; he compensated for the reduction in vocabulary (unusual words, neologisms and the like were not permitted in the language rules laid down by the Académie française) with language rich in symbols and allusions and the increased use of non-verbal means (mimicry, gestures, eloquent silence). In an era marked by Christian instincts and courtly self-control, RACINE (like B. PASCAL and the moralists) portrayed the human being in the wheelwork of himself. In this way he succeeded in conveying more tragic feelings on stage instead of moral instruction.
Works (selection)
“La Thébayde ou les frères ennemis” (1664; German “The Thebais or The hostile brothers”)
“Alexandre le Grand” (1666; German “Alexander the Great)
“Andromaque” (1668; German “Andromache”)
“Britannicus” (1670)
“Mithridates” (1673; German “Mithridates”)
“Bérénice” (1671; German “Berenike”)
“Bayazet” (1672)
“Iphigénie” (1675; German “Iphigenia”)
“Phèdre” (1677; German “Phädra”, by F. Schiller)
“Esther” (1689)
“Athalie”, (1691, publicly performed 1716; German “Athalja”)
Oeuvres edited by P. Mesnard, 10 volumes (reissued 1873–90);
Oeuvres complètes edited by R. Picard, 2 vols. (re-edited 1980–81);
Théâtre complet, edited by J. Morel (1980).
Dramas translated by A. Luther and others, 2 vols. (1961–62).
What is Jean Racine known for?
Jean Racine, in full Jean-Baptiste Racine, (baptized December 22, 1639, La Ferté-Milon, France—died April 21, 1699, Paris), French dramatic poet and historiographer renowned for his mastery of French classical tragedy.
What did Jean Racine write?
Racine was primarily a tragedian, producing such “examples of neoclassical perfection” as Phèdre, Andromaque, and Athalie. He did write one comedy, Les Plaideurs, and a muted tragedy, Esther for the young. Racine’s plays displayed his mastery of the dodecasyllabic (12 syllable) French alexandrine.
