Jean Racine

Jean Racine
Jean Racine
    Jean Racine
     Catholic_Encyclopedia Jean Racine
    Dramatist, b. a La Ferté-Milon, in the old Duchy of Valois, 20 Dec., 1639; d. in Paris, 21 April, 1699. Left an orphan at a very early age, his relatives sent him to the College of Beauvais, which was intimately connected with Port Royal, whither he went in 1655. Here, though only sixteen years of age, he made such progress that he not only read Greek at sight, but wrote odes both in Latin and in French. In 1658, he entered the Collège d'Harcourt. While boarding with his uncle, Nicolas Vitart, he formed too close an acquaintance with some theatrical people, and in order to guard him against temptation his relatives sent him to another uncle, the Abbé Sesvrin, at Uzès; but failing to obtain any position there, he returned to Paris in 1663, where he wrote two odes which made him known to the court. In 1664 his first play, "La Théba♦de, ou les Frères ennemis", was performed. It was followed by "Alexandre", another drama equally insignificant. "Andromaque", in 1667, proved a great success, and was followed by his only comedy "Les Plaideurs" (1668). "Britannicus" followed in 1669, "Bérénice" (1670), "Bajazet" (1672), "Mithridate" (1673), "Iphigénie" (1674). After the failure of "Phèdre" in 1677, Racine abruptly severed his connection with the stage, partly because he was weary of unjust criticism and unfair rivalry, and partly from conscientious motives. He remained silent for twelve years, but in 1689, at the the request of Madame de Maintenon, he wrote "Esther", and "Athalie" in 1691.
    Racine's dramas were variously received. "Andromaque" achieved as great a success as "Le Cid", and deservedly. the author devoted his most delicate and refined art to the portrayal of the most tragic passion. No characters on the French stage are more interesting and attractive than "Hermione", the type of passionate love, and "Andromaque", of maternal. His comedy, "Les Plaideurs", inspired by the "Wasps" of Aristophanes, failed at first, but, being applauded by Louis XIV, it subsequently met with great favour. "Britannicus" was called by Voltaire la pièce des connoisseurs. "Bérénice" was written in competition with a play on the same subject by Corneille, which it far surpassed. His two tragedies on Oriental subjects, "Bajazet" and "Mithridate", do not breathe the Oriental spirit. "Iphigénie" is full of pathos. "Phèdre", which may dispute with "Andromache" and "Athalie" the title of Racine's masterpiece, was represented at the H™tel de Bourgogne, while the "Phèdre" of Pradon was performed by the king's actors. From the first Racine had been bitterly opposed by various cabals, whom his success and his sarcasm had irritated. His own "Phèdre" was a failure, while Pradon's triumphed. He now ceased all dramatic work, married, and became very pious, devoting himself entirely to domestic life and to his duties as royal historiographer. In the remaining twenty years of his life he wrote only two plays. Madame de Maintenon, who had established an institution at Saint-Cyr for the education of poor girls of noble family, asked Racine for a drama to be represented by her protégées. He wrote "Esther", which had an enormous success. Every critic admires in it the splendour of the chorus, the perfection of the characters, and the wonderful art of the play as a whole. The other was "Athalie", a drama of the same kind.
    As a dramatic writer, Racine is one of the leaders of the classical school. His dramatic art was a protest against the heroic and bombastic tragedies which, until that time, had been the fashion. We read in the preface to "Britannicus": "What can I do to satisfy my stern critics? It would be very easy to do so if I were willing to sacrifice common sense. I need only disregard nature and rush into the sensational." Corneille liked an action rather complicated, "full of incident, a large number of theatrical surprises, and high-flown speeches". Racine, to quote his own words, always chose "a simple action, not overladen, which, progressing steadily to the catastrophe, is sustained by the interest, the feelings, and the passions of the characters." Again, while in Corneille the characters are secondary to the action, in Racine the action is suited to the characters. Hence we do not find sensational situations in his tragedies, but rather a deep and complete study of the passions to which the human heart is prey and, above all, of love. Racine is the great painter of love, but love as he conceives it is always violent, impetuous, jealous, and sometimes criminal. The effect of his new method was to bring about a change in that of the French drama. Racine's style is simple and smooth, always pure, elegant, harmonious, and, nevertheless, when necessary, strong and bold. Racine was a sensitive, vain, and irritable man, with deeply religious feelings, and a keen, supple, and strong intellect. He displays in his work almost unique powers of psychological analysis, a wonderful delicacy of sentiment, and an exquisite sense of literary art.
    The standard text of his works is MESNARD (7 vols., Paris, 1865-73); tr. BOSWELL, in BOHNÕS Library (London, 1889-91); DE BURY, Racine and the French Classical Drama (London, 1845); TROLLOPE, Corneille and Racine in Foreign Classics Series (Edinburgh, 1881); BRUNETIèRE, Les Epoques du théâtre français (Paris, 1892); LARROUNERT, in Les grands écrivains français (Paris, 1898); STENDHAL, Racine et Shakespeare (Paris, 1882); SAINTE-BEUVE, Port Royal, VI, (4th ed., Paris, 1878); DE GROUCHY, Documents inédits relatifs ˆ Jean Racine (Paris, 1892); LEMAITRE, Impressions de théâtre, I, II, IV (Paris, 1888—); FIGUET, Dix-Septième Siècle.
    JEAN LEBARS
    Transcribed by Gerald Rossi

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


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  • Jean Racine — (IPA fr|ʒɑ̃ ʁaˈsin) (December 22, 1639 ndash; April 21, 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the big three of 17th century France (along with Molière and Corneille), and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition. Racine… …   Wikipedia

  • Jean Racine — Jean Baptiste Racine (* 21. Dezember 1639 in La Ferté Milon; † 21. April 1699 in Paris) war einer der bedeutendsten Autoren der französischen Klassik. Er gilt den Franzosen als ihr größter Tragödienautor neben oder gar vor Pierre Corneille …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Jean Racine — Jean Racine, dramaturgo francés. Jean Racine (La Ferté Milon, Francia, 21 de diciembre de 1639 París, 21 de abril de 1699) fue un dramaturgo del Neoclasicismo francés. Se le considera, junto a Pierre Corneille, el mayor exponente de la tragedia… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Jean Racine — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Racine. Racine Portrait de Racine …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jean Racine — Biografía Jean Racine, dramaturgo francés nació el 21 de diciembre de 1639 en La Ferté Milon (Francia, hoy en día corresponde al departamento de Aisne), y murió el 21 de abril de 1699 en París. Se le considera, junto a Pierre Corneille, que es… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Jean Racine — noun French advocate of Jansenism; tragedian who based his works on Greek and Roman themes (1639 1699) • Syn: ↑Racine, ↑Jean Baptiste Racine • Instance Hypernyms: ↑dramatist, ↑playwright, ↑poet …   Useful english dictionary

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