Chief Plays of Corneille

by Pierre Corneille, Lacy Lockert (Translator)

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Genres: Drama

404 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1957

About the author

Pierre Corneille était l'un des trois grands dramaturges français du XVIIe siècle , avec Molière et Racine. Il a été appelé «le fondateur de la tragédie française» et était productive pendant près de quarante ans.

Vous pouvez lire son oeuvre sur:
- http://www.poesies.net/corneille.html
- http://gallica.bnf.fr/Search?ArianeWi...

Pierre Corneille was one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. He has been called "the founder of French tragedy" and produced plays for nearly forty years.

You can read his works (in French) on:
- http://www.poesies.net/corneille.html
- http://gallica.bnf.fr/Search?ArianeWi...

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange combination of noble speeches with over the top melodrama. Corneille latched onto a formula of confoluted conflicting loyalties; honor above all; selfish, hardheaded fathers; passionate stubborn women and high-minded heroes, and worked it assiduously. The women and fathers seem remarkably ready to sacrifice their sons and lovers in the cause of honor.

I read four of the plays in this volume (The Cid, Cinna, Polyeucte, and The Horatii ). The introduction by Lucy Lockert chastises Corneille for compromising his art to meet political demands, without explaining exactly what that meant. Presumably she refers to repeated references in the plays, after The Cid, to the inability of the rabble to rule themselves; they need a king. I didn’t try to find Corneille in the original to evaluate the translation, but Lockert's blank verse reads very well as poetry. I give it two stars as drama, four as poetry.

The only play I thought really worked was The Horatii, in which the quandary of a Roman ready to assassinate Octavian and return to the Republic has to face the fact that Augustus’s ruthless path to power resulted in a powerful and peaceful (relatively) Roman Empire.

The classic French and Spanish plays I’ve read recently are so dependent on honor as a driving force that they make it impossible for a modern reader to take them seriously. Shakespeare, also writing pre-modern drama, seems much closer to us in his depiction of characters driven by a thirst for power.