La Gloire: The Roman Empire of Corneille and Racine

by Louis Auchincloss

An insightful look at two masters of French classic tragedy

In a charming collection of elegant essays, one of the twentieth century's leading men of letters turns his vast knowledge and worldly authority to the texts of two seventeenth-century French dramatists. Louis Auchincloss considers fourteen plays by Pierre Corneille (1606–84) and his younger theatrical rival, Jean Racine (1639–99). Musing on the ideas that informed the court of the Sun King and on what classical allusions meant to them, Auchincloss offers thoughtful readings, new translations, and a wealth of shrewd observations about French classic tragedy, passion, self-sacrifice, self-aggrandizement, and civic and military glory.

Auchincloss lets the grand voices of Corneille's and Racine's heroes and heroines speak, while calling attention to details and discoveries that illumine aspects of both seventeenth-century and twentieth-century culture. He specifically considers the theme of gloire―the lofty destiny or mission that the hero (and more rarely the heroine) has set for himself and for which he would willingly sacrifice the most passionate romance, closest friendship, or dearest family ties. While gloire is more commonly associated with Corneille than with Racine, Auchincloss demonstrates that these French masters were capable of swapping predilections when it came to the Roman plays.

90 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1996

About the author

Louis Stanton Auchincloss was an American novelist, historian, and essayist.

Among Auchincloss's best-known books are the multi-generational sagas The House of Five Talents, Portrait in Brownstone, and East Side Story. Other well-known novels include The Rector of Justin, the tale of a renowned headmaster of a school like Groton trying to deal with changing times, and The Embezzler, a look at white-collar crime. Auchincloss is known for his closely observed portraits of old New York and New England society.

Reviews

[Gregory Koster · Rating 1 out of 5]

Louis Auchincloss wrote this book for himself. He had to---I don’t know who else would read it. The book is 12 summaries of 14 plays by Racine and Corneille, set in the Roman Empire that illustrate what the French call “La Gloire.” These 5-10 pages summaries have a lot of work to do if, like me, a)you don’t read/speak French b) you aren’t familiar with Corneille/Racine’s plays c)You haven’t read THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE in much too long. Even the self-translated passages from the plays don’t help much. Finishing the book left me with no urge to go see any of the plays, nor to study French history to learn about “La Gloire,” and how it shaped French and European politics in the age of Louis XIV.

It did give me the urge to reread THE DECLINE AND FALL. That’s something.

[Jason Reese · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good survey of both 17th Century French tragedy and ancient Roman history.