Pierre Corneille revisited

Claire L. Carlin

"The author of Le Cid (1637), Horace (1641), Cinna (1642), and Polyeucte martyr (1643), Pierre Corneille (1606-1684) is probably the foremost dramatist of seventeenth-century France, ranking alongside Jean Racine in greatness. Corneille's total dramatic output of some 40,000 lines in more than thirty plays is a staggering achievement, and he also wrote a large number of biographies and translations of Latin works. To Corneille, plot was more important than character - that is, he wanted to entertain his audience - and his plays still have an audience, not only through their regular revivals at the Comedie Francaise in Paris but also at theater festivals like the one held at Avignon each summer." "Claire Carlin's engaging study explores the half-dozen or more critical approaches that leading scholars have taken to discern the meanings of Corneille's plays." "Carlin's study examines the...

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