Jean Babtiste Racine

1639 - 1699

Master of French classical tragedy

As a child he was brought up in a Jansenist convent and chose drama for his career. In 1966 he wrote his first play and soon after a bitter defence of his craft. Racine met Moliere who accepted his first tragedy The Thebaide or the Enemy Brothers which was then produced in 1664. Racine took the script of his next tragedy dissatisfied with Molier's style and brought it to one of the oldest theatres in Paris at that time, The Hotel de Bourgogne. From now one Moliere dropped all his plays and Racine worked for The Hotel de Bourgogne. But Racine took not only his play but also Molier's best actress, Du Parc, who later played in his tragedies and became his mistress. In 1672 Racine became the member of the Academie Francaise. He cut all the links with commercial stage and started to write the official history of he king Louis XIV.

Racine saw the beauty in the classical Greek tragedy which themes he used for his own tragedies. His protagonists, especially ancient queens, are portrayed during their emotional crisis as passionate women who love and hate.
He wrote 11 tragedies and one comedy.


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