Birth marks : the tragedy of primogeniture in Pierre Corneille, Thomas Corneille, and Jean Racine / Richard E. Goodkin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Goodkin, Richard E.

Series:

New cultural studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Racine, Jean, 1639-1699.

Corneille, Thomas, 1625-1709.

Corneille, Pierre, 1606-1684.

French drama (Tragedy)--History and criticism.

French drama (Tragedy).

French drama--17th century--History and criticism.

French drama.

Corneille, Pierre, 1606-1684--Criticism and interpretation.

Corneille, Pierre.

Corneille, Thomas, 1625-1709--Criticism and interpretation.

Corneille, Thomas.

Racine, Jean, 1639-1699--Criticism and interpretation.

Racine, Jean.

Primogeniture in literature.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

xi, 281 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2000]

Summary:

Birth Marks reexamines the body of French classical tragedy from the perspective of recent theories about the sibling bond and, in particular, birth order. Through a study of the evolution of inheritance issues in seventeen tragedies written over the course of half a century by the Corneille brothers, Pierre and Tomas, and by Jean Racine, the book questions the pervasive assumption that classical tragedy, a form written for the aristocracy, is informed exclusively by an aristocratic thic.

Instead, a fresh reading of both canonical and noncanonical texts demonstrates that even the most formal body of literature produced by French classical writers expresses a conflict between a declining aristocratic hierarchy based on inherited privilege and a rising capitalistic ethic that favors competition and enterprise.

Contents:

Part I The Tragedy of Primogeniture

1. Primogeniture and Its Discontents in Early Modern France 9

2. Psychological Primogeniture 29

Part II The First Generation

3. Medee: The Robe Is Mightier than the Sword, or The Clothier's Revenge 47

4. Horacc, or How to Kill Friends and Influence People 62

5. The End of an Era, or The Death of Pomp(ey) 78

Part III Between the Generations

6. A Sibling Rivalry over Sibling Rivalry: Pierre Corneille's Rodogunc and Thomas Corneille's Persec et Demetrius 99

7. The Brother as Father, the Father as Brother: Pierre Corneille's Nicomede and Thomas Corneille's La Mort d'Annibal 124

8. Degenerating Inheritance: Timocrate, Oedipc, and La Thebaide 145

Part IV The Second Generation

9. The Younger Brother Comes into His Own: Britannicus, Bajazet, and Mithridate 171

10. An Older Brother's Loss: Pierre Corneille's Tite et Berenice and Racine's Berenice 194

11. A Tale of Two Sisters: Thomas Corneille's Ariane and Racine's Phedre 220.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [271]-276) and index.

ISBN:

0812235509

OCLC:

43569518