Racine : from ancient myth to tragic modernity / Mitchell Greenberg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Greenberg, Mitchell, 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

French drama (Tragedy)--History and criticism.

French drama (Tragedy).

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

Racine, Jean.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (306 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A study of all of the major tragedies of Jean Racine, France's preeminent dramatist-and, according to many, its greatest and most representative author-Mitchell Greenberg's work offers an exploration of Racinian tragedy to explain the enigma of the plays' continued fascination.Greenberg shows how Racine uses myth, in particular the legend of Oedipus, to achieve his emotional power. In the seventeenth-century tragedies of Racine, almost all references to physical activity were banned from the stage. Yet contemporary accounts of the performances describe vivid emotional reactions of the audience

Contents:

Introduction: spectacle, myth, sacrifice : Racinian tragedy and the origins of modernity

La Thebaïde : politics and monstrous origins

Andromaque : myth and melancholy

Britannicus : power, perversion, and paranoia

Berenice, Bajazet, Mithridate : oriental Oedipus

Iphigenie : sacrifice and sovereignty

Phedre (et Hippolyte) : taboo, transgression, and the birth of democracy?

Esther, Athalie : religion, and revolution in Racine's heavenly city.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-8166-7055-2

OCLC:

593356362