Born on December
20, 1639, Jean Racine was orphaned at a young age and raised
by his grandmother, Marie des Moulins, who took the boy with
her to the convent of Port-Royal des Champs near Paris after
she was widowed. Racine's teachers at the convent were members
of a reform movement known as Jansenism. Although they were suspected
by the French monarchy of being theologically and politically
subversive, these monks provided the young Racine with a good
education, allowing him the opportunity to study Latin and Greek
classics under their tutelage, a privilege most young writers
could only dream of.
From 1649 to 1653, Racine studied at Port-Royal. He then transferred
to the College of Beauvais where he studied for two years before
returning to Port-Royal to complete his studies in rhetoric.
After turning 18, the Jansenists sent him to Paris to study law
at the College of Harcourt. Here, Racine fell in with a crowd
of "theatrical" types and decided to try his hand as
a dramatist in spite of the fact that the Jansenists disapproved
of the theatre. His first play, Amasie, was purchased
by the Bourgogne company, but was never produced. However, as
luck would have it, Racine was soon befriended by Molière
who produced his second play, Thebaide, in 1664. Although
Racine's next play, Andromache (1667), was also originally
produced by Moliere's troupe, Racine was unhappy with the production
and gave the text to the Bourgogne company--who was more skilled
at tragedy--for a second production. The one element of Molière's
production with which Racine was enamored was the leading
actress, Thérèse du Parc. After seducing the young
actress, Racine convinced her to leave Moliere's troupe and join
him at the Hôtel de Bourgogne. Molière, who had
kept the doors open for Thebaide even when the production
was running at a loss, was deeply hurt by this betrayal and never
spoke to Racine again.
Racine went on to compose a string of successful tragedies,
all of which would be presented by the Hôtel de Bourgogne.
His next play, The Litigants (1668), a rare excursion
into the world of comic satire, was adapted from Aristophanes'
The Wasps. However, Racine quickly returned to the serious
business of tragedy with Britannicus (1669) which chronicles
the story of Agrippa, mother of the Roman emperor Nero, who begins
to regret the decision to give her son power after he falls under
the influence of an evil counselor named Narcissus. Iphigenia
in Aulis (1674) is Racine's version of the events leading
to the sacrifice of Iphigenia to appease the gods, and his masterpiece,
Phèdre (1677), based on Euripides' Hippolytus,
is a remarkable exploration of a woman's passion for her husband's
son. Racine's other plays include Bérénice
(1670), Bajazet (1672), and Mithridate (1673).
By 1677, Racine had achieved a remarkable amount of success
for a playwright. In fact he was the first French playwright
to live almost entirely off the earnings from his plays. And
the role of Phedre was so popular that it quickly became the
pièce de resistance of practically every French
tragedienne. However, Racine had managed to acquire a large number
of powerful enemies, many of whom supported the older playwright,
Pierre Corneille. These enemies were determined to destroy Racine's
career and even went so far as to buy tickets for the opening
night of Phèdre, only to leave their seats unoccupied,
thus casting a chill over the performance. Racine was so wounded
by such antics that, in 1677, he decided to retire from the commercial
theatre, and accept the post of royal historiographer. Along
with his friend Nicolas Boileau, Racine set about chronicling
the reign of Louis XIV.
After reconciling with the Jansenists, Racine--who had built
quite a reputation for seducing young actesses--was provided
with a pious wife who never read a single line of his plays and
with whom he would have seven children. There is evidence, however,
that Racine did not give up his philanderings altogether. In
1679, he was accused of having poisoned his mistress and star
actress, the Marquise du Parc. Fortunately for Racine, no formal
charges were ever filed.
In spite of Racine's retirement, his work for the stage was
not quite done. Madame de Maintenon, Louis XIV's consort, had
been somewhat responsible for Racine's retirement in that she
had helped to secure for him the position of royal historiographer.
Ironically enough, she would also be responsible for his return
to the stage when she requested that he write two biblical plays
for her girls' school at St. Cyr. Esther (1689) tells
the story of Haman and the Jewish queen who risks her own life
to save her people from certain destruction. And Athalie
(1690) tells the story of an idol-worshipping queen who has a
prophetic dream of her own death after coming to power by murdering
the royal family. Both of these plays were well received, but
they would be Racine's last offerings for the stage. He spent
the remainder of his life serving various posts for the King
and editing his complete works. On April 21, 1699, Racine died
from cancer of the liver.
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