Racine Born in La Ferté Milon Paris France French
Born in La Ferté-Milon (Aisne), Racine was orphaned in his youth and was given a classical education courtesy of his grandmother. He was a graduate of Port-Royal, a religious institution which would greatly influence other contemporary figures including Blaise Pascal. He was expected to study theology, but preferred to devote himself to the theatre, and moved to Paris. His first tragedy, La Thébaide (1664) and its successor, Alexandre (1665), both had classical themes, but he was already entering into controversy, taking offence at the accusation that he was polluting the minds of his audiences. He broke all ties with Port-Royal, and proceeded with Andromaque (1667), which told the story of Andromache, widow of Hector, and her fate following the Trojan War. He was by now acquiring many rivals, including Pierre Corneille and his brother, Thomas Corneille. Tragedians often competed with alternative versions of the same plot: for example, Michel le Clerc produced an Iphigénie in the same year as Racine (1674), and Jacques Pradon also wrote a play about Phèdre (1677). The success of Pradon's work (the result of the activities of a claque) was one of the events which caused Racine to renounce his work as a dramatist at that time. Others, including the historian Lewis, attribute his retirement from the theater to qualms of conscience. However, the major incident which seems to have contributed to Racine's departure from public life was his implication in a court scandal of 1679. He got married at about this time, and his religious beliefs and devotion to the Jansenist sect were revived. When at last he returned to the theatre, it was at the request of Madame de Maintenon, mistress of King Louis XIV, with the moral fables, Esther (1689) and Athalie (1691), both of which were based on Old Testament stories and intended for performance by the pupils of the school of Saint-Cyr. Racine was also a courtier, having first been presented at court in 1664, and in 1677 made
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