Jean Racine, Britannicus

Valerie Worth-Stylianou (University of Oxford)

Ed. by Tim Unwin, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.03: French Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century: Classical and Baroque, 1600-1700.
Vol. editors: Heather Kirk (University of Western Ontario), Kathrina LaPorta (New York University), Polly Mangerson (DePaul University), Julia Prest (University of St Andrews), Allison Stedman (University of North Carolina, Charlotte), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1669

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

In December 1669, as he approached his thirtieth birthday, Racine prepared the première of Britannicus. One of the foremost yet most controversial playwrights in Paris, he had previously looked to the world of Ancient Greece for the subject matter of his tragedies: La Thébaide, 1664, reworked the feud between the sons of Oedipus; Alexandre le Grand, 1665, an episode from the career of Alexander the Great; and Andromaque, 1667, the fate of Hector’s widow, Andromache. After a single foray into comedy (Les Plaideurs in 1668), he now returned to tragedy, but with a new twist – it is important not to underestimate Racine’s taste for experimentation. He set out to prove his credentials in the …

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2115 words

Citation: Worth-Stylianou, Valerie. "Britannicus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 December 2011 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6165, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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