Racine et la conception du tragique. (French text)
Description
In the creation of his tragedies, Jean Racine draws upon an already existing dramatic form and style: the seventeenth-century French dramaturgy, predominantly based on the Latin translations of Aristotle's Poetics. However, unlike his contemporaries, who were unfamiliar with Greek, Racine had acquired a sound knowledge of this ancient language during his years at Port-Royal. Therefore, he was able to read the original text of the Poetics and better understand its principles than could most of his contemporaries whose only contact with Aristotle was through the imprecise and even erroneous Latin translations. Racine's translation of certain passages from the Poetics reveal not only his insight into Aristotle's original thought, but also his preoccupation with the emotional effect of tragedy rather than its technical composition. A critical confrontation of Aristotle's Poetics wth Racine's translation of this classical text and with Racine's dramatic creation shows the extent of Racine's indebtedness to Aristotle and the degree of his originality in the formulation and dramatic application of his concept of the tragic The first chapter of this study deals with tragic action. Racine's interpretation of Aristotle's doctrine of the primary importance of action focused, not on the proper disposition of the incidents, but on the emotional effect the incidents are designed to produce. However, whereas in the Greek tragedies described by Aristotle action was the result of an external collision of contending moral forces, action in Racinian tragedy stems from a conflict of the collective and individual self The second chapter examines the problematic nature of the ideal hero. Aristotle deduced the qualities of the tragic character from the function of tragedy which is to produce the emotions of pity and fear. An analysis of Racinian tragedy reveals that the seventeenth-century dramatist never lost sight of this objective. However, whereas the heroes of antiquity are often engaged in an unequal struggle with destiny, the Racinian hero discovers within himself the existence of an individual entity which is in conflict with the collective values. It is the discovery of this incompatible duality which leads to his sense of profound isolation and his downfall. . . . (Author's abstract exceeds stipulated maximum length. Discontinued here with permission of author.) UMI