Racine

[Alexander III]

Hi, I want to read some of Racine, but I am unsure on two counts. First of which do you deem are his greatest plays, which best show of his verse which has been so praised. Secondly what translation should I go with, I have heard he is impossible to translate, but which do you think is the best translation ?

[kelby_lake]

Phedre is his best play. The translation I have- the Penguin Classics one by John Cairncross- is pretty good. There's a Ted Hughes translation too, which they used for the National Theatre production of Phedre, starring Helen Mirren and Dominic Cooper.

[JBI]

Has anyone read the Richard Wilbur translations. I am curious as to how they are.

[mortalterror]

Has anyone read the Richard Wilbur translations. I am curious as to how they are.

I bought Richard Wilbur's translation of The Suitors. I didn't like it. After a couple of pages I sold it to a used book shop. His translations of Moliere were much better in my opinion, though Samuel Solomon did an even more heinous hatchet job on Racine, when he rendered the complete works into prose.

Phaedra does seem to be universally considered his greatest play, and by far the most commonly translated. However, Athaliah is probably his second best play, and I find it much more compelling. You can get them both with Iphigenia too in John Cairncross' Penguin edition. Cairncross is the best translator of Racine that I know of. His second book of translations is worth picking up as well on the merits of Andromache alone. George Dillon covers much the same ground in his slim volume and is almost as good.

One other good translator is worth mentioning: Robert Bruce Boswell. I read his treatment of The Thebaid and loved it. You can find it and other plays translated by him here at Google Books (http://books.google.com/books?id=UFoLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=racine+thebaid&source=bl&ots=DQbwYpZMfx&sig=2Bl_pqr2ctFpp8wmAQuQwBMfHp4&hl=en&ei=WDzMTJquOobmsQP1-bzvDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=racine%20thebaid&f=false).

Alexander the Great is probably the only lousy Racine play. Britannicus and Berenice aren't quite as good as some of the others, but are still delightful.

I heartily recommend everybody read the plays of Racine, since in my opinion he is nearly the equal of Shakespeare.

[stlukesguild]

MortalTerror is probably the best mas to ask concerning Racine as he is a sworn fan. He recommended the Cairncross translations to me... but I have read Wilbur's translation of Andromache which I thought was quite good and I know he has translated Phaedre as well.

[mortalterror]

MortalTerror is probably the best mas to ask concerning Racine as he is a sworn fan. He recommended the Cairncross translations to me... but I have read Wilbur's translation of Andromache which I thought was quite good and I know he has translated Phaedre as well.

Actually, I think that B. Laumness is the go to person for questions about French literature since he/she is very well read and a native French speaker. I'd defer to her/his expertise in that subject the same as I do to Bluevictim when it comes to Ancient Greek or JCamillo when it comes to Portuguese.

The native critic who has full mastery of the language and is steeped in the tradition, their opinion should be given preference in all things. Case in point, the great French critic St. Beuve:

Be that as it may, the spirit which prompted the theory, caused writers who ruled their inspiration, rather than those who abandoned themselves to it, to be placed in the first rank of classics; to put Virgil there more surely than Homer, Racine in preference to Corneille. The masterpiece to which the theory likes to point, which in fact brings together all conditions of prudence, strength, tempered boldness, moral elevation, and grandeur, is Athalie. Turenne in his two last campaigns and Racine in Athalie are the great examples of what wise and prudent men are capable of when they reach the maturity of their genius and attain their supremest boldness.

That quote, of course, is from the essay What is a Classic, published with the Harvard Classics Series and available online at Bartleby here. (http://www.bartleby.com/32/202.html)

[B. Laumness]

In France, Racine is considered one of the best dramatic play writers and one of the greatest poets. The interest and the power of his plays largely rely on his mastery of the verses. That’s the reason why he is hardly translated as he deserved to, because the translator should be an authentic poet. George Steiner, who perfectly speaks French and English (and German), said Racine was not inferior to Shakespeare, even if his body of works is less big (eleven tragedies and one comedic play).

Racine is a classic author, what means he follows Aristotle’s principles, avoids showing violence and death on the stage, gives privilege to rigour, clarity, and concision, rejects what is unbelievable and implausible. He uses 2 000 words in average when Shakespeare uses 30 000 words. His art relies on an economy of means. Even for French students, his language, though simple, may seem hard to understand and appreciate, for nobody speaks like that nowadays. But when you have a little more experience, you begin to admire this wonderful music and this cruel and elegant universe.

Phèdre is well-known and is probably his best play. I love Bérénice, which may disappoint the reader… this is a special tragedy... Another Roman theme with Britannicus, again an excellent play. But all are good, except maybe his comedic play, Les Plaideurs. Personally, I don’t like much his last works, Esther and Athalie, whose subject comes from the Bible and which require a very solid cultural knowledge to get into.

Corneille also, who is often compared to Racine (for instance, they both created a play on Titus and Bérénice in the same time), wrote great works. I recommend Le Cid, Horace and Cinna.