Jean Racine 
Phaedra 

The 17th century dramatist Jean Racine was considered, along with Molière and Corneille, as one of the three great playwrights of his era. The quality of Racine’s poetry has been described as possibly his most important contribution to French literature and his use of the alexandrine poetic line is one of the best examples of such use noted for its harmony, simplicity and elegance. While critics over the centuries have debated the worth of Jean Racine, at present, he is widely considered a literary genius of revolutionary proportions. In this volume of Racine’s plays we find ‘Phaedra’, the tenth of twelve plays by the author. In ‘Phaedra’ Racine returns to Greek mythology for his subject matter. This classic story concerns its titular character who though married to Theseus falls in love with Hippolytus. ‘Phaedra’ was incredibly well received with praise from the likes of Voltaire who described the work as ‘the masterpiece of the human mind.’ The drama remains to this day as one of Racine’s most highly regarded works.