Book Description
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POLY. Ah, how my heart quails at that single word! Thee, Felix, I o'ercame within my cell, Laughed at thy threats if death and torture fell; Yet hast thou still one arm to rouse my fears, The rest I scorn, but dread thy daughter's tears! One only talisman remains; great God, 'tis mine, Sufficient for my every need His strength divine! ... Read more

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Series Editors: Bernth Lindfors, University of Texas at Austin; Robert Lecker, McGill University; David O'Connell, Georgia State University; David William Foster, Arizona State University; Janet Pérez, Texas Tech University

Twayne's United States Authors, English Authors, and World Authors Series present concise critical introductions to great writers and their works. Devoted to critical interpretation and discussion of an author's work, each study takes account of major literary trends and important scholarly contributions and provides new critical insights with an original point of view. An Authors Series volume addresses readers ranging from advanced high school students to university professors. The book suggests to the informed reader new ways of considering a writer's work. A reader new to the work under examination will, after reading the Authors Series, be compelled to turn to the originals, bringing to the reading a basic knowledge and fresh critical perspectives. Each volume features:

• A critical, interpretive study and explication of the author's works
• A brief biography of the author
• An accessible chronology outlining the life, work, and relevant historical background of the author
• Aids for further study -- complete notes and references, a selected annotated bibliography and an index
• A readable style presented in a manageable length

Book Description
The serious plays which Corneille wrote under Louis XIII reflect the disquiet of a poet whose local allegiances as a Norman magistrate were often uncomfortably at odds with government policies over which Cardinal Richelieu, his own literary patron, presided in Paris. David Clarke outlines the ideological and institutional crisis which characterised Corneille's times and explores the difficulties which Normandy experienced as a result of Richelieu's 'politique de gloire'. He goes on to examine the principles and originality of Corneille's poetics in a period when literary activity became increasingly subject to central government pressures and considers the significance of the serious plays written between 1630 and 1643, establishing a link between their reflection of contemporary ideological tensions and the 'collective mind' of their intended audience. ... Read more

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Professor Greenberg's new study explains the themes of authority, power and sexuality in Corneille's major plays, drawing on the work of Foucault, and Freudian and feminist critics. He begins by considering the question of myth and of a 'pre-historical' cultural memory in Médée, and proceeds to a detailed analysis of each of the four best-known tragedies: Le Cid, Horace, Cinna, and Polyeucte. A concluding chapter discusses two middle-period plays and Suréna, Corneille's last tragedy. Professor Greenberg argues that the formal symmetries of classical tragedy reflect a desire for control in the realm of both politics and sexuality. He also seeks to show how these principles of symmetry are challenged or undermined in various ways by the plays themselves. The result is an exacerbation of sexual and political desire which invests Cornelian tragedy with its peculiar power and involves us so deeply in its world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Theatrical Illusion
I decided to read this book because i had seen a play of "The Theatrical Illusion" being presented and i had adored it. So, i decided to read the book to be able to explore every verse and every lineand now i like the story even more.Life is an illusion indeed, anillusion of love, hate, betrayal... Infidelity and hate is just a part ofthe picture of love and faith, these are all knit up in our lives.Readthis book to see the illusion of reality of our lives... ... Read more

Book Description
Corneille virtually founded seventeenth-century French tragedy: "Le Cid" and the three subsequent tragedies gave the genre its models and much of its theory. Many critics have created a synthetic picture of "Cornelian heroism" by seeing these four plays as representative of all Corneille's work, thus neglecting the sixteen others that followed. Now the tide has turned: scholars are trying to analyse the meaning of Cornielle's work with close reference to historical events and political ideas. ... Read more