''Les Plaideurs'', or ''The Litigants'', written in 1668 and published in 1669, is a comedy in three acts with respectively eight, 14, and four scenes, in alexandrine verse by

Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...

. It is the only comedy he wrote. It was inspired by ''

The Wasps ''The Wasps'' ( grc-x-classical, Σφῆκες, translit=Sphēkes) is the fourth in chronological order of the eleven surviving plays by Aristophanes. It was produced at the Lenaia festival in 422 BC, during Athens' short-lived respite from the ...

'' by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

, but Racine removed all political significance. His play, which he wrote after ''

Andromaque ''Andromaque'' is a tragedy in five acts by the French playwright Jean Racine written in alexandrine verse. It was first performed on 17 November 1667 before the court of Louis XIV in the Louvre in the private chambers of the Queen, Marie Thérès ...

'' and before ''

Britannicus Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus (12 February AD 41 – 11 February AD 55), usually called Britannicus, was the son of Roman emperor Claudius and his third wife Valeria Messalina. For a time he was considered his father's heir, but that ...

'', was a

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

that, surrounded in his work by tragedies, was unexpected. ''Les Plaideurs'' was first performed late in 1668 at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris.

Roles

* Dandin ("ninny"), ''a judge.'' Dandin is senile and has been forced into retirement. His idée fixe is to keep holding trials, and he finally turns his own home into a court of justice where his servants and pet animals plead and are convicted.Jean Racine, ''Les plaideurs: comédie;'' Collection Larousse Classiques; Paris, Larousse, 1935 * Leandre, ''his son.'' In love with Isabelle. * Chicanneau, ''a bourgeois.'' He's obsessed with lawsuits. * Isabelle, ''daughter of Chicanneau.'' In love with Léandre. * La Comtesse ("The Countess"). She's obsessed with lawsuits. * Petit Jean ("Little John"), ''porter.'' He works for the Dandin family. * L'Intimé, ''secretary.'' He works for the Dandin family. * Le Souffleur ("The Prompter"). Only appears during the mock-trial, to help the fake lawyers remember their lines.

Notes

References

* Hochman, Stanley, editor (1984). ''McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama'' (second edition, 5 volumes). New York: McGraw-Hill. .

External links

''Les Plaideurs''
(1669) at Gallica.
Text of Les Plaideurs (French)Project Gutenberg Text (Dutch)
*
On Racine's The Litigants
Plays by Jean Racine 1668 plays Adaptations of works by Aristophanes {{17thC-play-stub