Pierre Corneille
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French
tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy i ...
. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French
dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
s, along with
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
and
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 traditi ...
. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronage of Cardinal Richelieu, who was trying to promote classical tragedy along formal lines, but later quarrelled with him, especially over his best-known play, ''
Le Cid ''Le Cid'' is a five-act French tragicomedy written by Pierre Corneille, first performed in December 1636 at the Théâtre du Marais in Paris and published the same year. It is based on Guillén de Castro's play ''Las Mocedades del Cid''. Castro ...
'', about a medieval Spanish warrior, which was denounced by the newly formed ''
Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
'' for breaching the
unities The classical unities, Aristotelian unities, or three unities represent a prescriptive theory of dramatic tragedy that was introduced in Italy in the 16th century and was influential for three centuries. The three unities are: #''unity of action' ...
. He continued to write well-received tragedies for nearly forty years.


Biography


Early years

Corneille was born in Rouen,
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, to Marthe Le Pesant and Pierre Corneille, a distinguished lawyer. His younger brother,
Thomas Corneille Thomas Corneille (20 August 1625 – 8 December 1709) was a French lexicographer and dramatist. Biography Born in Rouen some nineteen years after his brother Pierre, the "great Corneille", Thomas's skill as a poet seems to have shown itself e ...
, also became a noted playwright. He was given a rigorous
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
education at the ''Collège de Bourbon'' (
Lycée Pierre-Corneille The Lycée Pierre-Corneille (also known as the Lycée Corneille) is a state secondary school located in the city of Rouen, France. Originally founded by the Jesuits in 1593, the school was secularized following the 1905 French law on the Separa ...
since 1873),Lycée Pierre Corneille de Rouen – History
/ref> where acting on the stage was part of the
training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...
. At 18 he began to study law, but his practical legal endeavours were largely unsuccessful. Corneille's father secured two magisterial posts for him with the Rouen department of Forests and Rivers. During his time with the department, he wrote his first play. It is unknown exactly when he wrote it, but the play, the
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
''
Mélite ''Mélite'', or ''The False Letters'', is a comedy in five acts by Pierre Corneille. Written in 1625, it is Corneille's first play and debuted on stage in December 1629 in Berthaud’s Jeu de paume court, and was performed by the acting troupe ...
'', surfaced when Corneille brought it to a group of traveling actors in 1629. The actors approved of the work and made it part of their repertoire. The play was a success in Paris, and Corneille began writing plays on a regular basis. He moved to Paris in the same year and soon became one of the leading playwrights of the French stage. His early comedies, starting with ''Mélite'', depart from the French farce tradition by reflecting the elevated language and manners of fashionable Parisian society. Corneille describes his variety of comedy as "une peinture de la conversation des honnêtes gens" ("a painting of the conversation of the gentry"). His first true
tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
is ''
Médée ''Médée'' is a dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Pierre Corneille in 1635. Summary The heroine of the play is the sorceress Médée. After Médée gives Jason twin boys, Jason leaves her for Creusa. Médée ...
'', produced in 1635.


The year 1634 brought more attention to Corneille. He was selected to write verses for Cardinal Richelieu's visit to Rouen. The Cardinal took notice of Corneille and selected him to be among ' ("The Five Poets"; also translated as "the society of the five authors"). The others were
Guillaume Colletet Guillaume Colletet (12 March 1598 – 11 February 1659) was a French poet and a founder member of the Académie française. His son was François Colletet. Biography Colletet was born and died in Paris. He had a great reputation among his cont ...
, Boisrobert,
Jean Rotrou Jean Rotrou (21 August 1609 – 28 June 1650) was a French poet and tragedian. Life Rotrou was born at Dreux, city of the current department of Eure-et-Loir, in Centre-Val de Loire region. He studied at Dreux and at Paris, and, though three years ...
, and
Claude de L'Estoile Claude de L'Estoile (1602, Paris – May 1652) was a French playwright and poet. He was a founder member of the Académie française. Biography Third son of Pierre de L'Estoile he inherited fortune, he devoted himself entirely to poetry and bel ...
. The five were selected to realize Richelieu's vision of a new kind of drama that emphasized virtue. Richelieu would present ideas, which the writers would express in dramatic form. However, the Cardinal's demands were too restrictive for Corneille, who attempted to innovate outside the boundaries defined by Richelieu. This led to contention between playwright and employer. After his initial contract ended, Corneille left ' and returned to Rouen.


''Querelle du Cid''

In the years directly following this break with Richelieu, Corneille produced what is considered his finest play. ''
Le Cid ''Le Cid'' is a five-act French tragicomedy written by Pierre Corneille, first performed in December 1636 at the Théâtre du Marais in Paris and published the same year. It is based on Guillén de Castro's play ''Las Mocedades del Cid''. Castro ...
'' is based on the play ''Mocedades del Cid'' (1621) by Guillem de Castro. Both plays were based on the legend of
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and warlord in medieval Spain. Fighting with both Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific ''al-sīd'', which would evolve into El C ...
(nicknamed "El Cid Campeador"), a military figure in Medieval Spain. The original 1637 edition of the play was subtitled a
tragicomedy Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms. Most often seen in dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the overall mood or a seriou ...
, acknowledging that it intentionally defies the classical
tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
/
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
distinction. Even though ''Le Cid'' was an enormous popular success, it was the subject of a heated argument over the norms of dramatic practice, known as the "''Querelle du Cid''" or "The Quarrel of Le Cid". Cardinal Richelieu's ''
Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
'' acknowledged the play's success, but determined that it was defective, in part because it did not respect the
classical unities The classical unities, Aristotelian unities, or three unities represent a prescriptive theory of dramatic tragedy that was introduced in Italy in the 16th century and was influential for three centuries. The three unities are: #''unity of action' ...
of time, place, and action (Unity of Time stipulated that all the action in a play must take place within a 24-hour time-frame; Unity of Place, that there must be only one setting for the action; and Unity of Action, that the plot must be centred on a single conflict or problem). The newly formed ''Académie'' was a body that asserted state control over cultural activity. Although it usually dealt with efforts to standardize the
French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...
, Richelieu himself ordered an analysis of ''Le Cid''. Accusations of immorality were leveled at the play in the form of a famous pamphlet campaign. These attacks were founded on the classical theory that the theatre was a site of moral instruction. The Académie's recommendations concerning the play are articulated in
Jean Chapelain Jean Chapelain (4 December 1595 – 22 February 1674) was a French poet and critic during the Grand Siècle, best known for his role as an organizer and founding member of the Académie française. Chapelain acquired considerable prestige as a l ...
's '' Sentiments de l'Académie française sur la tragi-comédie du Cid'' (1638). Even the prominent writer
Georges de Scudéry Georges de Scudéry (22 August 1601 – 14 May 1667), the elder brother of Madeleine de Scudéry, was a French novelist, dramatist and poet. Life Georges de Scudéry was born in Le Havre, in Normandy, whither his father had moved from Provence. ...
harshly criticized the play in his '' Observations sur le Cid'' (1637). The intensity of this "war of pamphlets" was heightened severely by Corneille's boastful poem Excuse À Ariste, in which he rambled and boasted about his talents and claimed that no other author could be a rival. These poems and pamphlets were made public, one after the other, as once "esteemed" playwrights traded slanderous blows. At one point, Corneille took several shots at criticizing author Jean Mairet's family and lineage. Scudéry, a close friend of Mairet at the time, did not stoop to Corneille's level of "distastefulness", but instead continued to pillory ''Le Cid'' and its violations. Scudéry even stated of ''Le Cid'' that, "almost all of the beauty which the play contains is plagiarized." This "war of pamphlets" eventually influenced Richelieu to call upon the Académie française to analyze the play. In their final conclusions, the Academy ruled that even though Corneille had attempted to remain loyal to the unity of time, ''Le Cid'' broke too many of the unities to be a valued piece of work. The controversy, coupled with the Academy's ruling proved too much for Corneille, who decided to return to Rouen. When one of his plays was reviewed unfavorably, Corneille was known to withdraw from public life. He remained publicly silent for some time; privately, however, he was said to be "troubled and obsessed by the issues, making numerous revisions to the play."


Response to the ''Querelle du Cid''

After a hiatus from the theater, Corneille returned in 1640. The ''Querelle du Cid'' caused Corneille to pay closer attention to classical dramatic rules. This was evident in his next plays, which were classical
tragedies Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
, ''
Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...
'' (1640, dedicated to Richelieu), '' Cinna'' (1643), and ''
Polyeucte ''Polyeucte'' is a drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in ge ...
'' (1643). These three plays and ''Le Cid'' are collectively known as Corneille's "Classical Tetralogy". Corneille also responded to the criticisms of the Académie by making multiple revisions to ''Le Cid'' to make it closer to the conventions of classical tragedy. The 1648, 1660, and 1682 editions were no longer subtitled "
tragicomedy Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms. Most often seen in dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the overall mood or a seriou ...
", but "tragedy". Corneille's popularity grew and by the mid 1640s, the first collection of his plays was published. Corneille married Marie de Lampérière in 1641. They had seven children together. In the mid to late 1640s, Corneille produced mostly tragedies, ''La Mort de Pompée'' (''
The Death of Pompey ''The Death of Pompey'' (''La Mort de Pompée'') is a tragedy by the French playwright Pierre Corneille on the death of Pompey the Great. It was first performed in 1642, with Julius Caesar played by Molière. Like many of Corneille's plays, it ...
'', performed 1644), ''
Rodogune ''Rodogune'' is a tragedy in five acts by the French playwright Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramat ...
'' (performed 1645), '' Théodore'' (performed 1646), and '' Héraclius'' (performed 1647). He also wrote one comedy in this period, ''
Le Menteur ''The Liar'' (french: Le Menteur) is a farcical play by Pierre Corneille that was first performed in 1644. It was based on ''La Verdad Sospechosa'' by the Spanish-American playwright Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, which was published in 1634. Summary ...
'' (''The Liar'', 1644). In 1652, the play '' Pertharite'' met with poor critical reviews and a disheartened Corneille decided to quit the theatre. He began to focus on an influential verse translation of ''
The Imitation of Christ ''The Imitation of Christ'', by Thomas à Kempis, is a Christian devotional book first composed in Medieval Latin as ''De Imitatione Christi'' ( 1418–1427).''An introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious studies'', by Orlando O. Esp ...
'' by
Thomas à Kempis Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380 – 25 July 1471; german: Thomas von Kempen; nl, Thomas van Kempen) was a German-Dutch canon regular of the late medieval period and the author of '' The Imitation of Christ'', published anonymously in Latin in the ...
, which he completed in 1656. After an absence of nearly eight years, Corneille was persuaded to return to the stage in 1659. He wrote the play '' Oedipe'', which was favored by
Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...
. In the next year, Corneille published '' Trois discours sur le poème dramatique'' ('' Three Discourses on Dramatic Poetry''), which were, in part, defenses of his style. These writings can be seen as Corneille's response to the ''Querelle du Cid''. He simultaneously maintained the importance of classical dramatic rules and justified his own transgressions of those rules in ''Le Cid''. Corneille argued the Aristotelian dramatic guidelines were not meant to be subject to a strict literal reading. Instead, he suggested that they were open to interpretation. Although the relevance of classical rules was maintained, Corneille suggested that the rules should not be so tyrannical that they stifle innovation.


Later plays

Even though Corneille was prolific after his return to the stage, writing one play a year for the 14 years after 1659, his later plays did not have the same success as those of his earlier career. Other writers were beginning to gain popularity. In 1670 Corneille and
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 traditi ...
, one of his dramatic rivals, were challenged to write plays on the same incident. Each playwright was unaware that the challenge had also been issued to the other. When both plays were completed, it was generally acknowledged that Corneille's ''
Tite et Bérénice ''Tite et Bérénice'' is a heroic comedy by the 17th-century French playwright Pierre Corneille. It was premiered on 28 November 1670 by the troupe of Molière at the Palais Royal Theater in Paris, in the same month as the more famous tra ...
'' (1671) was inferior to Racine's play (''
Bérénice ''Berenice'' (french: Bérénice) is a five-act tragedy by the French 17th-century playwright Jean Racine. ''Berenice'' was not played often between the 17th and the 20th centuries. It was premiered on 21 November 1670 by the Comédiens du Roi ...
'').
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
was also prominent at the time and Corneille even composed the
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
''
Psyché Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή). Psyche may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...
'' (1671) in collaboration with him (and
Philippe Quinault Philippe Quinault (; 3 June 1635 – 26 November 1688), French dramatist and librettist, was born in Paris. Biography Quinault was educated by the liberality of François Tristan l'Hermite, the author of ''Marianne''. Quinault's first play w ...
). Most of the plays that Corneille wrote after his return to the stage were tragedies. They included ' (''The Golden Fleece'', 1660), ''
Sertorius Quintus Sertorius (c. 126 – 73 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who led a large-scale rebellion against the Roman Senate on the Iberian peninsula. He had been a prominent member of the populist faction of Cinna and Marius. During the l ...
'' (1662), '' Othon'' (1664), '' Agésilas'' (1666), and ''
Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...
'' (1667). He wrote his last piece '' Suréna'' in 1674; it was a complete failure. After this, he retired from the stage for the final time and died at his home in Paris in 1684. His grave in the
Église Saint-Roch The Church of Saint-Roch (french: Église Saint-Roch) is a 17th-18th-century French Baroque and classical style church in Paris, dedicated to Saint Roch. It is located at 284 rue Saint-Honoré, in the 1st arrondissement. The current church was ...
went without a monument until 1821.


Legacy

The dramatist, author and philosopher
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
created, with the support of the
Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
, a twelve-volume annotated set of Corneille's dramatic works, the ''
Commentaires sur Corneille The ''Commentaires sur Corneille'' is a work of literary criticism by the French Enlightenment writer and philosopher Voltaire, collecting and analysing the dramatic works of Pierre Corneille (1608–1684). It was first published in 1764, printe ...
''."Introduction" in ''Commentaires sur Corneille'' Critical edition by David Williams, in ''Œuvres complètes de Voltaire'' Volume 53 (Voltaire Foundation, Oxford) It was Voltaire's largest ever work of literary criticism. Voltaire's proposal to the Académie described Corneille as doing for the French language what
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
had done for Greek: showing the world that it could be a medium for great art. Voltaire was driven to defend classic French literature in the face of increasingly popular foreign influences such as
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
. This is reflected in the first edition of the ''Commentaires'', published in 1764, which focused on Corneille's better works and had relatively muted criticisms. By the second edition, published ten years later, Voltaire had come to a more negative assessment of Corneille and a stronger view on the need for objective criticism. He added five hundred critical notes, covering more works and taking a more negative tone."The commentary" in ''Commentaires sur Corneille'' Critical edition by David Williams, in ''Œuvres complètes de Voltaire'' Volume 53 p. 192 (Voltaire Foundation, Oxford) Critics' opinions of Corneille were already highly polarised. Voltaire's intervention polarised the debate further and some critics saw his criticisms as
pedant A pedant is a person who is excessively concerned with formalism, accuracy and precision, or one who makes an ostentatious and arrogant show of learning. Etymology The English language word ''pedant'' comes from the French ''pédant'' (used in ...
ic and driven by envy. In the 19th century, the tide of opinion turned against Voltaire.
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
expressed a preference for Corneille over Voltaire, reviving the former's reputation as a dramatist while diminishing the latter's."Preface" in ''Commentaires sur Corneille'' Critical edition by David Williams, in ''Œuvres complètes de Voltaire'' Volume 53 (Voltaire Foundation, Oxford) In Episode 31 of the 1989 video lecture series, “The Western Tradition”,
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
Professor
Eugen Weber Eugen Joseph Weber (April 24, 1925 – May 17, 2007) was a Romanian-born American historian with a special focus on Western world, Western civilization. Weber became a historian because of his interest in politics, an interest dating back to a ...
offers further commentary on Mssr. Corneille’s work: "But remember that Corneille’s plays were directed to an aristocracy that couldn’t be touched by sermons, by moralizing, by sentimentalism. So he touched them by showing the greatness of self-discipline and self-denial, of not doing what you ''want'', but what you ''should'' do. And note that Corneille didn’t say, as a Christian would, that doing your duty makes you ''good'', he said that doing your duty makes you ''great''. When Corneille presented the struggle between passion and duty, it wasn’t a new invention. What was new in Corneille was that he showed one legitimate passion opposed to another passion that was equally legitimate. It was important to elevate the debate from a contest between right and wrong to a contest between two rights. Because a gentleman who got into a fight could not admit that he was wrong, but if you started by stipulating that his motives were honorable, he would at least stop to consider your argument, which is what Corneille achieved by raising the debate to a higher plane. And the seventeenth-century people who loved his adventure stories felt vaguely that they were getting in them something they hadn’t quite known before. And they were right. They hadn’t known it before for the simple reason that it had gone out with the Greeks. Roman thought was too legalistic, Christian thought was too simplistic to tolerate the idea that there could be two rights, that there could be two sides to a conflict. This is a very sophisticated view, and it is only fit for very sophisticated minds. And the tiny minority of the seventeenth-century society that read Corneille, that saw Corneille’s plays, was hardly very sophisticated, but it was beginning to try at least."


List of works

* ''
Mélite ''Mélite'', or ''The False Letters'', is a comedy in five acts by Pierre Corneille. Written in 1625, it is Corneille's first play and debuted on stage in December 1629 in Berthaud’s Jeu de paume court, and was performed by the acting troupe ...
'' (1629) * '' Clitandre'' (1630–31) * '' La Veuve'' (1631) * '' La Galerie du Palais'' (1631–32) * '' La Suivante'' (1634) * '' La Place royale'' (1633–34) * '' La Comédie des Tuileries'' (by Les Cinq Auteurs, Act III by Corneille, 1635) * ''
Médée ''Médée'' is a dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Pierre Corneille in 1635. Summary The heroine of the play is the sorceress Médée. After Médée gives Jason twin boys, Jason leaves her for Creusa. Médée ...
'' (1635) * '' L'Illusion comique'' (1636) * ''
Le Cid ''Le Cid'' is a five-act French tragicomedy written by Pierre Corneille, first performed in December 1636 at the Théâtre du Marais in Paris and published the same year. It is based on Guillén de Castro's play ''Las Mocedades del Cid''. Castro ...
'' (1637) * ''
Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...
'' (1640) * ''
Polyeucte ''Polyeucte'' is a drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in ge ...
'' (1642) * '' La Mort de Pompée'' (1643) * '' Cinna'' (1643) * ''
Le Menteur ''The Liar'' (french: Le Menteur) is a farcical play by Pierre Corneille that was first performed in 1644. It was based on ''La Verdad Sospechosa'' by the Spanish-American playwright Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, which was published in 1634. Summary ...
'' (1643) * ''
Rodogune ''Rodogune'' is a tragedy in five acts by the French playwright Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramat ...
'' (1644) * '' La Suite du Menteur'' (1645) * '' Théodore'' (1645) * '' Héraclius'' (1647) * '' Don Sanche d'Aragon'' (1650) * ''
Andromède ''Andromède'' (''Andromeda'') is a French verse play in a prologue and five acts by Pierre Corneille, first performed on 1 February 1650 by the Troupe Royale de l'Hôtel de Bourgogne at the Théâtre Royal de Bourbon in Paris. The story is take ...
'', (1650) * '' Nicomède'', (1651) * '' Pertharite'', (1651) * '' L'Imitation de Jésus-Christ'' (1656) * '' Oedipe'' (1659) * '' Trois Discours sur le poème dramatique'' (1660) * (1660) * ''
Sertorius Quintus Sertorius (c. 126 – 73 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who led a large-scale rebellion against the Roman Senate on the Iberian peninsula. He had been a prominent member of the populist faction of Cinna and Marius. During the l ...
'' (1662) * ''Sophonisbe'' ( fr) (1663) * '' Othon'' (1664) * '' Agésilas'' (1666) * ''
Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...
'' (1667) * ''
Tite et Bérénice ''Tite et Bérénice'' is a heroic comedy by the 17th-century French playwright Pierre Corneille. It was premiered on 28 November 1670 by the troupe of Molière at the Palais Royal Theater in Paris, in the same month as the more famous tra ...
'' (1670) * ''
Psyché Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή). Psyche may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...
'' (with
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
and
Philippe Quinault Philippe Quinault (; 3 June 1635 – 26 November 1688), French dramatist and librettist, was born in Paris. Biography Quinault was educated by the liberality of François Tristan l'Hermite, the author of ''Marianne''. Quinault's first play w ...
, 1671) * '' Pulchérie'' (1672) * '' Suréna'' (1674)


See also

*
Cornelian dilemma A Cornelian dilemma (''dilemme cornélien'') (also spelt in translation with two "l"'s i.e. "Corneillian") is a dilemma in which someone is obliged to choose one option from a range of options all of which reveals a detrimental effect on themselves ...
, named after Corneille


References


Further reading

* Ekstein, Nina. ''Corneille's Irony''. Charlottesville: Rookwood Press, 2007. * Harrison, Helen. ''Pistoles/Paroles: Money and Language in Seventeenth-Century French Comedy''. Charlottesville: Rookwood Press, 1996. * Hubert, J. D. ''Corneille's Performative Metaphors''. Charlottesville: Rookwood Press, 1997. * Nelson, Robert J. ''Corneille: His Heroes and Their Worlds''. Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press The University of Pennsylvania Press (or Penn Press) is a university press affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The press was originally incorporated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 26 M ...
, 1963. * Yarrow, P.J. ''Corneille''. London: Macmillan & Co., 1963.


External links

* *
The Comédie Française Registers Project
includes performances from 1680 to 1791. *








Works by Corneille online

* * *
Cinna


{{DEFAULTSORT:Corneille, Pierre 1606 births 1684 deaths Writers from Rouen Members of the Académie Française French fantasy writers 17th-century male writers Burials at Saint-Roch, Paris