Jean-Baptiste Racine

Jean-Baptiste Racine is one of the three major playwrights of French Neoclassicism (with Moliere and Pierre Corneille). He was born in Northern France in 1639, but an orphan by 1643. He was raised by his grandparents, but after his grandfather died in 1649, Racine went with his grandmother to live at a convent.

His formal education was steeped in the classics at Petites écoles de Port-Royal. The institution was heavily influenced by the Jansenist movement, a sect of Catholicism, which emphasized human depravity and folly, the necessity of divine grace, and the concepts of predestination. These theological beliefs would influence Racine throughout his work, especially as he developed the complex psychologies of his characters.

Racine's first staged play was The Thebans, produced in 1664 by Moliere's troupe at Paris's Théâtre du Palais-Royal. His second play (also produced by Moliere's company) was Alexandre el Grand in 1665. Shrewdly, motivated by the success of Alexandre, Racine arranged to have the rival Hôtel de Bourgogne stage the play. The decision was largely prompted by Moliere's reputation as a comic and satiric writer, while the Hôtel de Bourgogne was known for producing tragedies--the genre in which Racine excelled.

Many of Racine's plays used classical themes and stories, such as Andromaque (1667), Iphigénie (1674), and Phaedra (1677). Most notable in Racine's work is his use of the alexandrine line (a line of twelve syllables divided by a caesura) and limited vocabulary (only 4000 words). This consistently rigorous structure, coupled with the limitations of English rhyme, has made Racine's works notoriously difficult to translate. His characters are complex and adhere to the principles of tragedy in their flaws, psychology, and motivations--these character shortcomings are ultimately what brings about the hero's downfall.

In his personal life, Racine married Catherine de Romanet in 1679. Her piety helped revive his Jansenist views, and he left the theatre. He was then employed as court historiographer for King Louis XIV, then moved on to the Académie Française (the cultural organization tasked with matters of the French language). In 1674, he was titled as "the Treasurer of France," then "an ordinary gentleman of the king" in 1690. Around this same time, Racine returned to the theatre to pen two more tragedies: Esther (1689) and Athalie (1691).

Racine died in 1699 after a bout of cancer. He was buried at Port-Royal, and after the site was destroyed a decade later, his remains were moved to the church Saint-Étienne-du-Mont in Paris.