Jean Racine: Biography, Facts and Career
Who is Jean Racine? An evergreen, sourced profile: biography, key facts and career.
Jean-Baptiste Racine ( rass-EEN, US also rə-SEEN; French: [ʒɑ̃ batist ʁasin]; 22 December 1639 – 21 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 tradition and world literature. Racine was primarily a tragedian, producing such "examples of neoclassical perfection" as Phèdre, Andromaque, and Athalie. He did write one comedy, Les Plaideurs, and a muted tragedy, Esther, for the young. Racine's plays displayed his mastery of the dodecasyllabic (12 syllable) French alexandrine. His writing is renowned for its elegance, purity, speed, and fury, and for what American poet Robert Lowell described as a "diamond-edge", and the "glory of its hard, electric rage". Racine's dramaturgy is marked by his psychological insight, the prevailing passion of his characters, and the nakedness of both plot and stage.
Quick facts about Jean Racine
- Full name: Jean Racine
- Born: 1639-12-01
- Nationality: Kingdom of France
- Known as: Author
- Wikidata ID: Q742
Profile compiled from public Wikipedia and Wikidata data. Details can change over time.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Jean Racine?
Jean-Baptiste Racine ( rass-EEN, US also rə-SEEN; French: [ʒɑ̃ batist ʁasin]; 22 December 1639 – 21 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 tradition and world literature.
What nationality is Jean Racine?
Jean Racine is Kingdom of France.
When was Jean Racine born?
Jean Racine was born on 1639-12-01.
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