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Text: English, French
About the Author
Jean Racine was born in 1639 at La Ferté Milon, sixty miles east of Paris. Orphaned at an early age, he was educated at the Little Schools of Port Royal and the pro-Jansenist College of Beauvais. He soon reacted against his austere mentors and by 1660 he had begun to write for the theater and had been introduced to the court of Louis XIV. In 1677, when he had ten plays to his credit and was high in favor with both the court and the public, he abandoned the theatre, which was regarded as far from respectable by the Church, and joined the Establishment as Royal Historiographer. It was only after a silence of twelve years that he wrote his last two plays (both on religious subjects), Esther and Athaliah. He died in 1699.
Margaret Rawlings, in private life Lady Barlow, is a distinguished English actress who is also a French scholar. She was born in Japan and educated at Oxford High School for Girls and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Miss Rawlings has been a professional actress since 1927 and has played many Shakespearean and Shavian heroines in addition to innumerable other important roles. In 1957 Campbell Allen produced in London a theatre-in-the-round version of Phèdre, and Miss Rawlings’ performance in the title role was widely acclaimed by the critics.
Margaret Rawlings, in private life Lady Barlow, is a distinguished English actress who is also a French scholar. She was born in Japan and educated at Oxford High School for Girls and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Miss Rawlings has been a professional actress since 1927 and has played many Shakespearean and Shavian heroines in addition to innumerable other important roles. In 1957 Campbell Allen produced in London a theatre-in-the-round version of Phèdre, and Miss Rawlings’ performance in the title role was widely acclaimed by the critics.
Margaret Rawlings, in private life Lady Barlow, is a distinguished English actress who is also a French scholar. She was born in Japan and educated at Oxford High School for Girls and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Miss Rawlings has been a professional actress since 1927 and has played many Shakespearean and Shavian heroines in addition to innumerable other important roles. In 1957 Campbell Allen produced in London a theatre-in-the-round version of Phèdre, and Miss Rawlings’ performance in the title role was widely acclaimed by the critics.
Margaret Rawlings, in private life Lady Barlow, is a distinguished English actress who is also a French scholar. She was born in Japan and educated at Oxford High School for Girls and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Miss Rawlings has been a professional actress since 1927 and has played many Shakespearean and Shavian heroines in addition to innumerable other important roles. In 1957 Campbell Allen produced in London a theatre-in-the-round version of Phèdre, and Miss Rawlings’ performance in the title role was widely acclaimed by the critics.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bad Romance,
By Amaranth "music fan" (Northern California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Phedre: Dual Language Edition (Penguin Classics) (French Edition) (Paperback)
"Phedre" is a timeless classic. Based on Euripides' Hippolytus (Focus Classical Library),Phaedra falls into forbidden love with her stepson, Hippolytus. In the Greek original, Hippolytus is a repressed prude, punished by Aphrodite for his hubris. In Jean Racine's French neo-classical version, Phaedra is the center of the tragedy, pining for Hippolytus while he pines for Aricia. There is deus ex machina in the Greek original, but even in Racine's version, the characters live in a god-haunted world. Theseus calls on Neptune to destroy his son; Phaedra lives in fear and trembling before Venus.Margaret Rawlings, herself an actress, undertook the task of translating Racine's alexandrines into contemporary verse. Sometimes it works, and other times her translation sounds grandiose with its "thee" and "thou." It's helpful that there's French on one side and English on the other. Rawlings comes up with the novel interpretation that Phaedra and Hippolytus should be close in age, with Theseus as the older man. In recent performances of "Phedre", however, the leading ladies are middle-aged (such as Dame Helen Mirren, Lady Diana Rigg) It's usually Phaedra as cougar, with Hippolytus as the younger man (he is a hunter). "Phedre" is finally receiving the recognition it deserves with performances at the American Conservatory Theater and movie theater simulcasts from the National Theater in London. "Phedre" is a masterpiece of human passion.
13 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Racine's version of the myth of Phaedrus and Hippolytus,
By Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (COMMUNITY FORUM 04) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
This review is from: Phedre: Dual Language Edition (Penguin Classics) (French Edition) (Paperback)
This year I am using Jean Racine's "Phaedra" as the one non-classical text in my Classical Greek and Roman Mythology Class (yes, I know, "Classical" makes "Greek and Roman" redundant, but it was not my title). In Greek mythology, Phaedra was the half-sister of the Minotaur who was married to Theseus after the hero abandoned her sister Ariadne (albeit, according to some versions of what happened in Crete). Phaedra fell in love with her step-son Hippolytus, who refused her advances. Humiliated, she falsely accused him of having raped her. My students read "Phaedra" after Euripides's "Hippolytus" as part of an analogy criticism assignment, in which they compare/contrast the two versions, which are decidedly different, to say the least. In the "original" Greek version Hippolytus is a follower of Artemis, and the jealous Aphrodite causes his stepmother to fall in love with him. Phaedra accuses Hippolytus of rape and then hangs herself; Theseus banished his son who is killed before Artemis arrives to tell the truth. In Racine's version Hippolytus is a famous hater of women who falls in love with Aricia, a princess of the blood line of Athens. When false word comes that Theseus is dead, Phaedra moves to put her own son on the throne. In the end the same characters end up dead, but the motivations and other key elements are different. While I personally would not go so far as to try and argue how Racine's neo-classical version represents the France of 1677, I have found that comparing and contrasting the two versions compels students to think about the choices each dramatist has made. Both the similarities and the differences between "Hippolytus" and "Phaedra" are significant enough to facilitate this effort. Note: Other dramatic versions of this myth include Seneca's play "Phaedra," "Fedra" by Gabriele D'Annunzio, "Thesee" by Andrea Gide, and "The Cretan Woman" by Robinson Jeffers.
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