1 8 Prosser Hall Frye 



icism of the Renaissance had formulated the unities of time and 

 place. Racine, in the presence of these canons, had found him- 

 self confronted with the problem of restoring, to a literature 

 tumid with romantic elements, the simplicity in which it was 

 wanting, by disengaging from the miscellaneous mass a unity of 

 action to correspond with the conventions of his time. This was 

 his contribution. And I have no hesitation in calling it original, 

 and the drama to which he successfully appropriated it classic, 

 though to that tragedy I shall have certain moral reservations to 

 make a little later. 



In the meanwhile it will not be amiss to devote a few words 

 to the subject of his versification — or more exactly, his dramatic 

 style, for as a foreigner I do not feel myself competent to criti- 

 cize the facture of his verses. And here, again, though his orig- 

 inality may not be so vital and important as in the case of his 

 innovations upon the dramatic structure of his immediate prede- 

 cessor, still it is not to be overlooked or neglected. Now, dramatic 

 poetry, naturally, is confined to the business of drama. And 

 drama, as far as it expreses itself in language — that is, as far as 

 it is a matter of poetry at all — expresses itself in dialogue — or 

 exceptionally, in soliloquy. But dialogue, while always seeking 

 something of the illusion of speech, will draw its individuality 

 from the situation which calls it forth. Typically, the Corneil- 

 lean situation in its significant scenes was essentially a disputa- 

 tion, wherein each character represented his own thesis and 

 strove to convince or argue down his respondent or respondents, 

 as may be seen by the scenario of Polyeucte. Hence the char- 

 acteristic temper of Corneille's dramatic style is oratorical and 

 its most elevated note is that of eloquence. As a matter of 

 course, no tragedy in its serious moments — and Racine's is na- 

 turally no exception — can afiford to be less than eloquent at the 

 least, or it would sink to ordinary conversation and prose. But 

 the peculiarity of Corneille is that he is so exclusively eloquent 

 in his loftiest reaches, so seldom or never anything else. His 

 political orations are concededly the best things he does. How 

 greatly they were admired, how compelling their vogue is shown 

 by the fact that Racine has executed one of the most prominent 



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