CHAPTER VII.
FRENCH DRAMA.[1]
the formation of french tragedy and comedy—sixteenth-century drama—larivey and montchrestien—the popular drama—experiments in the provinces—hardy and valleran lecomte—hardy's tragedies, tragi-comedies, pastorals, and mythological plays—beginning of polite drama—théophile and racan—influence of italian pastoral, and of spanish tragi-comedy—mairet—the unities—'sophonisbe' and the revival of tragedy—corneille—'mélite' and the development of comedy—early plays—the 'cid' and the flowering of tragedy—battle of the 'cid'—triumph of the unities—corneille's great tragedies—'le menteur'—comedy under spanish influence—corneille's last plays—relation of french tragedy of corneille and racine to greek tragedy and to romantic tragi-comedy—rotrou—burlesque comedy—'les visionnaires'
The early decades of the seventeenth century are not less of an epoch in the history of French drama thanSources of
French Tragedy. of French prose and verse. The classical tragedy of Jodelle and Garnier is a very different thing from the classical tragedy of Corneille and Racine, and the explanation of the difference is
- ↑ The sketch given of the rise of the drama is based mainly on the work of Eugène Rigal, who has cleared up many obscurities and corrected errors in his Alexandre Hardy et le théâtre français à la fin du XVIe et au commencement du XVIIe Siècle, Paris, 1889; Le Théâtre
