Esther | Page 2

writers of Greece and Rome.
2. FRENCH TRAGEDY.
French tragedy is purely a work of art. It does not claim to mirror
Nature in her infinite complexity; it is the professedly artificial
presentment, in the noblest form, of character unfolding itself by
means of one action, as far as possible in one place, and within the
limits of one day. It is bound by other formal and conventional rules: of
versification--such as the alternation of masculine and feminine pairs of
rhymes, and of taste--such as the avoidance of all "doing of deeds" on
the stage (e.g., all fighting and dying take place behind the scenes) and
the grouping of the fewest possible secondary parts around the one
central situation.
There are but three names in the front rank of writers of French tragedy:
Corneille (1606-1684), Racine (1639-1699), and Voltaire (1694-1778).
Their tragic masterpieces cover but one century of time, from
Corneille's Le Cid (1636) to Voltaire's _Mérope_ (1743). Before these
poets, French tragedy had not reached such a degree of perfection as to
be entitled to an identity of its own; after them and their few feeble
imitators, it was merged into a new form, and, as classical French
tragedy, ceased altogether to be.
Corneille purified both thought and language of the bad taste due to the
prevailing Spanish influence. He subordinated the actor to the play,
instead of composing, as his predecessors had done, lengthy
monologues for mere histrionic display. He did away with absurdly
tangled plots, and focussed the interest of tragedy on character.
Tragedy thus purified, he made immortal by the strength and elevation
of his moral teaching. His principal plays are Le Cid (1636), Cinna
(1639), Polyeucte (1640).
The new tragedy shaped by Corneille, Racine carried to its highest
perfection of form. Nothing in his plays betokens struggle, innovation,
or effort. His is the polished finish of ease and ripeness. Subtle
delineation of the passions, profound tenderness, faultlessness of style

and expression, distinguish him above all others. Yet this very
perfection of form robs him of some of the rough, wholesome vigor,
which makes Corneille's plays the most healthy reading in the French
language. Corneille speaks by the mouths of heroes, Racine speaks by
the mouths of men.
Voltaire is only to be placed by their side for the extraordinary skill,
amounting to genius, with which he followed in their footsteps. We
must not look to him for new departures, nor indeed for the lofty
authority of the one, or the harmonious richness of the other. Yet in
each particular he succeeds, by the force of art, in getting within
measurable distance of his models: his _Zaïre_ (1733) and _Mérope_
(1743) would hardly have been disowned by either.
After Voltaire, new times demanded new methods. The nineteenth
century reacted against the portraiture of character alone, and required
more complete representation of the action; it called for deeds enacted
on the stage, and not in the slips. Hence, a new form, with a new name,
_le drame_, has taken exclusive possession of the French tragic stage.
3. PRODUCTION OF "ESTHER."
In the year 1687, Mme. de Maintenon had founded at St. Cyr, in the
vicinity of the royal residence of Versailles, an establishment for the
education of two hundred and fifty girls, belonging to noble families in
reduced circumstances. To this institution she devoted much of her
time and care.
It was usual, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, to consider the
acting of plays a valuable aid to liberal education, suitable pieces being
often written by the heads of the institutions in which they were to be
performed. Dissatisfied with the compositions of Mme. de Brinon, the
first superior of St. Cyr, and objecting to the love-making that held
such a large place in the works written for the public stage, Mme. de
Maintenon applied to Racine, requesting him to write a play that should
be entirely suitable for performance by very young ladies. The courtier
poet could not refuse, and the result was the play of _Esther_,
performed in January, 1689, by pupils of St. Cyr, not one of whom was
over seventeen years of age.
The success of the play was startling. The king witnessed it repeatedly,
and insisted that all his court and guests should do likewise. The
performances of _Esther_, at St. Cyr, became great events for the

fashionable society of the day. This unlooked-for result was not slow to
alarm Mme. de Maintenon: their very success became a danger for the
youthful actresses. Accordingly, Mme. de Maintenon discountenanced
the resumption of Esther after the first series of performances was
concluded, and she entirely withheld from public representation the
second play, _Athalie_, written by Racine in the following year for the
same purpose. Subsequently Mme. de Maintenon banished dramatic
performances altogether from