Jean Racine

Born in December 1639, Jean-Baptiste Racine became one of three towering playwrights in 17th-century France alongside Molière and Corneille, though his territory was almost entirely tragedy. He mastered the twelve-syllable alexandrine and bent it into what Robert Lowell later called a "diamond-edge" - verse known for elegance, purity, speed, and a hard electric rage. Works like Phèdre, Andromaque, and Athalie became examples of neoclassical perfection, marked by psychological insight, prevailing passion, and a nakedness of both plot and stage. He wrote one comedy, Les Plaideurs, and one muted tragedy for younger audiences, Esther, but the blood work was where he lived. He died in April 1699, leaving a body of drama that stands as a cornerstone of the Western literary tradition.