Phaedra
by Jean Racine

Name: Phaedra
Brand: Jean Racine
SKU: 9780156757805
Rating: 3.69 (21410 reviews)

Highlights

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120 minsUnit Set/Multiple SettingsFrench

What readers are saying

Readers find 'Phaedra' to be a powerful exploration of morality and desire, steeped in both classical mythology and the human condition. Many appreciate the poetic translation and its accessibility for literature classes, highlighting its enduring relevance and quality. The play's depth and emotional complexity resonate well with the audience, making it a compelling read.

Powerful exploration of moralityExcellent translationAccessible for literature classesEmotionally complex charactersPrint quality issues noted by some

Synopsis

A brilliant translation of one of the most influential works of French theater, Phaedra is rendered into movingly expressive verse by the Pulitzer Prize–winning translator Richard Wilbur.

Jean Racine’s last and greatest tragedy is based on a legend that has intrigued dramatists as far back as Euripides and Seneca.

Phaedra, the second wife of Theseus, the heroic king of Athens, is consumed with an illicit passion for Hippolytus, her stepson.

Given word that her husband is dead, she confesses her love for Hippolytus and is rebuffed.

When Theseus turns out to be alive after all, Phaedra connives in a lie to convince her husband that it was Hippolytus who attempted to seduce her.

The stage is set for fury and grief, guilt and remorse.

In his seventeenth-century interpretation, Racine replaced the ornate, stylized tragedy based on classic Greek form with human-scale characters and actions convincingly motivated by human emotions.

Acclaimed translator Richard Wilbur describes in his lucid, informed introduction the method by which he remained faithful to Racine’s form and intention.

The result is a triumph of translation, poetry, and theater.

ThemesPhaedra Phaedra (Greek mythology)--Drama PQ1898 .A38 1987

Press Reviews

"A brilliant new translation of Racine's last, and, greatest work, rendered into movingly expressive verse by the Pulitzer Prize-winning translator of Racine and Molière. Here the subject at issue is the tragic fate of a woman of noble lineage who is undone by passion, jealousy and guilt"
— and the implacable vengeance of the gods