Jean Racine

Japanese: ラシーヌ - らしーぬ（英語表記）Jean Racine

A genius who perfected French classical tragedy. He was baptized on December 29th in La Ferté-Milon, a small village in eastern France, and was born as the son of a salt tax official. He lost his parents at a young age and was raised penniless by his grandparents. This situation gave him a strong desire to succeed. The year before his birth, Jansenism (considered a heretic due to its pessimistic fatalism), a Christian sect based in the nunnery of Port-Royal, was persecuted, and hermits of the same sect who were the teachers of his father's cousin, fled to the village. Through this connection, his aunt became a nun, and in 1649 his grandmother also retired to the same place, and the orphan Racine was able to attend the elementary school run by the hermits free of charge and was educated, which became the basis for the sense of fatalism that was engraved in his faith and art. In 1653 he was sent to another academy where he advanced to the advanced level, and in 1655 he returned to the hermit's house and studied classical literature, mainly Greek, under Antoine Lemaistre (1608-1658). He gained the knowledge that would later become a source of information for him, and confirmed his desire to become a writer.

[Takashi Iwase]

Early activities

He completed his general education in Paris in 1658, and through a relative's connection, he worked as a choreographer in the mansion of a great nobleman, frequenting the literary world, where he came to know La Fontaine. The two tragedies he wrote between 1660 and 1661 were never performed, and the manuscripts were lost. It was a long poem celebrating the wedding of Louis XIV, and was known to the literary elder Chapelle. He went to Uzès in the south of France, where his uncle was the vicar general, to obtain a stipend as a monk, but after a protracted lawsuit he became tired of his life of writing and reading poetry, and returned to Paris in 1663, where he was ranked last in the list of writers for pensions, with poems such as "The Name of the Muses." In 1664, his friend Molière staged Racine's first tragedy, "La Thebaide," in which a family is destroyed by a power struggle between two princely brothers, and was unpopular for its gloominess and its reek of imitation of his predecessor Corneille. At the end of the following year, while preparing "Alexandre the Great," which focused on the love between the conqueror and the resisters, Molière's troupe thought that he was not suited to tragedy, so he had the play performed at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and committed a betrayal by recruiting the beautiful actress La du Parc (1633-68) from Molière's troupe to play the mistress and star in the lead role. This caused him to lose friends, but the work was well received. In 1666-67, Pierre Nicole the Hermit (1635-95) criticized the playwright, and he rebelled against his mentors.

[Takashi Iwase]

Success and glory

In 1667, he produced the five-act tragedy Andromaque, depicting the misfortune of the widow of the Trojan hero, which was a great success, with a natural and elegant verse that was inflected according to the content, and a fresh approach to depicting from the inside the progression to ruin due to fatalistic passion. After the sudden death of the actress La du Parc, he took the famous actress La Champmeslé (1642-89) as his mistress, and she starred in all his subsequent plays. After the comedy The Litigious Man in 1668, he attempted a political drama with Britannicus (1670), depicting the power struggle between the young tyrant Nero and the Queen Mother, and made progress in simplifying the material and structure (the above work premiered at the Théâtre de Bourgogne). In 1870, Racine competed with Corneille on the same theme of the tragic love between a Roman emperor and a foreign queen, and won "Bérénice" (premiered at the court), which combined a simple plot with a sense of fatalism, earning him the favor of Louis XIV and increasing his grants year by year. In 1873, "Mithridate," which intertwines love with the anti-Roman struggle of an Eastern king and his son, was well received. That same year, he was elected to the Academie. "Iphigénie" (premiered at the court) in 1874 was a story of a conflict between a king and a warrior over a princess who was designated as a sacrifice by an oracle in the camp of a Greek expeditionary force. The harmony of the verse reached its peak and the work was a success, but the number of his enemies also increased. His masterpiece "Phèdre," produced in 1877, was a tragedy about a queen who is tormented by an illicit love for her ex-wife's son, but due to a scheme by opponents, he was forced to compete with a second-rate poet and the work ended up being unsuccessful. After that, he gave up writing plays and married Catherine de Romanet, a daughter of an old family, and had two sons and five daughters. He also worked hard as a historian appointed by the king, and accompanied the king to various places. In 1879, he visited his aunt at Port-Royal and made peace with the Prohibitionists. After that, in 1894, he met with the Archbishop of Paris, the leader of the Prohibitionists, to mediate and defend them.

[Takashi Iwase]

Later years

In 1688, at the request of Madame de Maintenon, who was the de facto queen, he wrote Esther, a three-act tragedy with chorus based on the Old Testament, for the students of the Saint-Cyr school, which she presided over. It was well received when it was performed in front of the king. In 1691, he also performed Athalie in front of the king. In 1694, he wrote the lyrics for Hymn. Between 1794 and 1799, he wrote Historia de Port Royal (published posthumously in 1742). Around 1798, the king's favor fell on him, and he died of liver disease in Paris on April 21, 1799. According to his will, he was buried at Port Royal, but in 1711, he was reburied in the Church of Saint-Etienne in Paris.

[Takashi Iwase]

"The Complete Plays of Racine, edited and translated by Takehiko Ibuki and Saku Sato, 2 volumes (1965, Jinbun Shoin)" ▽ "Racine, edited and translated by Rikiei Suzuki (World Classical Literature Series, Volume 48, 1965, Chikuma Shobo)" ▽ "Britannicus and Three Other Works, translated and edited by Moriaki Watanabe (The Complete Plays of Racine, Volume 2, 1979, Hakusuisha)" ▽ "Racine Theory, by Giraudeau, translated by Takashi Iwase (included in Giraudeau Studies, translated and edited by Rikiei Suzuki and Naoya Uchimura, 1957, Hakusuisha)" ▽ "Racine and Greek Tragedy, by Tomoo Tobari (1967, University of Tokyo Press)" ▽ "The Living Eye, by Starobinski, translated by Hajime Ohama (included in Racine and the Aesthetics of the Gaze, 1971, Risosha)" ▽ "The Hidden God, Part 4" by Goldman, translated by Yamagata Yorihiro and Nada Tsuyoshi (included in "Racine", 1973, Shakai Shisosha)" "Racine and Classical Tragedy" by Nidel, translated by Konno Kazuo (Hakusuisha, Quessais-Ju Bunko)

[References] | Andromache | Phèdre | Berenice

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

フランス古典悲劇を完成した天才。東部フランスの小村ラ・フェルテ・ミロンで12月29日受洗、塩税官の息子として生まれる。幼時父母を失い、無一文で祖父母に養育された。この境遇のため出世欲が強い。誕生の前年ポール・ロアイヤルの尼僧院を拠点とするキリスト教の一派ジャンセニスム（悲観的宿命論のため異端視された）が弾圧され、父の従兄弟(いとこ)の師で、同派の隠者らが村へ逃れてきた。その縁で、叔母が尼僧になり、1649年祖母も同地に隠棲(いんせい)、孤児のラシーヌは隠者が営む小学院に無償入学し教育され、彼の信仰と芸術に宿命感が刻まれる基となった。53年他の学院へ送られ上級に進み、55年隠者のもとへ戻り、ルメートルAntoine Lemaistre（1608―58）についてギリシアを主とする古典文学を研究、後の取材源となる教養を積み、文学志望を固めた。

［岩瀬　孝］

初期の活動

1658年パリで普通教育を修了、親類の縁故で大貴族邸の雑務に従事、文壇に出入りして、ラ・フォンテーヌを知る。60年から61年に書いた2編の悲劇は未上演で、原稿は散逸。ルイ14世の婚礼を祝う長詩で、文壇の長老シャプランに知られる。僧侶(そうりょ)の職禄(しょくろく)を得るため伯父が司教総代理を務める南仏ユゼスに行くが、1件の訴訟が長引き、詩作読書の生活に倦(う)み、63年パリに戻り、『詩神の盛名』などの詩で年金下賜作家表の末席に入る。64年友人モリエールが、ラシーヌの最初の悲劇『ラ・テバイッド』を上演、これは王子兄弟の権力闘争により一族が滅びる悲劇で、暗さと先輩コルネイユの模倣臭とで不評。翌年末、征服者と抵抗者各自の恋を重点とした『アレクサンドル大王』を準備中、モリエール一座が悲劇に不向きと考え、ブルゴーニュ座Hôtel de Bourgogneに上演させ、モリエール一座の美人女優ラ・デュ・パルクLa du Parc（1633―68）を愛人として引き抜き主演させるという背信を犯した。それにより友交を失うが、作品は歓迎された。66～67年隠者ニコルPierre Nicole（1635―95）が劇作家を非難したのに反発し、恩師らとも決裂する。

［岩瀬　孝］

成功と栄光

1667年、トロヤの英雄の未亡人の悲運を描く5幕悲劇『アンドロマック』は、内容に応じた屈折をもつ自然で優美な韻文で、宿命的情念による破滅への進行を内面から描くという新風で大成功した。女優ラ・デュ・パルクの変死後は名女優ラ・シャンメーレLa Champmeslé（1642―89）を愛人とし、以後の全作品に主演させる。68年喜劇『訴訟狂』ののち、若き日の暴君ネロと母后の権力闘争を描く『ブリタニキュス』（1670）で政治劇を試み、素材と構成の簡素化に前進した（以上はブルゴーニュ座初演）。70年ラシーヌはローマ皇帝と異国の女王との悲恋という同一主題でコルネイユと競作して勝った『ベレニス』（宮廷初演）で、簡潔な筋立てと宿命感の総合を果たし、ルイ14世の寵(ちょう)を得て下賜金が年々増大する。73年、東方の王父子の反ローマ闘争に恋を絡めた『ミトリダート』が好評。その年アカデミー会員に選ばれる。74年の『イフィジェニー』（宮廷初演）は、ギリシアの遠征軍の陣中で神託の犠牲に指名された王女をめぐり王と勇士が対立する物語で、韻文の諧調(かいちょう)は絶頂に達して成功したが、彼の敵対派も増えた。77年の傑作『フェードル』は、前妻の息子への邪恋に苦しむ王妃を主人公とした悲劇で、反対派の謀略により二流詩人と競作となり不入りに終わった。以後、劇作をやめ旧家の娘カトリーヌ・ド・ロマネCatherine de Romanetと結婚、2男5女をもうける。また王の任命した修史官の職に励み、各地に王と同行する。79年ポール・ロアイヤルへ叔母を訪ねて同派と和解。以後94年、禁圧派の中心パリ大司教に面会して取りなすなどその擁護に努める。

［岩瀬　孝］

晩年

1688年、事実上の王妃マントノン夫人の求めで、その主宰するサン・シール女学院の生徒用に、『旧約聖書』に取材した合唱付き3幕悲劇『エステル』を書き、御前上演は好評を博した。91年同じく『アタリー』を御前上演。94年『聖歌』を作詞。94～99年の間に『ポール・ロアイヤル史要』（没後刊1742）を執筆。98年ごろ王の寵が彼から離れ、99年4月21日、パリで肝臓病のため死亡。遺言によってポール・ロアイヤルに埋葬されたが、1711年、パリのサンテティエンヌ教会に改葬された。

［岩瀬　孝］

『伊吹武彦・佐藤朔編訳『ラシーヌ戯曲全集』全2巻（1965・人文書院）』▽『鈴木力衛編訳『ラシーヌ』（『世界古典文学大系　第48巻』1965・筑摩書房）』▽『渡辺守章訳編『ブリタニキュス他3篇』（『ラシーヌ戯曲全集　第2巻』1979・白水社）』▽『ジロドウ著、岩瀬孝訳『ラシーヌ論』（鈴木力衛・内村直也訳編『ジロドウ研究』所収・1957・白水社）』▽『戸張智雄著『ラシーヌとギリシャ悲劇』（1967・東京大学出版会）』▽『スタロバンスキー著、大浜甫訳『活きた眼』（『ラシーヌと視線の美学』所収・1971・理想社）』▽『ゴルドマン著、山形頼洋・名田丈夫訳『隠れたる神　第4部』（『ラシーヌ』所収・1973・社会思想社）』▽『ニデール著、今野一雄訳『ラシーヌと古典悲劇』（白水社・文庫クセジュ）』