Jean-Baptiste Racine (, ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western tradition. Racine was primarily a tragedian, producing such "examples of neoclassical perfection" as Phèdre, Andromaque, and Athalie. He did write one comedy, Les Plaideurs, and a muted tragedy, Esther for the young. Racine's plays displayed his mastery of the dodecasyllabic (12 syllable) French alexandrine. His writing is renowned for its elegance, purity, speed, and fury, and for what American poet Robert Lowell described as a "diamond-edge", and the "glory of its hard, electric rage". Racine's dramaturgy is marked by his psychological insight, the prevailing passion of his characters, and the nakedness of both plot and stage. Biography Racine was born on
Jean-Baptiste Racine (; 22 de diciembre de 163921 de abril de 1699) fue un dramaturgo francés, uno de los tres grandes dramaturgos de Francia del siglo XVII, junto con Molière y Corneille, así como una importante figura literaria en la tradición occidental. Racine fue principalmente un tragediano, produciendo tales "ejemplos de perfección neoclásica" como Phèdre, Andromaque, y Athalie. Él escribió una comedia, Les Plaideurs, y una tragedia mutilada, Esther para los jóvenes. Las obras de Racine mostraron su dominio del dodecasyllabic (12 sílabas) francés alexandrino. Su escritura es famosa por su elegancia, pureza, velocidad y furia, y por lo que el poeta americano Low Robert describió como un "diamante-ge", y la "gloria de su dureza, electricidad".