Theatre
Britannicus
Jean Racine · 1669
Opening lines
Albine
QUOY ? tandis que Neron s’abandonne au ſommeil
Faut-il que vous veniez attendre ſon réveil ?
Qu’errant dans le Palais ſans ſuite & ſans eſcorte
La mere de Ceſar veille ſeule à ſa porte ?
What? While Nero gives himself up to sleep,
Must you come and wait for him to wake?
That, wandering in the Palace without retinue or escort,
Caesar's mother should keep watch alone at his door?
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from fr.wikisource.org
Synopsis
In Rome, Nero has reigned only a short while, raised to the throne by his mother Agrippina, who fears losing her power over him. He has just had Junia abducted, who is betrothed to Britannicus, the son of the emperor Claudius, and falls in love with her in turn. Urged on by Narcissus, who betrays Britannicus while pretending to serve him, he demands that Junia turn the young prince away, while he watches the scene hidden. Agrippina, for her part, sides with Britannicus.
Context
First performed at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in 1669, the play is its author's first tragedy drawn from Roman history, a ground on which he came to rival Corneille. Published in 1670, it opens with a preface in which the author invokes Tacitus and defends “a simple action, charged with little matter”. There he presents his Nero as “a nascent monster”, who has not yet set fire to Rome.
Who it is for
A tragedy in five acts and in alexandrines, compressed into a single day; it is better to know the ties of the imperial family beforehand.
Prizes and reception
It is today, after Andromaque, the play by its author most often performed at the Comédie-Française.
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