Mithridates

Racine, Jean, 1639-1699Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.4

Word count: 89K words
Chapters: 9

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Mithridate by Jean RacineAuthor: Racine, Jean, 1639-1699,Language: French, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Dec 25, 2008

Editor's review

Racine's Mithridate is one of the representative works of French classical tragedy, drawing on the history of Mithridates VI of Pontus's struggle against Rome. The play strictly observes the three unities, with a tightly knit plot and concentrated conflict; it advances through an interweaving of political maneuvering and emotional entanglement, displaying Racine's precise grasp of character psychology and his profound revelation of themes such as power, betrayal, and family bonds. This edition is the French original released by Project Gutenberg, preserving the language of the original and suitable as a primary text for the study of French literature and classical drama. Reading it requires some foundation in French, but even with a translation at hand for comparison, one can still feel the musicality of Racine's syntax and the tension of tragedy. For readers studying seventeenth-century French drama, classical aesthetics, or Racine's creative development, this is an indispensable text; for general literature lovers, it can serve as one of the introductory plays to French classical tragedy.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars and students studying French classical drama and Racine's work
Literature lovers with some reading ability in French who wish to read the original text
Theater readers interested in tragedies on Greco-Roman historical subjects
Playwrights or theater practitioners who need to analyze the three unities and tragic structure

Not a good fit for

Casual readers with no French at all who do not plan to consult a translation
Readers who prefer the narrative pace of modern fiction and are impatient with verse dialogue
People who only want a quick plot summary and are unwilling to read the text closely

Reading tips

Read a plot summary and historical background first, then enter the verse dialogue to lower the threshold of understanding.
Read scene by scene alongside a Chinese translation, noting how Racine advances conflict through brief dialogue.
Highlight monologues and confrontation passages to appreciate the linguistic rhythm of classical tragedy.
After finishing the play, return to Act One to observe how foreshadowing and character positions are laid out.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can I read this edition without knowing French?

This edition is the French original with no modern annotations. Readers without French are advised to read alongside a Chinese or English translation, using the original as a reference for language and rhythm rather than the sole entry point.

Is this play suitable for staging?

Yes. With a concentrated cast, a single setting, and a high density of conflict, it meets the requirements of the classical stage and is often used in teaching productions that study the three unities and tragic performance, though the verse lines demand considerable linguistic skill from the actors.

What historical background should I know before reading?

A knowledge of Mithridates VI's long wars with Rome and the situation of the Kingdom of Pontus is sufficient. The play takes artistic liberties with historical fact, focusing on character relationships and psychological conflict, so there is no need to read Roman history in full beforehand.

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About the author

Racine, Jean, 1639-1699 Author

Jean Racine (1639–1699) was one of the most important tragic poets of the French classical period. The library holds five of his works, whose representative titles include Phaedra, Mithridate, Esther, Athaliah and De Pleiters. His tragedies mostly draw on ancient myth, history and biblical stories, focusing on the intense conflicts of passion, duty and fate within his characters. His language is concise and his structure rigorous, with especially profound psychological portrayal; he is regarded as a model of French classical tragedy and has exerted a lasting influence on later European drama. Public information available here on his life and nationality is limited, so this introduction focuses on the subjects and style of his works.