The True Sequel to the Cid

Nicolas-Marc DesfontainesProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 97K words
Chapters: 10

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.La vraye suitte du Cid by Nicolas-Marc DesfontainesAuthor: Desfontaines, Nicolas-Marc, -1652,Language: French, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Oct 3, 2006

Editor's review

This is a seventeenth-century dramatic text written in French. As a sequel to Corneille's Le Cid, it holds unique documentary value in the reception history of French classical drama. Readers can observe how the theatrical world of the time re-created around a masterpiece that sparked controversy, and appreciate how the sequel handles plot continuity and the arrangement of characters' fates. This electronic edition comes from Project Gutenberg, a digitization of public-domain resources; the text itself has not been modernized or collated, making it suitable as research material rather than popular reading. It is recommended to read it against the context of the original Le Cid and the classical controversy to reveal its significance. For readers unfamiliar with seventeenth-century French or French drama history, the direct reading threshold is relatively high; they may first use translations or related introductions to build background knowledge.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars studying French classical drama and the Le Cid controversy
Linguistics learners who need original seventeenth-century French texts
Readers interested in sequels to Corneille's works and reception history
Libraries and digital humanities projects collecting public-domain dramatic literature

Not a good fit for

General readers who want to understand the Le Cid story through a Chinese translation
Beginners with weak French who find early modern spelling difficult
Rigorous researchers seeking fully collated or scholarly annotated editions

Reading tips

Read the original Le Cid and background materials on the controversy first before entering this sequel.
Use modern French translations or annotated editions to go through scene by scene and sort out plot continuity and character changes.
Record how the author handles the original's ending as primary material for reception history analysis.

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

Is this book the official sequel to Le Cid?

No. It is Desfontaines's sequel to Corneille's Le Cid, part of the contemporary theatrical phenomenon of re-creating popular plays, not an authorized official sequel by the original author. It should be viewed as an independent document of reception history.

Can I read this book without knowing French?

The original is in seventeenth-century French, with spelling and grammar differing from modern French; readers without French will find direct reading quite difficult. It is recommended to first build background through Chinese translations of Le Cid and introductions to drama history, then consider reading in comparison.

Does this electronic edition have modern annotations?

This edition comes from Project Gutenberg's public-domain digitization, mainly providing the original text and typically not including modern scholarly collation or detailed annotations. For research, it is advisable to use it alongside authoritative collated editions or related research literature.

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About the author

Nicolas-Marc Desfontaines Author · French · 1610–1652

Nicolas-Marc Desfontaines (1610–1652) was a seventeenth-century French playwright, novelist and actor, born in Rouen around 1610 and died in Angers in 1652; his real name was Nicolas Mary. He wrote some thirteen plays, four of which are held in this collection: L'illustre comédien, ou Le martyre de Sainct Genest, La vraye suitte du Cid (a sequel to Corneille's Le Cid), Eurimedon, and L'illustre Olympie, ou Le st Alexis. His dramas draw largely on religious martyrdom and legendary romance, blending tragic and comic tones and following the rhetorical conventions of classical French theatre; his sequel to Le Cid also shows his active place in Parisian theatrical circles. Public information on his early education and personal life remains limited and awaits further verification.