THE MOTHERS IN RACINE’S PLAYS

Abstract

There is much about Jean Racine that is mysterious. Fate seems to have willed that this man, the greatest figure of French classical literature, should remain enshrouded in mists which patient research has only partly dispersed. History has left us very few facts with which to work, and yet the curious mind cannot be content to turn away, unconcerned, merely because correspondence is missing or dates are uncertain. The mm is too fascinating! And so we continually return to his works, poring over them seeking some insight into a genius whose writing is every bit as stirring to-day as when it first appeared during the reign of Louis XIV. It was while pondering his plays, in the light of what little we do know of his life, that a striking anomaly became evident to us— Jean Racine, who has given us characterizations of such impressive mothers as Andronaque, Jocaste, .'.grippine, Clytemnestre and Phedre, lost his own mother when he was scarcely one year old. bhy did Racine return so persistently to works in which mothers arc so fundamentally important? Do those roles, spaced as they are from the beginning to the end of his major creative period, mark stages in the development of this great playwright’s turbulent life? ..hat forces filled the vacuum left in his psyche by the lack of a mother? To find answers to such questions, wq shall consider each of the mother-roles in its setting. To begin ii with, there is Jocastc struggling to re-unite her warring sons in La fh^baide. -o shall next consider Andronaque, in the play of that name, as sho strives to protect the life of her son while regaining faithful to the memory of her dead husband. Thirdly, our interest will centre on Agripeine as she plots her devious ways through the life of her son Heron in Britannicus. .e then investigate Clyterfinestre*s determined battle to protect her daughter in Iphigdnie. Finally, we shall study the highly complex Phedrc, guilt-ridden because of her incestuous love for her step-son Hippolyte in Phedrc. We believe firmly that these roles offer us a penetrating insight into the astonishingly creative nind of Jean ilacinc. The search for answers to our questions has proved fruitful, whether they be acceptable or not, the quest has been its own reward. The preparation of this thesis has been an engrossing experience, not only because of the nature of its contents but also because of the opportunity it has afforded to work under the direction of Dr. Arthur V.’. Patrick of McMaster University. His guidance and encouragement have been of the greatest value.