The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-02-04
PIERRE cORNElLLE, GREAT
CHRISTIAN DRAMATiST.

Pierre Corneille is one of the first
Christian dramatists of all times. He
gave to the French stage its first mas.
terpiece, the brilliant tragedy of lie
Cid" which did more than any other
drama to determine for two centuries
the character of the theater all over
Europe. His work was pure and ele-
waiting. He pursued lofty ideals, show.
ing men as they should be" and rep,
resenting characters whose heroism
sense of duty and readiness to sacri-
flee themselves contain lessons of the
highest morality.
COrneille was born in Paris in 1906
and educated at the Jesuit college in
ROuen. He studied law at Caen and
was admitted to the bar, hut he soon
abandoned this vocation for the pur.
suit of literature, decision prompted
chiefly by the success of his first play
Nellie" in 1929. Several other plays
followed, and the ability of the young
man was soon so firmly established
that in 1888, he was engaged by Car.
dinal Richelieu to be one of 1.-The five
authors" whose functions consisted in
revising and polishing the plays writ.
ten by the Cardinal. Corneille, how.
ever, was too Independent to get along
easily with the autocratic cardinal.
playwright, and he was dismissed in
1886 and returned to Rouen.
At this time, the craving for order
and uniformity which made itself felt
in every branch of literature was seiz.
ing the theatrical world. In 1929
Mairet had produced his ''Sophonisbe, .
in which the unities are for the first
time preserved-unity of action, unity
of time, unity of place. The frame.
work of the classical tragedy was
created; what was needed was a writ
er of genius to fill in the structure.
Pierre Corneille rose to the occasion
The appearance of lie Cid' marked
the birth of a new dramatic art, a
distinct change, inasmuch as the will
of the characters created and domi.
mated the situation. Lofty sentiment
strong dialogue and rapid action are
combined in this great play depicting
the central figure in the long struggle
between Christian Spain and the
Moorish hosts.
The remarkable success of the play
aroused Richelieu's anger and ieal
ousy to such an extent that the
French academy, which was much in
debted to the great cardinal, was
obliged to criticize the play in pub
lie pamphlet, written under command
The public, however, admired lie Cid
none the less.
Corneille, assured of his power, SET
to work on new plays, and, after foul
years, brought out the Roman plays
Horace" and China" These were
followed by 'Polyeucte," a Christian
tragedy, and perhaps the most per
feet of all Corneille's plays. Although
the subject was taken from Roman
history, the treatment shows traces OF
the controversies on Divine Grace.
In the next ten years, Corneille pro
duced ten more plays, and the success
OF some of these was such that he
was elected to the French academy il
| f647. But "Pertharite," which he
brought out in 1863, was such a fail
ure that he resolved to quit the stage
and retreated to Rouen, where he be
gan. at the solicitation of Queen Anne
of Austria, to translate the limitation
of Christ"
| He produced little in the last decade
of his life, dying in Paris in 1884.
Corneille was a true Christian. Fo,
years he served as church warden i,
the Church of Saint-Saveur in Rouen
and discharged his duties most relig
iously. Toward the end of his life. hi
sold the house in which he was born
to give a dowry to the daughter, VIII,
had entered the Order of st. Dominic
i