Corneille, Pierre

(1606-1684)

   dramatist

   Born in Rouen, the son of a government official, Pierre Corneille, one of the leading French dramatic writers of the 17th century, served as a government official but soon turned to drama and poetry as a career. His first dramatic work was a comedy, Mélite (1629), soon followed by a tragic comedy, Clitandre (1630), then by four other comedies, La Veuve, La Galerie du palais, La Suivante, and La Place royale (1631-34). Recognized by Cardinal Richelieu, Corneille became one of five writers who enjoyed his patronage, eventually receiving a government pension. Corneille soon published his first tragedy, Médée (1635), then L'Illusion comique (1636), a fantasylike work in which he gave a marvelous description of the world of the theater. This was soon followed by Le Cid (1636), which provoked a controversy over the form of classic drama, finally settled only by the intervention of the Académie Française at the orders of Richelieu. Quite prolific as a playwright in the following years, Corneille published Horace (1640), Cinna (1641), and Polyeucte (1642), all set in ancient Rome. These important plays, along with Le Cid, created the standards for French tragedy, to be further developed by his younger contemporary jean racine. Also a master of comedy, Corneille's Le Menteur (1643) is considered the best of that genre before those of molière. Like the earlier Mélite, it is a comedy of manners, a form Corneille himself originated. In 1647, Corneille became a member of the Académie française and, with his large family, including his brother, Thomas Corneille, who was also a successful playwright, moved to Paris. Established as a major dramatist, Corneille saw his next productions—Don Sanche d'Aragon (1649), Andromède (1650), and Nico-mède (1651)—well received. After his next work, Pertharite (1651), failed, he stopped writing for the stage for seven years. Later, with the government's encouragement, he returned to playwriting and produced a number of works, mainly tragedies (Tite et Bérénice, 1670, Psyché, with Molière, 1670; Suréna, 1674). Corneille also wrote several discourses on the art of drama.