frlit1-4, Exercise 2: Corneille and Racine

Model answer:

A common summary is that Corneille showed people as they should be, strong-willed heroes facing a choice such as love against honour, and Racine showed them as they are, driven by passion and guilt. It simplifies, but it gives a first way into the difference. The quarrel over Le Cid shows the state's involvement because the newly founded Academie francaise was asked to judge whether the play broke the rules, which produced a long public controversy.

Check the details against a reference work.