Pierre Corneille Critical Essay | Critical Essay by H. T. Barnwell

Critical Essay by H. T. Barnwell

SOURCE: Barnwell, H. T. “Corneille in 1663: The Tragedy of Sophonisbe.” Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature 11, no. 21 (1984): 575-92.

In the following essay, Barnwell provides an interpretation of Sophonisba in light of Saint-Evremond's critical comments on Corneille and his play.

Of Corneille's tragedies, Sophonisbe is one of the least esteemed both by his contemporaries and by the critics who have followed them over the past three hundred years. Yet the dramatist himself thought it one of his best plays. Was he mistaken? Or, at least, does this tragedy deserve its poor reputation? With few exceptions (e.g. Serge Doubrovsky: “cette pièce méconnue et, à bien des égards, très belle, un des chefs-d'oeuvre de Corneille”; and Marie-Odile Sweetser makes a detailed analysis), most modern critics either virtually pass over it (André Stegmann devotes two pages to it after the dozen accorded to Sertorius, and R. J. Nelson gives it...
(read more)