In the following excerpt, Yarrow provides a close study of Corneille's characterization.

Turnell has written widely on French literature and has made significant translations of the works of Jean-Paul Sartre, Guy de Maupassant, Blaise Pascal, and Paul Valèry. In the following essay, originally published in 1938 in Scrutiny, he presents a broad overview of the principal themes, characters, and verse style of Corneille's dramas, comparing them to their counterparts in the works of Racine.

In the following essay, Stone scrutinizes the stylistic and thematic similarities of The Cid, Horace, Cinna, and Polyeucte.

In the following essay, Barnwell considers “some of the ways in which Corneille orders and constructs the successive episodes of his plays and some of the connexions between that arrangement and speech.”

In the following essay, McFarlane explores stylistic aspects of The Widow, particularly Corneille's use of language, action, and characterization.

In the following essay, Hawcroft asserts that it is possible to view Clitandre as “an attempt to engage metaphorically with the theoretical debates around 1630, dominated as they were by the twenty-four hour rule and the concept of theatrical illusion.”

In the excerpt below from his book-length study of Corneille and his plays, Abraham surveys the dramatist's early comedies, from Mélite to L'Illusion comique.

In the following essay, Goulbourne explores the visual aspects of Corneille's early plays.

In the following essay, Knutsen views Corneille's early plays as “a series of variations in comic form.”

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

In the following essay, Mallinson examines Corneille's attitude toward his early comedies.

In the following essay, Pocock examines Corneille 's Suréna, a drama "loved by those who value formal perfection."

In the following essay, Carlin discusses the innovative role of women in Corneille's comedies.

In the following essay, Reed considers Corneille's emphasis on visual imagery and Christian theology in Rodogune.

In the following essay, Hubert discusses the defining characteristics of Titus and Bernice and Pulcheria.

In the following essay, Gaines contends that the usurpation of social rank plays a prominent role in The Maidservant.

Sainte-Beuve is considered the foremost French literary critic of the nineteenth century. Of his extensive body of critical writings, the best known are his "lundis"—weekly newspaper articles which appeared over a period of several decades, in which he displayed his knowledge of literature and history. While Sainte-Beuve began his career as a champion of Romanticism, he eventually formulated a psychological method of criticism. Asserting that the critic cannot separate a work of litera...

A longtime correspondent for the Observer, the Economist, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Cairncross has translated several plays by Racine, Molière, and Corneille into English. In the following essay, he surveys the principal attributes of Cornelian drama, particularly its themes, characterization, and preoccupations.

Fowlie is among the most respected and comprehensive scholars of French literature. His work includes translations of major poets and dramatists of France (Molière, Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Claudel, Saint-John Perse) and critical studies of the major figures and movements of modern French letters (Stephane Mallarmé, Marcel Proust, Andre Gidé, the Surrealists, among many others). Broad intellectual and artistic sympathies, along with an acute sensitivity for French writi...

In the following essay, Gunter investigates the character of Vinius in Otho, maintaining that he can be viewed “as a mock hero whose main function is to serve as a dramatic and psychological foil for Othon.”

Called "one of the masters of dramatic research," Nicoli is best known as a theater historian whose works have proven invaluable to students and educators. Nicoli's World Drama: From Aeschylus to Anouilh (1949) is considered one of his most important works; theater critic John Gassner has stated that it was "unquestionably the most thorough [study of its kind in the English language [and] our best reference book on the world's dramatic literature." Another of his a...

In the following essay, Hopkins elucidates the elements of classical tragedy which are parodied in The Liar.

In the following excerpt from the major nineteenth-century treatment of Corneille in English, Lodge determines and assesses Corneille's contribution to French drama.

In the essay below, Harwood-Gordon examines Corneille's poetic style.

In the following excerpt from an essay originally written in approximately 1672, Saint-Evremond decries Corneille's descent from the effective illumination of character to lachrymose sentimentality.