Racine, Jean Baptiste

French dramatist. He was an exponent of the classical tragedy in French drama, taking his subjects from Greek mythology and observing the rules of classical Greek drama. Most of his tragedies have women in the title role, for example Andromaque (1667), Iphigénie (1674), and Phèdre (1677).

An orphan, Racine was educated by Jansenists at Port Royal (see Jansenism), but later moved away from an ecclesiastical career to success and patronage at court. His ingratiating flattery won him the success he craved in 1677 when he was appointed royal historiographer. After the failure of Phèdre in the theatre he no longer wrote for the secular stage but, influenced by Madame de Maintenon, wrote two religious dramas, Esther (1689) and Athalie (1691), which achieved posthumous success.