The most successful playwright of the reign of Louis XIII, Pierre Corneille was the author of thirty-three plays and of the most important study of dramatic aesthetics in his century, known as "Trois discours sur le poème dramatique" (Three Discourses on the Dramatic Poem). Although his plays include comedies and tragicomedies as well, Corneille's best-known works exemplify what is now usually called French classical tragedy. He strongly influenced the work of his younger rival, Jean Racine, who eventually eclipsed Corneille in the last third of the century. Corneille favored dramatic subjects centered on individual heroism, the dialectic of love and honor, discovery or transformation of individual identity, intergenerational differences, the contrast between political ideals and realpolitik, and the stern requirements of civic or family duty. His plots and characters are often extreme and, if taken out of the carefully constructed dramatic context, appear unbelievable. In sharp...