Phédre by Jean Racine

Hippolytus is so different! He actually falls in love with a woman, which I saw as a complete turnaround from Seneca's Phaedra. However, I could still see his hesitation in such an endeavor (falling in love) because he was still the same pure, virtuous character. He still abstained from women initially, but was swept away with Aricia. I found that to be the start of beautiful love story, but maybe that is just the romantic in me. After all, Hippolytus still gets ripped to shreds by the sea monster, so it doesn't end well. I found this Phaedra to be very knowingly selfish, yet I liked her more than Seneca's representation. She seemed to know that she was not fully all there as far as her conscious decision-making went, and she absolutely understood the complications of loving her son-in-law. She was very pettily jealous and seemed extremely human in the sense that her flaws were normal. I liked this Theseus a lot more because he seemed a lot more dedicated to Phaedra, as Hippolytus mentions in the beginning by saying Theseus has not done adulterous acts since "his youth" and since "Phaedra". However, that makes Phaedra's deeds that much more despicable. It is one thing to want to cheat on an unloving husband, but to cheat on the opposite seems so selfish and heinous.

On an interesting little side note, the following comes from http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/theatre_journal/v055/55.1cody.html

Jean Racine's Ph�dre et Hippolyte was first performed in 1677, with Racine's mistress, La Champmel�e, in the title role. It was a terrible flop. Pradon, a mediocre writer loyal to Racine's neo-classical nemesis, Corneille, had simultaneously produced his own version of the play and momentarily triumphed. Racine left Paris and the stage for twelve years. During this time, he became the king's historiographer, married, and devoted himself to religious practice. But when the Comedie Fran�aise was first founded in 1680, Ph�dre was the first play to be produced. Long considered the masterpiece of French classical literature, Ph�dre, along with Racine's other eleven plays have not fared well outside of France. The neo-classical Alexandrine is a near-impossible poetic convention to translate.