Britannicus

Jean Racine · 1669 CE · Play · French · Enlightenment

A young emperor who has governed well for three years has his stepbrother's betrothed seized in the night, and the court waits to see which counsellor he listens to by morning. His mother, who made him, finds that the instrument she built no longer needs her. Racine wrote it to answer critics who said he could handle nothing but love, and gave the French stage its portrait of a tyrant in the hour he becomes one.

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Attributes

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