The Cid

Pierre Corneille (1606-1684) was a French tragedian, one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Moliere and Racine. He has been called "the founder of French tragedy" and produced plays for nearly forty years. He produced what is considered his finest play in 1637: Le Cid. Even though it was an enormous popular success, it was the subject of a heated polemic over the norms of dramatic practice, known as the Querelle du Cid. Corneille's popularity grew. In the mid to late 1640s, he produced mostly tragedies, including La Mort de Pompee, Rodogune, Theodore, and Heraclius. He also wrote one comedy in this period: Le Menteur. In 1652, the play Pertharite met with poor critical reviews and a disheartened Corneille decided to quit the theatre. After an absence of nearly eight years, he was persuaded to return to the stage in 1659. Even though he was prolific after his return, writing one play a year for the 14 years after 1659, his plays did not have the same success as those of his earlier career and he retired in 1674.