Esther
By Jean Racine
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Jean Racine
Jean Racine, né le 22 décembre 1639 à La Ferté-Milon et mort le 21 avril 1699 à Paris, est un dramaturge et poète français. Issu d'une famille de petits notables de la Ferté-Milon et tôt orphelin, Racine reçoit auprès des « Solitaires » de Port-Royal une éducation littéraire et religieuse rare.
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Esther - Jean Racine
ESTHER
BY JEAN RACINE
TRANSLATED BY ROBERT BRUCE BOSWELL
eBook ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-4899-8
Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-4898-1
This edition copyright © 2013
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION TO ESTHER.
CHARACTERS.
PROLOGUE.
ACT I.
ACT II.
ACT III.
INTRODUCTION TO ESTHER.
Esther—the first of Racine's two sacred dramas—is a tragedy in the Aristotelian acceptation of the term, as being concerned with a great and noble action, and calculated to excite generous pity and fear, though the denouement is a happy one for the heroine and her compatriots. It was composed by Racine when he was in his fiftieth year, and acted at the Maison de Saint Cyr in 1689 (see biographical notice, p. xv). The incidents are in strict accordance with the Biblical narrative, but our poet was obliged to invent the character of Elizabeth in order to furnish Esther with the confidante deemed so indispensable in the French drama of the period, while Hydaspes is made to perform a similar office for Haman. The fulsome prologue does not enhance our respect for the too courtly bard, who (speaking in the name of Piety!) extols bigotry, and singles out for special commendation the capital blunder which Louis XIV. had recently committed (1685) in the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He praises the Dauphin for virtues which were only too conspicuous in him by their absence. His flattery is indirectly extended to Madame de Maintenon in the opening lines of his play, the terms in which allusion is made to Vashti's disgrace being such as to recall the circumstances under which the former had supplanted Madame de Montespan in the king's favour; and the choral odes abound in delicate compliments to the distinguished patroness of the Maison de Saint Cyr.
Racine rejects the testimony of Herodotus to the purely monotheistic nature of the Persian religion. In this he has some ground of justification; but in representing the Persians as idolaters he is certainly wrong, and probably mistaken also in identifying Ahasuerus with Darius, son of Hystaspes. In Esther
Racine for the first time introduces a Chorus, as in the ancient Greek drama, whose songs set to music by Moreau gratefully relieved the monotony of the somewhat stilted dialogue. The unity of place is, moreover, observed less rigidly than usual, a change of scene (though still within the limits of the royal palace) accompanying the rise of the curtain for each of the three Acts.
CHARACTERS.
AHASUERUS, King of Persia.
ESTHER, Queen of Persia.
MORDECAI, Esther's Uncle.
HAMAN, Favourite of Ahasuerus.
ZERESH, Hainan's Wife.
HYDASPES, Chamberlain of the Inner Palace.
ASAPH, another of the King's Officers.
ELIZABETH, Confidential Friend of Esther.
TAMAR, a Jewess, one of Esther's Attendants.
Guards of King Ahasuerus.
Chorus of Young Jewish Maidens.
The scene is laid at Shushan, in the King's Palace. The Prologue is spoken by Piety.
PROLOGUE.
PIETY. From the Divine Creator's blest abode
I to this dwelling-place of Grace descend
Which Innocence, my constant comrade, haunts,
And finds no surer refuge 'neath the skies.
Here, far from tumult, by my hand is form'd
In holiest offices a rising race;
I nourish in their hearts the fruitful seed
Of virtues that may sanctify the world.
A King, my guardian, a victorious King,
Has trusted to my care this precious charge.
'Tis he has gather'd here these timid doves,
Else widely scatter'd, without help or guides:
Raising this palace at