Racinian words of power

Abstract

What is the nature of power in Racinian tragedy? Few questions have engendered so many conflicting interpretations. Yet while many studies have approached the theme of power in Racinian theatre, few have done justice to the depth and complexity of the language of power. 1 Racine's words of power dramatise areas of tension inherent in the very concept of power itself and thereby give an insight into the complexity and ambiva-lence of its nature and operation. Without wishing either to impose twentieth-century definitions on seventeenth-century texts or to presume the sophistication of modem dictionaries, this paper takes as its starting point the ambiguous distinction between the two key words of power, pouvoir and puissance.