Racine’s seventh play,
Bajazet,was premiered at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in the first week of January 1672 and immediately became a sensation. Shortly thereafter, the famous aristocrat and epistolary writer Mme de Sévigné commented on her eagerness to see the tragedy that had created such a commotion and excited the admiration of so many theatre-goers: “Du bruit de Bajazet mon âme importunée fait que je veux aller à la comédie” [Because of the rumours about Bajazet, my disquieted soul makes me want to go to the theatre] (
Correspondance,1:415). This excitement can be partially explained by the shift in Racine’s dramaturgical approach compared with his previous work,
Bérénice,in 1670. Moving away from a simple, uneventful, but piteous love story, Racine had now created an…
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Citation: Capmartin, Sophie. "Bajazet". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 August 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6433, accessed 23 November 2024.]
