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A review by eb00kie
Le Cid by Pierre Corneille
3.0
When I first heard this story, some decade ago, Le Cid had been edited for children. I don't exactly recall much beyond how he kicked invader ass, but I do believe he might have had a shotgun, an anachronism present in many other of my mother's retellings.
Reading this in original, one can't help but notice that it was probably popular through contrast only. At a time when dramatic work was under Unity of Time, Place and Action rules (had to take place in the same spot, within 24 hours, and to have only one conflict) of Cardinal Richelieu's Academie Française, this ebullient, almost anglo-saxon piece marched to the beat of a different drummer - a live one... metaphorically.
On the other hand, it is morally questionable in the service of romantic melodrama (as opposed to it being for fun or messing with someone's head). Also, while in the 17th century it was not only acceptable but desirable to have one's characters pontificate, dare I say "rant", the object of their aplomb is mainly the perfect love the main characters feel for each other. I enjoy nuance, variety and brevity; the notion of a perfect love characterised as the mutual strength of infatuation alone is boring.
The long version, in the works, contains:
and and caused the famous querrelle du cid between Corneille and fellow authors which apparently resulted in him toeing the party line after this.
Reading this in original, one can't help but notice that it was probably popular through contrast only. At a time when dramatic work was under Unity of Time, Place and Action rules (had to take place in the same spot, within 24 hours, and to have only one conflict) of Cardinal Richelieu's Academie Française, this ebullient, almost anglo-saxon piece marched to the beat of a different drummer - a live one... metaphorically.
On the other hand, it is morally questionable in the service of romantic melodrama (as opposed to it being for fun or messing with someone's head). Also, while in the 17th century it was not only acceptable but desirable to have one's characters pontificate, dare I say "rant", the object of their aplomb is mainly the perfect love the main characters feel for each other. I enjoy nuance, variety and brevity; the notion of a perfect love characterised as the mutual strength of infatuation alone is boring.
The long version, in the works, contains:
Spoiler
Its morality is unreliable. For example, the King's justice is partial. When Count strikes Don Diego, he is only asked to apologise because he is the King's Champion and the prince's teacher. While that is perhaps acceptable, we are left to wonder what the king would have done seeing as the Count refused to apologise. That is not so in the second case, where the King is initially happy to give Rodrigue some punishment for the murder, he, his daughter and Elvira all proceed to tell Chimène to give up her revenge after he saves them from the Moors.and and caused the famous querrelle du cid between Corneille and fellow authors which apparently resulted in him toeing the party line after this.