Why was Racine et Shakespeare important to French Romanticism?

Racine et Shakespeare (1823, 1825) was a significant Romantic manifesto in France because it challenged the rigid adherence to Neoclassical rules that had long dominated French literature.1

In this work, Stendhal argued that each historical period possesses its own "romantic" quality, asserting that Romanticism is a vital, evolving aspect of every cultural era rather than a fixed set of constraints. By contrasting the traditional French playwright Jean Racine—who strictly followed the unities of time and place—with William Shakespeare, Stendhal championed a more flexible approach to drama. He advocated for literature that could better reflect the complexities of modern life and human emotion, moving away from the restrictive, rule-bound conventions of the past.12