Pierre Corneille summary

Pierre Corneille, (born June 6, 1606, Rouen, France—died Oct. 1, 1684, Paris), French poet and playwright. He studied law and was a king’s counselor in Rouen (1628–50). He wrote his first comedy, Mélite (performed 1629), before he was 20; other comedies followed. He responded to the call for a new approach to classical tragedy by writing Médée (1635) and then Le Cid (1637), an instant success that established him as the creator of French classical tragedy; the play has come to be regarded as the most significant in the history of French drama. His next tragedies, Horace (1641), Cinna (1643), and Polyeucte (1643), have joined Le Cid as Corneille’s “classical tetralogy.” He returned to comedy with The Liar (1644), which occupies a central place in French classical comedy. From 1660 he wrote one play a year, ending with the tragedy Suréna (1674).