Evolution of Pierre Corneille's dramaturgy from the middle of his life to his last plays

高乃依偏爱浪漫主义，或者我们可以说，巴洛克风格。在他追求戏剧事业的同时，他开始寻求更新他的戏剧艺术，即使在他写了古典杰作之后。1643年底，他推出了古典形式的悲剧《庞皮之死》，从人物的心理来看，这确实是一部浪漫主义戏剧。他对浪漫主义的倾向在被乔治·库顿称为“怪物三部曲”的戏剧中表现得非常突出：罗多贡、西奥多和赫拉克利乌斯。剧作家承认在他的“考试”，他喜欢罗多贡西纳或乐西德。的确，这出悲剧的构图很好，特别是在第五幕，一种恐怖的感觉占了主导地位，这是由一杯毒药从一只手传到另一只手引起的。在投石党运动时期，高乃依出版了三部戏剧，和前几部一样浪漫，但都与当时的政治气候密切相关。在Don Sanche d'Aragon中，他为Anne d'Autriche和Mazarin之间的关系辩护，其中一个可耻的谣言在世界上流传。相反，《尼科美德》是一部悲剧，他颂扬了投石党的英雄孔德。而佩尔萨里特则建议反叛的孔德与皇家权力和解。1659年，他与奥狄佩一起重返戏剧界，奥狄佩的戏剧手法与索福克勒斯截然不同。后来，他写了几部我们可以定义为婚姻和政治悲剧的戏剧，其中的主角完全依靠婚姻来夺取权力：奥顿，阿提拉和阿提拉。他在这些剧作中的戏剧技巧反映了法国社会的变化。皇家权威的加强不再允许贵族诉诸暴力。我们在他晚年的戏剧中注意到一种悲观主义，这使我们想起拉罗什福科的人生观。

Corneille has a preference for the romantic, or we could say, the baroque, at bottom. As he pursuits his dramatic career, he begins to seek to renew his dramatic art, even after he has written classical masterpieces. At the end of 1643, he presents La Mort de Pompee, tragedy in classical form, which really is a romantic play, judging from the psychology of the characters. His inclination for the romantic is displayed very strikingly in the plays which Georges Couton calls "trilogie des monsters" : Rodogune, Theodore, and Heraclius. The dramatist recognizes in his "Examen" that he prefers Rodogune to Cinna or to Le Cid. Indeed, this tragedy is well composed, especially, in the fifth act, where dominates a feeling of terror, aroused by the cup of poison that passes from hand to hand. In the time of the Fronde, Corneille publishes three plays, being as romantic as the preceding ones, but which are strongly connected with the political climate of the period. In Don Sanche d'Aragon, he defends the relations between Anne d'Autriche and Mazarin of which a scandalous rumor is circulating in the world. On the contrary, Nicomede is a tragedy where he exalts Conde, hero of the Fronde. And Pertharite suggests the reconciliation of the rebellious Conde with the royal power.In 1659, he returns to the theater with OEdipe, whose dramaturgy is quite different from that of Sophocles. Later, he writes several plays which we can define as matrimonial and political tragedies, where the protagonists have exclusively recourse to marriage to seize power : Othon, Agesilas, and Attila. His dramaturgy in these plays reflects the changes of the French society. The strengthening of royal authority does not permit the aristocracy to resort to violence any longer. We remark in the plays of his old age a pessimism that reminds us of La Rochefoucauld's view of life.