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Writing under he auspices of France's radical and omnipotent king, Louis XIV, Racine created settings that reflect all the aura and majesty of his monarch's rule. But, within this framework, he developed themes of ruthless and unrelenting tragedy, and he did so in language of a force, vigour and eloquent simplicity that has never been equalled in French drama. John Cairncross's translation of these three late plays, Iphigena, Phaedra and Athalia, is written in blank verse that shows great sensitivity to the grandeur of the original French.
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