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Book Excerpt: n, the history of thy life. This just punishment of impertinent language will serve as no small embellishment for it. Scene V.--DON DIEGO. O rage! O despair! O inimical old age! Have I then lived so long only for this disgrace? And have I grown grey in warlike toils, only to see in one day so many of my laurels wither? Does my arm [i.e. my valor], which all Spain admires and looks up to [_lit._ with respect]--[does] my arm, which has so often saved this empire, and so often strengthened anew the throne of its king, now [_lit._ then] betray my cause, and do nothing for me? O cruel remembrance of my bygone glory! O work of a lifetime [_lit._ so many days] effaced in a day! new dignity fatal to my happiness! lofty precipice from which mine honor falls! must I see the count triumph over your splendor, and die without vengeance, or live in shame? Count, be now the instructor of my prince! This high rank becomes [_lit._ admits] no man without honor, and thy jealous pride, by this foul [_lit._ remarkable] in Read More

Corneille virtually founded seventeenth-century French tragedy: Le Cid and the three subsequent tragedies gave the genre its models and much of its theory. Many critics have created a synthetic picture of "Cornelian heroism" by seeing these four plays as representative of all Corneille's work, thus neglecting the sixteen others that followed. Now the tide has turned: scholars are trying to analyse the meaning of Cornielle's work with close reference to historical events and political ideas.

A Study Guide for Pierre Corneille's "Le Cid," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama For Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama For Students for all of your research needs.