biography
pronunciation:
[kaw(r)nay]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1606–84)
|
| biography:
| Playwright, born in Rouen, NW France. He trained as a lawyer, but in 1629 went to Paris, where his comedy Mélite was highly successful, and he became a favourite of Cardinal Richelieu. Other comedies followed, then in 1636 Le Cid, a classical tragedy, took Paris by storm. Other major tragedies were Horace (1639), Cinna (1639), and Polyeucte (1640). Le Menteur (1642, The Liar) entitles him to be called the father of French comedy as well as of French tragedy. A master of the alexandrine verse form, he wrote many other plays, and in 1671 he joined Molière and Quinault in writing Psyché, a play employing music, incorporating ballet sequences, and written in lyrical language. After his marriage in 1640 he lived in Rouen until 1662, then settled in Paris. |
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