principles concentrated the interest of the play upon a single central
situation, in order to emphasize which, subordinate characters and
complicating under-plots were avoided as much as possible. There was
little or no action upon the stage, and the events of the plot were
narrated by messengers, or by the main characters in conversation with
confidantes. Further, the "dramatic unities" of time and place, as well
as of action, were held to be binding.

One result of these rules was to give an extraordinary importance to
the speeches; and it is in the eloquence of these, in the grandeur and
dignity of the versification, and in the lofty moral elevation of the
characters, that Corneille excels. All of these qualities are admirably
exemplified in "Polyeucte"; and in the conduct of the leading personages
one may perceive the most persistent trait of this dramatist's treatment
of heroic character--the conquest of the passions by the reason and the
will. "Among the masterpieces of Corneille," says Paul de Saint-Victor,
"'Polyeucte' is assuredly the greatest; and nothing in all his dramas
equals the extraordinary beauty of the character of 'Pauline.'"





POLYEUCTE



CHARACTERS

FELIX, Governor of Armenia.