Exploring Le Cid: Corneille’s Masterpiece of Love and Duty
Honour, Romance, and a Whole Lot of Drama Ah, Le Cid—the 17th-century French play that basically invented the phrase, “It’s complicated.” Pierre Corneille’s most famous tragedy (or “tragicomedy” if we’re being technical) is a high-stakes soap opera with honour duels, star-crossed lovers, and enough existential angst to make a philosophy major jealous. It’s a story…