Secondly, it is important to study the figure of Rodrigue and the code of honour according to which he takes revenge. He has received from his father the education of a nobleman, inculcating on him the duties to his family and his country according with the feudal code of honour. Therefore « L’honneur vous en est dû : je ne pouvais pas moins,/Étant sorti de vous et nourri par vos soins »; he has no choice when his father asks him to take revenge on don Gomès, disobeying the laws and risking the possibility of the king getting angry. However, the same values which put a premium on courageous conduct, glory and honour are the ones that induce him to “marcher […] où l’honneur te demande”, defeating the Mores and giving Rodrigue the chance of showing his king his absolute devotion to the State. The play emphasizes his role as a hero, “à ce nom seul de Cid ils trembleront d’effroi”, foreshadowing a glorious future of war and conquest at the service of the king. At a private level, it is his personal accomplishment; however at a wider level the victory has assured him impunity, showing don Fernand “que ce qu’il perd au Comte il le recouvre en [lui]”. By reinforcing the absolute power of the king and his government through the defeat of the enemies of the kingdom, Rodrigue transforms his individual destiny into a collective one, widening the perspective of the play through the inclusion of a clear political dimension into it. By this time, the idea of absolutism has been obviously instituted in the minds and actions of the characters: Rodrigue has thoroughly adhered to the new providential order defined as “raison d’état” by don Arias when he assures that « qui sert bien son roi ne fait que son devoir », and corroborated by him when he says that « … Je feray seulement le devoir d’un sujet ». The arrogant and revolutionary feudal times have therefore finished, leaving space for the servants of the king, which even if still winning fame, leave their affairs concerning honour and pride aside.
Thirdly, Corneille assured that Le Cid was the most romantic of all his plays. However, not even in this case he allowed love to play the main role on the story. It is undeniable that Le Cid builds upon the conception of love as a spur to heroic virtue; stimulating the desire to be worthy of one’s maîtresse through avoiding dishonour. However, love comes always at the bottom of the hierarchy of values that govern the behaviour of the characters, and in some cases it is not possible to conciliate gloire, sang, rang, and raison d’état with love. The Infante constitutes the best example of how love is determined by the relation of the individual with the state, while her attitude helps reinforce the political dimensions of the play’s themes. She represents the highest form of self-sacrifice, putting duty to the country and to her father’s subjects above her desires. It is possible to identify the theme of love as a source of potential disorder, since it threatens to cut across and undermine the rigid hierarchy of social classes: The Infante’s love for Rodrigue is a threat to her royal dignity:
Un noble orgueil m’apprend qu’étant fille de Roi
Tout autre qu’un Monarque est indigne de moi (93-4)
At the same time, love also interferes in other characters decisions and behaviours, becoming a hindrance more than a spur to honour: Rodrigue is briefly tempted by suicide as the best way to satisfy both his father and his maîtresse, however rectifying as a response to his ideals of glory and honour: “L’amour n’est qu’un plaisir, et l’honneur un devoir”. Therefore, he dismisses love as a factor impeding his duty, and realizes that his public esteem, pride of caste and reputation are still more important to the maintenance of love. The following verses point again at the relation between the individual and the state as background theme of the play and justification for Rodrigue’s actions:
Mourir sans tirer ma raison!
Rechercher un trépas si mortel à ma gloire !
Endurer que l’Espagne impute à ma mémoire
D’avoir mal soutenu l’honneur de ma maison !
In Chimène’s case, she also subordinates love to the interest of the State, according to the aphorism “the order of the State is the order of love”. In despite of what she feels for Rodrigue, in her claim for justice to the king she argues that he should punish Rodrigue on the interest of the State. At the same time, when Rodrigue goes to her house to offer his life to her, Chimène clearly states that she is not pursuing his death, but that what she wants is justice and only the State, through the figure of the king, can provide justice to her.
In conclusion, even if Le Cid is characterized by the richness of Corneille’s vision of the different human motives and values behind their actions, decisions and predicaments, his masterpiece of 1636-7 is, even more than an account of love, revenge or honour, an explanation of the complex, extensive and deep relation existent between the individual and the State. Corneille was therefore able of creating a highly elaborated and deep account of social behaviour in a play that has never lost the popularity, remaining the ideal introduction to the “Golden Age” of French dramatic literature.
Word Count: 1470
Bibliography
Corneille, P.; Le Cid, Larousse, Paris, 2004.
Couton, G.; Corneille et la Tragédie Politique, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1984.
Descotes, M.; Les Grands Rôles du Théatre de Corneille, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1962.
Maurens, J.; La tragédie sans tragique, Librairie Armand Colin, Paris, 1966.
Nurse, P. H. (Ed.): Corneille; Le Cid, Harrap, London, 1978.
Quoted from a letter of Montdory to Balzac, January 18, 1637. Extracted from the introduction by Peter H. Nurse to: Corneille, P., Le Cid, Harrap, 1978, London, p. 9.
Act I, scene 3, l. 157-8.
In France strong kings like François I (1515-47), Henry II (1547-59) and Henri IV (1589-1610) or ministers of the calibre of the Cardinal Richelieu and Mazarin (in power, successively, between 1624 and 1661) introduced measures to establish royal absolutism, eroding the feudal power of the aristocracy. Richelieu campaigned hard against duelling, largely because of its symbolism: it was a relic of the nobleman’s tradition of taking law into their own hands. Op.cit. Nurse, (1978): pp.36-37.
Don Diège aura ma cour et sa foi pour prison.
Qu’on me cherche son fils. Je vous ferai justice.
Act II, scene 8, l. 736-7
From 1598 to 1608, duels had killed almost 8,000 noblemen in France, amounting to more victims than in the civil wars. Henri IV, and then Richelieu, put an effort on this serious problem: At the beginning of the XVII century a series of bills regulated the duels, and by 1613 they were formally forbidden, imposing a code of criminality. Corneille, Le Cid, Larousse, 2004, p.170.
« J’offenserais le Roi, qui m’a promis justice.
Vous savez qu’elle marche avec tant de langueur;
Qu’assez souvent le crime échappe à sa longueur;
Son cours lent et douteux fait trop perdre de larmes.
Souffrez qu’un cavalier vous venge par les armes :
La voie en est plus sûre, et plus prompte à punir. »
Act 3, scene 3, l.783-787
« Mais on doit ce respect au pouvoir absolu/De n’examiner rien quand un roi l’a voulu. » Act I, scene 3, l.163-4. In Chimène’s words : « Et quand un roi commande, on lui doit obéir » Act V, scene 7, l.1804.
« …pour conserver tout ce que j’ai d’estime,/ Désobéir un peu n’est pas un si grand crime.» Act II, scene 1, l.365-6.
« C’est générosité quand, pour venger un père,
Notre devoir attaque une tête si chère ;
Mais c’en est une encor d’un plus illustre rang
Quand on donne au public les intérêts du sang ».
Act IV, scene 2, l.1197-1200.
Act III, scene 6, l.1039-40.
Act III, scene 6, l. 1100.
« La dignité de la tragédie demande quelque grand intérêt d’état, ou quelque passion plus noble et plus mâle que l’amour, telles sont l’ambition ou la vengeance, et veut donner à craindre des malheurs plus grands que la perte d’une maîtresse. Il est à propos d’y mêler l’amour, parce qu’il a toujours beaucoup d’agrément et peut servir de fondement à ces intérêts et ces autres passions dont je parle ; mais il faut qu’il se contente du second rang dans le poème et leur laisse le premier […] Je ne lui ai jamais laissé prendre le pas devant et même dans le Cid, qui est sans contredit la pièce la plus amoureuse que j’ai faite, le devoir de la naissance et le soin de l’honneur l’emportent sur toutes les tendresses »
Pierre Corneille, Discours de l’utilité et des parties du poème dramatique, 1660. Quoted in Couton, G., Corneille et la Tragédie Politique, Presses Universitaires de France, 1984, Paris, p.103.
Act I, scene 2, l.99-100.
Act III, scene 6, l.1059.
Act I, scene 6, l.331-334.
Op.cit. Nurse, (1978): p.40.
« Immolez, non à moi, mais à votre couronne,
Mais à votre grandeur, mais à votre personne ;
Immolez, dis-je, Sire, au bien de tout l’État
Tout ce qu’enorgueillit un si haut attentat. »
Act II, scene 8, l.693-696.
« Va, je suis ta partie, et non pas ton bourreau.
Si tu m’offres ta tête, est-ce à moi de la prendre ?
Je la dois attaquer, mais tu dois la défendre ;
C’est d’un autre que toi qu’il me faut l’obtenir,
Et je dois te poursuivre, et non pas te punir ».
Act III, scene 4, l.940-944.