“My only hope lies in my despair.”
Mon unique espérance est dans mon désespoir.
Atalide, Bajazet, (1672), act I, scene IV.
Quotes from workBajazet
Bajazet is a five-act tragedy by Jean Racine written in alexandrine verse and first performed at the Hôtel de Bourgogne theatre in January 1672, after Berenice, and before Mithridate. Like Aeschylus in The Persians, Racine took his subject from contemporary history, taking care to choose a far off location, the Ottoman Empire. In 1635, the sultan Murad IV had his brothers and potential rivals Bajazet and Orcan executed. Racine was inspired by this deed, and centered his play on Bajazet. Racine also develops several romantic subplots in the seraglio. The action is particularly complex, and can only be resolved by a series of deaths and suicides.
