TY - BOOK ID - 85725096 TI - Guilt and extenuation in tragedy : variations on racinian excuses PY - 2021 SN - 9004442782 9004442774 PB - Leiden, the Netherlands ; Boston, Massachusetts : BRILL, DB - UniCat KW - French drama (Tragedy) KW - French drama KW - History and criticism. KW - History and criticism UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:85725096 AB - "This comparative literary study re-evaluates the reciprocal relationship between tragic drama and current approaches to guilt and extenuation. Focussing on Racine but ranging widely, it sheds original light on tragic archetypes (Phaedra, Oedipus, Clytemnestra, Medea and others) through the lenses of performance theory and modern attitudes towards blame. Tragic drama and legal systems both aim to evaluate the merits of excuses provided on behalf of perpetrators of catastrophic acts. Edward Forman wittily and provocatively explores modern judicial concepts - diminished responsibility, provocation, trauma, ignorance, scapegoating - through the responses of characters in tragedy. Attention is paid to the way in which classical plays (ancient Greek and seventeenth-century French) have been re-interpreted in performance in the light of modern perceptions of human responsibility and helplessness"-- ER -