About the work
Bérénice is a five-act tragedy in verse by Jean Racine, first performed on 21 November 1670 at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris with Marie Champmeslé in the title role. Racine expanded a single sentence from the Roman historian Suetonius, who records that Emperor Titus sent Queen Berenice away "against his will, against hers" (invitus invitam), into a tragedy built with almost no outward action at all.
Plot
Emperor Titus loves Queen Bérénice but cannot marry her under Roman law, since the Senate will not accept a foreign ruler as empress. King Antiochus of Commagene also loves Bérénice in secret, without being loved in return. The entire action consists of Titus repeatedly postponing his unavoidable decision until, at the close, he parts from Bérénice and all three characters withdraw, each in grief.
Cultural significance
With only 1,506 lines, 29 scenes and three principal characters, Bérénice is Racine's leanest play and became a model for classical tragedy's "majestic sorrow". A week after the premiere, Molière's troupe staged Corneille's rival play on the same subject; audiences have preferred Racine's version ever since.