Bérénice (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Jean Racine
- First Published: 1671
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Tragedy
- Time of Work: 79
- Setting: Rome
- Genres: Drama, Tragedy
- Subjects: Love or romance, Duty, Kings, queens, or royalty, Greek or Roman times, Rome, Heads of state
- Locales: Rome, ancient
Characters Discussed
Bérénice (bay-ray- NEES), the beautiful queen of Palestine, deeply in love with Titus, who has succeeded Vespasian, his father, as emperor of Rome. This love obliterates everything about her and makes her neglectful and unfair in her treatment of Antiochus, the king of Commagene, who also loves her and who seems better fated than Titus to answer her passion. When Titus learns that Bérénice, as empress, would be unacceptable to the people of Rome, he realizes that he cannot tell her the truth. Blaming his father’s death for the delay in announcing his...
[The entire page is 837 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
