Rhetoric in the poetics of Jean Racine's biblical dramas - "Esther" and "Athalie"

Abstract

The article presents the depths of Jean Racine's rhetorical thought in the poetics of the dramas "Esther" and "Athalie",
based on biblical stories. In the 17th century, classicism rehabilitated the ancient art of oratory, eloquence, and Jean Racine was
one of the playwrights who transformed universal rhetoric into national rhetoric. He introduced the principle of truth and
elements of reflection of reality into dramaturgy. The historical preamble of rhetoric takes on greater importance in the era of
absolutism and becomes a means of social integration, as the writer's language and rhetoric become the main force of the royal
court. Jean Racine presented the clarity of the 17th-century French language as a linguistic model and the apotheosis of classical
eloquence in his dramas "Esther" and "Athalie" with ancient aspects and a synthesis of biblical passages. Racine's rhetoric, with
its classical French eloquence, provides aesthetic pleasure to the reader, while introducing the function of truth and persuasion
into drama.