Mithridates by Jean Racine
"Mithridates," a tragedy by Jean Racine, is set in the tumultuous period of the Roman conquests and centers around the complex relationships within the royal family of Mithridates, the King of Pontus. The narrative unfolds as Mithridates, believed to be dead after a prolonged struggle against Rome, creates a dramatic backdrop for the rivalries between his two sons, Xiphares and Pharnace. Xiphares, loyal to his father and grieving his perceived loss, secretly loves Monime, the betrothed of Mithridates. In contrast, Pharnace, who has aligned himself with the Romans, seeks to win Monime for himself, complicating the already tense dynamics between the brothers.
As the story progresses, misunderstandings and jealousy fuel conflicts, particularly regarding love and loyalty. The arrival of Mithridates complicates matters further, as he remains unaware of the true affections and struggles between his sons. The play weaves themes of betrayal, familial duty, and tragic fate, culminating in a dramatic confrontation that tests their loyalties and desires. Ultimately, "Mithridates" explores the intricate interplay of love and power, revealing how personal ambitions can lead to tragic consequences. The work reflects Racine's mastery of tragic drama, highlighting emotional depth and moral dilemmas amid historical conflict.
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Mithridates by Jean Racine
First produced:Mithridate, 1673; first published, 1673 (English translation, 1926)
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Tragedy
Time of plot: First century b.c.e.
Locale: Nymphée, on the Bosporus
Principal characters
Mithridates , king of PontusMonime , betrothed to Mithridates and already declared queenPharnace andXiphares , sons of Mithridates by different wivesArbate , Mithridates’ confidant and governor of NymphéePhoedime , Monime’s confidanteArcas , a servant
The Story:
Mithridates, the Pontine king who was fighting the Romans for forty years, is defeated and believed dead. Xiphares, the son who is, like his father, an enemy of Rome, deplores sincerely the loss of Mithridates. The other son, Pharnace, favorable to the Romans, is all the more pleased because he is in love with Monime, the old king’s betrothed; now he hopes to win her for himself.
Xiphares tells Arbate that he, Xiphares, has no claims to the states Pharnace is to inherit and that his brother’s feelings toward the Romans are of little interest to him. His concern for Monime is another matter. The truth is that Xiphares himself was long in love with Monime, even before his father saw her. Although he remains silent as long as she is betrothed to his father, he is now convinced that Pharnace will be compelled to kill him in order to have her.
When Monime begs Xiphares to protect her against Pharnace, whom she does not love, Xiphares finally declares his love to her. At first he is afraid that she might receive his avowal with anger. Monime, however, is secretly in love with Xiphares. They do not open their hearts to each other because Pharnace appears. Pharnace urges Monime to support his cause in Pontus. She thanks him but explains that she cannot favor a friend of the Romans who killed her father. When Pharnace hints that another interest is prompting her, Xiphares confirms his suspicions by defending Monime’s freedom. The brothers then realize that they are rivals.
At that moment Phoedime, Monime’s confidant, arrives to tell them that the report of Mithridates’ death is false and that the king is returning. Monime and Xiphares, each sensing at last the other’s feelings, are stunned. Monime deliberately bids them farewell and leaves. Now Pharnace knows that Monime and Xiphares love each other, and Xiphares knows that Pharnace loves Monime and is expecting the arrival of the Romans. Both, afraid of their father’s anger, will be forced to keep each other’s secret when they meet him.
After everyone goes to meet Mithridates at the harbor, Phoedime is surprised to find Monime still in the palace. Monime explains her realization that Xiphares suffered as much as she did all the time they were separated after their first meeting in Greece. Aware that she betrays her love without even speaking, she feels that she can never see Xiphares again because she also fears Mithridates’ anger. She leaves hurriedly because she hears the noise of Mithridates’ arrival and she does not want to face him.
The king is surprised to find his sons in Nymphée instead of in their own states. Suspiciously, he asks whether they are in love with Monime and inquires of Arbate why he allowed them to enter the city. The governor tells him that Pharnace declared his love to Monime. Arbate says nothing, however, about Xiphares’ feelings. Mithridates, relieved that his favorite son remains faithful, is afraid that Monime might respond to Pharnace’s love. At that moment Monime appears and he asks to be left alone with her. Mithridates tells her that he wishes to have their wedding performed as soon as possible. Seeing her sad resignation and suspecting that she is in love with Pharnace, he summons Xiphares and asks his trusted son to try to turn her affections away from his brother. Xiphares also fears that Monime might love Pharnace. Aware of his fear, Monime is unable to hide her true feelings. At the same time she declares her intention to follow her duty to Mithridates.
A short time later Mithridates calls for his two sons and explains to them his plan to attack the Romans in Italy. Pharnace will leave on a mission to the Parthians, his purpose being to marry the daughter of their king, with whom Mithridates wishes to make an alliance necessary to his plans. When Pharnace refuses, his resistance arouses his father’s anger. Pharnace, thinking that his brother betrayed him, tries to get revenge by disclosing the love of Xiphares for Monime.
At first Mithridates refuses to listen to Pharnace. Then, tortured by jealousy, he resorts to a stratagem in order to learn the truth. He announces to Monime his desire to have her marry Xiphares. When she shows surprise, asking if he is trying to test her love, he pretends to believe that she wants to marry Pharnace instead. He declares that he will go with Xiphares to find death in battle, while she will stay with Pharnace. Monime, misled by the king’s apparent sincerity, admits that she loves Xiphares and is loved by him. After her departure Mithridates prepares to take a terrible revenge on his son.
When Xiphares comes to bid Monime farewell, she accuses herself of having caused his ruin by her weakness. Hearing the king approaching, he leaves hurriedly. Monime then reproaches Mithridates for his stratagem. Ordered to marry him at once, she gently but firmly refuses. At that point Mithridates is in a quandary over killing Xiphares, the son who is not only his rival in love but also his best ally against the Romans. While he debates with himself, Arbate appears with the announcement that Pharnace, aided by the Romans, rises in revolt. Believing that Xiphares also betrayed him, the king orders Arcas, his faithful servant, to kill Monime.
Meanwhile, convinced that Xiphares is dead, Monime attempts to strangle herself, but Phoedime prevents her. Still wishing to die, she welcomes the poison Arcas brings her. Before she can drink it, however, Arbate comes on the run and takes the potion away from her. He brings word that Xiphares routed the Romans and that Mithridates is dying. The king, believing himself defeated, chooses to die by his own sword. Forgetting all jealousy, Mithridates blesses Monime and Xiphares, the faithful son who will succeed to the throne and avenge his father’s death.
Bibliography
Abraham, Claude. Jean Racine. Boston: Twayne, 1977. Contains an excellent introduction to Racine’s theater and an annotated bibliography of important critical studies of Racine. The chapter on Mithridates explores the contrasts between Mithridates and his two sons.
Barthes, Roland. On Racine. Translated by Richard Howard. New York: Hill & Wang, 1964. An influential structuralist study that explores representations of love and tragic space in Racine’s tragedies. Barthes’s chapter on Mithridates examines the death of the title character and the presence of evil and deception in the tragedy.
Campbell, John. Questioning Racinian Tragedy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005. Analyzes individual tragedies, including Mithridates, and questions if Racine’s plays have common themes and techniques that constitute a unified concept of “Racinian tragedy.”
Goldmann, Lucien. Racine. Translated by Alastair Hamilton. Cambridge, England: Rivers Press, 1972. Contains an insightful sociological reading of Racine’s tragedies that examines them in the light of French seventeenth century politics and social change. Explains carefully the influence of Jansenism, a Catholic religious movement, on Racine’s tragic view of the world.
Maskell, David. Racine: A Theatrical Reading. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. Explores problems involved in staging Racine’s eleven tragedies and one comedy. Discusses how different theatrical styles have influenced performances of Racine’s plays. Chronicles the critical reception of his plays since the seventeenth century.
Racevskis, Roland. Tragic Passages: Jean Racine’s Art of the Threshold. Lewisburg, Pa.: Bucknell University Press, 2008. Examines Mithridates and Racine’s other secular tragedies, demonstrating how these works construct space, time, and identity. Argues that the characters in these plays are in various stages of limbo, suspended between the self and the other, onstage and offstage, or life and death, and the plays emphasize this predicament of being “in-between.”
Weinberg, Bernard. The Art of Jean Racine. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963. Examines in chronological order each of Racine’s eleven tragedies and describes the significance of each play in the development of Racine’s career as a playwright. The chapter on Mithridates explores the complex psychological motivation for the behavior of the title character.