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Phèdre
also: Федра, Phaedra
Jean Racine's 1677 neoclassical tragedy on the myth of Phaedra's forbidden love for her stepson Hippolytus; Chekhov and Suvorin plan to see a Moscow staging together, referred to here by its French title as Chekhov transliterates it into Russian.
Reading notes
- To A. N. Pleshcheyev, 10 February 1890. Moscow. §7 "Phèdre"
Jean Racine's 1677 tragedy, seen here in a Moscow staging; Chekhov's flat verdict -- "good, but tedious" -- folds into the letter's closing note that Moscow in general feels tedious just now, a mood in keeping with a man marking time before a long-planned departure.