Overview

In his great neo-classical plays, Jean Racine reached the peak of sophistication in French tragedy. Britannicus addresses power and politics with the action centring essentially on the politics seething within the young Emperor Nero's Court. Yet the play is as much about his mother, Aggripina, losing her hold on power as Nero turns against her. Although Racine does not draw a direct parallel with Louis XIV's Court, he regards those in power with an all-seeing, but not forgiving eye.