1600 to 1699: Don Juan.... to Annus Mirabilis

Chronology of World, British and American Literature

Moliere. French. 1665. Play. Don Juan or the Stone Guest. Don Juan mistreats Elvire. Invites the statue of a man he murdered to dinner and the statue reciprocates.

Moliere. French. 1666. Play. Le Misanthrope. Alceste decides to speak and act with complete honesty and to ignore conventions.

Moliere. French. 1666. Play. Le Medecin malgre lui (The Doctor in Spite of Himself). Woodcutter pretends to be a doctor. Recites the medical jargon. “Cures” Lucinde of her pretended dumbness.

Racine. French. 1667. Play. Andromaque. First representation of psychology of passion. Pyrrhus, Andromaque, Phrrhus’s fiancée Hermione and Orestes. Pyrrhus wants Andromaque. Hermione is insanely jealous. She begs Orestes to kill Pyrrhus and he does. Hermione repudiates Orestes and commits suicide on Pyrrhus’s funeral pyre.

Dryden. British. 1667. Poetry. Annus Mirabilis. “Year of Wonder.” London fire, the Dutch War, chief events of 1666. Discusses the poetic imagination.