Queen Phaedra, consumed by an incestuous passion for her stepson Hippolytus, falsely accuses him of assaulting her once her husband Theseus returns, destroying them both.
Books that mention Phèdre (8)
Lost Illusions by Honoré de Balzac: “The Jews have monopolized the gold of the world; they compose _Robert the Devil_, act _Phedre_, sing _William Tell_, give commissions for pictures and build palaces, write _Reisebilder_ and wonderful verse; they are more powerful than ever, their religion is accepted, they have lent money to the Holy Father himself!”
The Tragic Muse by Henry James: “Thus apostrophised the girl broke out with one of the speeches of Racine's Phaedra, hushing her companions on the instant.”
The Refugees by Arthur Conan Doyle: “I am to be at Madame De Maintenon's room at three to see whether a page or two of the _Phedre_ may not work a change.”
The Elm-Tree on the Mall by Anatole France: “It is the teaching of Port-Royal that underlies the Phèdre of Racine”
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust: “Whenever he spoke of something whose beauty had until then remained hidden from me, of pine-forests or of hailstorms, of _Notre-Dame de Paris_, of _Athalie_, or of _Phedre_, by some piece of imagery he would make their beauty explode and drench me with its essence.”
Within a Budding Grove by Marcel Proust: “I at last went to hear Berma, at a _matinée_, in _Phèdre_”
The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust: “I took my seat, striving all the time to recapture a line from _Phèdre_ which I could not quite remember.”