She _underlines_ old Corneille for his blunt way of speaking, as in,-- "_A heap of men_ ruined by debt and crimes." "Chimene, _who'd have thought it_?
Rodrigue, _who'd have said it_ ?" "When their Flaminius _haggled with_ Hannibal." "Oh! do not _embroil_ me with the Republic." She still has her "Tout beau, monsieur!" on her heart.

And it needed many "seigneurs" and "madames" to procure forgiveness for our admirable Racine for his monosyllabic "dogs!" and for so brutally bestowing Claudius in Agrippina's bed.
This Melpomene, as she is called, would shudder at the thought of touching a chronicle.

She leaves to the costumer the duty of learning the period of the dramas she writes.

In her eyes history is bad form and bad taste.

How, for example, can one tolerate kings and queens who swear?
They must be elevated from mere regal dignity to tragic dignity.