The purpose of this article is to question this uncontroversial
viewpoint. While accepting that there are reasons why notions of
‘poetry’ and ‘innocence’ have predominated, it will nonetheless
suggest that each of these elements needs to be treated with caution. It
will attempt to show that Esther is truly dramatic in nature, and that
the ‘innocence’ it projects contains a degree of moral ambiguity,
enough to call into question what has been called‘Racine’s utopic
attempt to make God and truth manifest on stage.
