"Birth Marks reexamines the body of French classical tragedy from the perspective of recent theories about the sibling bond and, in particular, birth order. Through a study of the evolution of inheritance issues in seventeen tragedies written over half a century by the Corneille brothers, Pierre and Thomas, and by Jean Racine, the book questions the pervasive assumption that classical tragedy, a form written for the aristocracy, is informed exclusively by an aristocratic ethic.".

"Instead, a fresh reading of both canonical and noncanonical texts demonstrates that even the most formal body of literature produced by French classical writers expresses a conflict between a declining aristocratic hierarchy based on inherited privilege and a rising capitalistic ethic that favors competition and enterprise."--BOOK JACKET.