Irène (tragedy)

[2] The play was written as part of Voltaire's plan to make a triumphal return to Paris after having spent nearly twenty years in self-imposed exile in Ferney.

He wished to end his life with a great theatrical success that would secure his position for posterity and prevent his enemies from taking any action against him.

He therefore set about writing a classical tragedy that would affirm his reputation and enable his return to the centre of French cultural life.

The action is very loosely based in the historical setting of the overthrowing of the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates by Alexios I Komnenos in the year 1081.

In this letter he emphasized the independence and importance of French poetry in relation to the English tradition in the wake of Shakespeare, referring to a debate launched by Louis-Sébastien Mercier and Michel-Jean Sedaine.

Alexis, returning victorious from campaign to Constantinople against the will of the Emperor, wishes to declare his love to Irène, but Nicéphore orders him to leave the city.

'[3][6] He also commented that "I had great hopes when beginning the work, but at the end I see nothing but ridicule... nothing can undo the failings of a subject which does not exist in nature.

[7] The play opened on 16 March in the presence of Marie Antoinette, though Voltaire was too ill to attend; messengers were dispatched to him at the end of each act to report the audience's reception.