To our circle of French Story Listeners,

Take a breath. You showed up. That already matters.

This week, we’re stepping into one of the great dramas of French theatre, Le Cid by Pierre Corneille.

Corneille was a 17th-century French playwright, often called the father of French tragedy. He believed that the stage was the place to ask the hardest questions about what it means to be human.

Le Cid, written in 1636, was his masterpiece, and it caused such passionate debate across France that people called it simply la querelle du Cid, the quarrel over Le Cid. Nearly 400 years later, we’re still talking about it.

Here’s the story: Rodrigue loves Chimène, and she loves him back. Then, in a single terrible moment, everything changes. Rodrigue’s father is publicly humiliated by Chimène’s father. Honor demands that Rodrigue respond. But to defend his family’s name means losing the woman he loves. He cannot have both.

What follows is one of the most heartbreaking dilemmas in all of French literature.

This week’s narration challenge is waiting for you on Telegram

Here’s your invitation:

🎭 Visit the simplified story here → aliceayel.com/resources/le-cid-version-simplifiee

Watch, listen, and read at your own pace.

Then come share on Telegram in whatever way feels right today:

Narrate the story in your own words, in French. Not perfectly. Just truly.

Declare the famous lines aloud — Rodrigue’s father cries out in despair:

“Ô rage ! Ô désespoir ! Ô vieillesse ennemie !” (“Oh rage! Oh despair! Oh, enemy old age!”)

Send us your audio or video. Drama very much encouraged.

Share your reflection: In your view, what matters more — love or honor?
And to share your opinion with ease in French, warm up with this week’s members-only pronunciation practice — “je pense que, je trouve que, ça a l’air” — exactly the phrases you’ll need: aliceayel.com/resources/prononciation-je-pense-que

There’s no wrong answer. There’s only yours.

Deadline: Sunday, February 22.
Join the conversation here → t.me/+kj7F0mWZ8Uo4OWE0

Remember: your voice, reaching for the words, making meaning.

That is the practice. Every single time.

À bientôt,
Alice 💕

P.S. We are now 94 members in our Telegram community — just six away from 100! Could this be the week we get there? And more importantly — could that next member be you? If you haven’t joined us yet, this is your moment: t.me/+kj7F0mWZ8Uo4OWE0