In spite of a general recognition of an affinity between Racine and Valéry, it seemed that the precise nature of his debt to Racine had never been thoroughly explored. This thesis attempts to establish Racine as the main source of the new poetic techniques of which one is conscious in La Jeune Parque and Charmes, and it explores the relevance of Racine to Valéry's own emotional life and intellectual development. A study of both published and unpublished work shows Valéry's obsession with Racine, and especially Phédre, to be particularly strong during periods of intense personal stress such as World Wars I and II. In this thesis a study of Racine's use of symbolism, imagery, linguistic style and vocabulary and its influence on the composition of La Jeune Parque and Charmes is made in chapters entitled: Le vrai monde individuel, Une femme à la Racine, Le fonctionnement de l'être Humain, Le serpent ... décoratif, Une sorte de symbolisme, Une forme de qualité, Le vrai écrivain, Les figures du style, L'essence des vers. The author concludes that a strong case can be made for the impact of Racine upon Valéry's mature poetic manner. However, Racine is not the only poet listed among Valéry's sources. Only after the work of these other poets has been compared in detail with Valéry's will it be possible to evaluate fully Valéry's debt to Racine at its true worth.