 The original 1637 edition of the play was subtitled a tragicomedy, acknowledging that it intentionally defies the classical tragedy/comedy distinction.Even though "Le Cid" was an enormous popular success, it was the subject of a heated argument over the norms of dramatic practice, known as the ""Querelle du Cid"" or "The Quarrel of Le Cid".Cardinal Richelieu's "Académie française" acknowledged the play's success, but determined that it was defective, in part because it did not respect the classical unities of time, place, and action (Unity of Time stipulated that all the action in a play must take place within a 24-hour time-frame; Unity of Place, that there must be only one setting for the action; and Unity of Action, that the plot must be centred on a single conflict or problem).