- Summary
- Various authors
- Racine - Andromache
Ancient Greece during the time of Odysseus. When Troy was destroyed and Hector was killed, his young widow was captured by the victors. Pyrrhus, the conqueror of the city, liked Andromache so much that he left her alive and even decided to marry her. But Pyrrhus was already engaged to Hermione, the daughter of Menelaus. And struggling with his feelings, rushing between two fires, Pyrrhus cannot make a choice. He is ready to lose everything just to be with this woman - passion has taken over his entire mind.
Andromache, at the same time, understands that marrying a man who killed her husband and destroyed their hometown is simply unacceptable. But if she does not agree, then her little son faces a terrible death - he will be handed over to the Greeks and they will deal with him in the most cruel way. In the end, she decides that she is a mother first and foremost, and therefore develops a cunning plan. She wants that immediately after the sacrament of marriage and Pyrrhus' oath to raise her son as his own, she will have to pull out a dagger and stab herself. Then she will be able to save the life of her child, and not desecrate the memory of her husband.
Hermione, having learned that Pyrrhus exchanged her for Andromache and is going to marry, becomes furious and wants revenge. She persuades Orestes, who has long been in love with her, to attack Pyrrhus. At first he does not want to take on such a sin - after all, no one in all of Greece will definitely forgive him for killing the king. But Hermione forces Orestes, promising to be with him if he does what she wants.
Orestes thinks for a very long time, but in the end chooses to fulfill the desire of his beloved. He attacks Pyrrhus right in the temple and stabs him with a knife. The joyful regicide runs to Hermione to boast about his deed. But the girl behaves strangely - she gets angry and shouts at Orestes. After all, it turns out that she loved Pyrrhus with all her heart, and that was a moment of weakness, out of jealousy she wished him death. Having driven away the young man who was in love with her, she goes and kills herself right above the body of Pyrrhus.
Orestes goes crazy with grief and fear. He must flee Greece, because now they want to find him and avenge the death of the king. And his beloved, for whom he committed such a crime, renounced him and committed suicide. Until the end of his days, Orestes is haunted by visions that torment and torture him.
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Jean Racine. Andromache
The source for this play was the story of Aeneas from the third book of Virgil's Aeneid. The story takes place in ancient times in Epirus, a region in northwestern Greece. After the fall of Troy, the widow of the murdered Hector Andromache becomes the captive of Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, Pyrrhus is the king of Epirus, he saves the lives of Andromache and her son, which is opposed by other Greek kings - Menelaus, Odysseus, Agamemnon. In addition, Pyrrhus promised to marry Menelaus’ daughter Hermione, but he delays the wedding and shows signs of attention to Andromache. The kings send an ambassador, Agamemnon's son Orestes, to Pyrrhus with a request to fulfill their promises - to execute Andromache and her son and marry Hermione. Orestes is in love with Hermione and secretly hopes that Pyrrhus will abandon his promise. Having met with Pyrrhus, he tells him that if Hector’s son remains alive, then in the future he will begin to take revenge on the Greeks for his father. Pyrrhus replies that there is no need to think so far ahead, that the boy is his trophy, and only he can decide the fate of Hector’s descendant. Pyrrhus reproaches the kings for inconsistency and cruelty: if they are so afraid of this child, then why didn’t they kill him right away , during the sack of Troy, when the war was going on and everyone was being cut down. But during peace, “cruelties are absurd,” and Pyrrhus refuses to stain his hands with blood. As for Hermione, Pyrrhus secretly hopes that Orestes will convince her to return to her father, and then he will breathe more freely, for he is attracted to Andromache.
Andromache appears, and Pyrrhus tells her that the Greeks demand the death of her son, but he is ready to refuse them and even start a war over the child if Andromache marries him. However, she refuses - after Hector’s death, she does not need either the splendor or the glory of the queen, and since her son cannot be saved, she is ready to die with him.
Meanwhile, the offended Hermione tells her maid that she hates Pyrrhus and wants to destroy his alliance with Andromache, that their sorrows are “her best reward,” but she still hesitates and does not know what to do - either give preference to Orestes, or hope for Pyrrha's love.
Orestes appears and tells Hermione of his undying and hopeless love for her. Hermione plays a double game and tells Orestes that she always remembers him and sometimes sighs. She demands that Orestes find out what Pyrrhus decided - to send her to his father or take her as a wife. Orestes hopes that Pyrrhus will abandon Hermione.
Pyrrhus also plays a double game and, upon meeting Orestes, declares that he has changed his mind and is ready to give his son Hector to the Greeks and take Hermione as his wife. He instructs Orestes to notify her about this. He doesn't know what to think. Pyrrhus tells his teacher Phoenix that he has been seeking Andromache’s favor for too long and has risked too much for her, all in vain - in response there are only reproaches. He cannot finally decide what to do.
Orestes, meanwhile, is in despair - he wants to kidnap Hermione and does not listen to the reasonable arguments of his friend Pylades, who advises him to flee from Epirus. Orestes does not want to suffer alone - let Hermione suffer with him, having lost Pyrrhus and the throne. Hermione, having forgotten about Orestes, praises the virtues of Pyrrhus and already sees herself as his wife.
Andromache comes to her with a request to persuade Pyrrhus to let her and her son go to a deserted island to hide from people. Hermione replies that nothing depends on her - Andromache herself needs to ask Pyrrhus, because he will not refuse her.
Andromache comes to Pyrrhus and on her knees begs him not to give up her son, but he replies that she is to blame for everything, since she does not appreciate his love and protection. At the last moment, Pyrrhus offers Andromache a choice: the crown or the death of her son. The wedding ceremony has already been scheduled.
Andromache's friend Sephisa tells her that maternal duty is above all and must be given in. Andromache hesitates - after all, Pyrrhus destroyed her city of Troy, she decides to ask the shadow of Hector for advice.
Later, Andromache reveals her plan to Sephisa. Having learned Hector's will, she decides to agree to become Pyrrhic wife, but only until the wedding ceremony is over. As soon as the priest completes the ritual and Pyrrhus takes an oath in front of the altar to become the father of her child, Andromache will stab himself with a dagger. In this way she will remain faithful to her duty to her dead husband and save the life of her son, for Pyrrhus will no longer be able to renounce his oath in the temple. Sephisa will have to remind Pyrrhus that he swore to love his stepson and raise him.
Hermione, having learned that Pyrrhus has changed his mind and is marrying a Trojan, demands that Orestes take revenge for her shame and kill Pyrrhus during the ceremony in the temple. This will earn him her love. Orestes hesitates: he cannot decide to kill the king by stabbing him in the back, because no one in Greece will praise such an act. Orestes is ready to fight “in a direct and fair war.” Hermione demands that Pyrrhus be killed in the temple even before the wedding - then her shame will not be revealed to all the people. If Orestes refuses, then she herself will go to the temple and kill Pyrrhus with a dagger, and then herself - it is better for her to die with him than to remain alive with the cowardly Orestes. Hearing this, Orestes agrees and heads to the temple to commit murder.
Hermione meets with Pyrrhus and listens to his excuses: he says that he deserves her reproach, but cannot resist passion - “weak-willed and in love,” he longs, contrary to reason, to call his wife the one who not only does not love him, but simply hates him. This is the main idea of Racine’s play - “to hinder passions in vain, like a thunderstorm.” The heroes of Andromache, like many of the playwright’s plays, cannot act in accordance with reason and duty, not because they do not want to. They know what their duty is, but they are not free in their actions, since they cannot overcome the passions that grip them.
Hermione answers Pyrrhus that he came to show off his dishonesty in front of her, that he “only honors arbitrariness” and does not keep his word. She reminds Pyrrhus how he killed the old king Priam in Troy and “strangled” his daughter Polyxena - that’s what he became famous for.
Pyrrhus remarks in response that he was previously mistaken in believing that Hermione loved him. But now, after such words, she understands that she wanted to become his wife only out of duty, and not out of love. The easier it will be for her to bear his refusal.
Hearing this, Hermione becomes furious - didn't she love Pyrrhus? How dare he say that! After all, she sailed to him “from the other side of the world,” where more than one hero was looking for her hand, and waited a long time for Pyrrhus to announce his decision to her. Now she threatens him with retribution: the gods will take revenge on him for breaking his promises.
Left alone, Hermione tries to sort out her feelings. She is torn between love and hatred and still decides that Pyrrhus must die, since she did not get him, because she sacrificed too much for him. If Orestes does not decide to kill, then she will commit it herself, and then stab herself to death. She no longer cares who dies - Orestes or Pyrrhus, just to somehow vent her anger.
Orestes appears and tells Hermione about how his squad entered the temple and, after performing the ritual, hacked Pyrrhus to death. She, hearing this, becomes furious and curses Orestes. Instead of rejoicing, she accuses him of the heinous murder of the hero. Orestes reminds her that he did everything on her orders. She answers him that he believed the words of a woman in love whose mind had darkened, that she did not want what she said at all, that her “heart and lips were at odds with each other.” Orestes had to let her come to her senses and not rush into vile revenge on Pyrrhus.
Orestes alone reflects on how he could, forgetting the arguments of reason, commit a vile murder and - for whom? - for the one who, having forced him into the vile role of a murderer, repaid everything with ingratitude! Orestes despises himself after everything that happened. His friend Pylades appears and calls on Orestes to flee Epirus, for a crowd of enemies wants to kill them. Hermione, it turns out, committed suicide over the corpse of Pyrrhus. With these words, Orestes understands that the gods have decided to punish him, that he was born unhappy and now he can only drown in the blood of Pyrrhus, Hermione and his own. He is delirious - it seems to him that it is Pyrrhus, and not Pylades, who is standing in front of him and Hermione is kissing him. Then he sees the Erinyes, whose heads are entwined with snakes. These are the goddesses of vengeance, pursuing Orestes for the murder of his mother, Clytemnestra. According to the myth, Orestes took revenge on his mother for the murder of his father, Agamemnon. Since then, he has been haunted by the Erinyes all his life. At the end of the play, Orestes asks the Erinyes to give way to Hermione - let her torture
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