Andromache (Racine)
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| Title: | Andromache |
| Original title: | Andromaque |
| Genus: | tragedy |
| Original language: | French |
| Author: | Jean Racine |
| Literary source: | Virgil's Aeneid |
| Premiere: | November 17, 1667 |
| Place of premiere: | Hotel de Bourgogne , Paris |
| Place and time of the action: | Butrint , a city in Epirus , in Pyrrhus Palace |
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Andromache (French Andromaque ) is a tragedy in 5 acts by Jean Racine (1639–1699), the world premiere took place on November 17, 1667 in Paris . In the context of French classical music, the play is considered the first tragedy in the original ancient sense.
action
1st act
Orestes , the son of Agamemnon , is sent to Epirus by the Greeks . He is supposed to kill Astyanax , the son of Hector and Andromache and thus the only descendant of the Trojan ruler, who is held captive by Pyrrhus , son of Achilles . Orestes is happy that he will be able to see Hermione again , the daughter of Helena and fiancee of Pyrrhus, whom he loves. He also meets his old friend Pylades again, whom he has not seen for over six months.
- 1st scene: Orestes and Pylades meet. Orestes tells the friend about his assignment and his desire for Hermione.
- Scene 2: Orestes meets Pyrrhus and asks him to hand over Astyanax, but Pyrrhus formally refuses. Then he invites Orestes to meet Hermione.
- Scene 3: Phoenix warns Pyrrhus that Orestes could fall in love with Hermione again, but that wouldn't bother Pyrrhus because he has hardly any feelings for her himself, but only has eyes for Andromache.
- Scene 4: Pyrrhus tells Andromache of the threat to her son from the Greeks. He offers to stand against Greece and defend her and Astyanax on the condition that she marries him. But Hector's widow refuses, because her hatred of Pyrrhus and his father Achilles, the conqueror of Troy , is too great.
2nd act
- Scene 1: Hermione tells her confidante Cleone that she is planning to meet Orestes. Cleone then advises Hermione to flee with Orestes.
- Scene 2: Orestes confesses his love to Hermione. She doesn't seem averse.
- Scene 3: Orestes thinks that Hermione will come with him and not return to Pyrrhus.
- Scene 4: Pyrrhus, on the other hand, announces to Orestes and Phoenix that he finally wants to marry Hermione.
- 5th scene: Pyrrhus hesitates because he only wanted to fake his marriage plans to Phoenix (and Orestes too).
3rd act
- 1st scene: Orestes and Pylades. Orestes is furious and considers kidnapping Hermione.
- 2nd scene: Orestes talks to Hermione, but resigned.
- Scene 3: Hermione is surprised that Orestes is no longer angry. Cleone is against him.
- Scene 4: Andromache asks Hermione to take care of her son in case she dies. This refuses in a cruel way.
- Scene 5: Andromache despises Hermione. Cephise advises her to talk to Pyrrhus.
- Scene 6: Andromache gives Pyrrhus hopes.
- Scene 7: Pyrrhus asks her again to marry him and thus save her life and that of her son.
- Scene 8: Andromache doesn't know what to do. Her son's life is very dear to her, but with this wedding she would have to overcome all hatred of Pyrrhus. She's already sending Cephise to say yes and then holding her back. She decides to go to Hector's grave to find an answer.
4th act
- Scene 1: Andromache decides to marry Pyrrhus to save her son's life and then to kill himself. Cephise agrees, but tries to persuade her to stay alive.
- Scene 2: Cleone tells Hermione that Pyrrhus will marry Andromache. Hermione calls for Orestes.
- Scene 3: Hermione asks Orestes to kill Pyrrhus for her love. He hesitates, but finally accepts.
- Scene 4: Cleone tries to make Hermione see reason.
- Scene 5: Pyrrhus tries to justify himself to Hermione. He says they never made love anyway. Hermione disagrees (verse 1365). She agrees to the wedding, but sends him to Andromache because she no longer wants to see him.
- Scene 6: Phoenix warns Pyrrhus about Hermione and Orestes, but the latter ignores him.
5th act
- 1st scene: Hermione's monologue. She wonders what she's doing right now.
- 2nd scene: Cleone tells her about the wedding. When Hermione learns that Pyrrhus is happy, she wishes him dead. Cleone also says that Orestes has a remorse.
- Scene 3: Orestes tells Hermione that he killed Pyrrhus. She denies ordering. She says he shouldn't have done it. She stays and does not flee with him.
- 4th scene: Orestes alone. He wonders why he did this - for nothing - and what may come next.
- 5th scene: Orestes learns from Pylades that he has to flee and that Hermione has killed himself. Andromache has Orestes pursued, he goes mad and his friend Pylades takes care of him. Only Andromache and her son escape.
Emergence
Andromache is Racine's first well-known stage work and represents a turning point in the history of drama and theater. The scene of the tragedy is the court of Pyrrhus (King of Epirus). The four main characters are Andromache (wife of the fallen Hector); Pyrrhus (son of Achilles); Hermione (daughter of Menelaus) and Orestes, persecuted by the Furies. The tragedy is based on some verses from Virgil's Aeneid (III, 292–337), excerpts from which are quoted in Racine's preface. The author deviates from the Greek myth, in which Andromache's son is killed in the Trojan War and she herself becomes the wife of another man. Racine thought this change was necessary in order to present Andromache as a model for conjugal love and fidelity beyond death. The work is dedicated to Princess Henrietta of England .
Adaptations
In the four-hour film l'Amour fou by Jacques Rivette , around half of the time is spent rehearsing the piece. The opera Ermione of Rossini is based on the work. In his feature film Uranus, Claude Berri has one of the tragic characters ( Gérard Depardieu ) frequently recite the Andromache while intoxicated.
André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry composed the opera Andromaque (libretto: Pitra). The work premiered in 1780 and is based on the five-stroke Racines.
expenditure
- Jean Racine: Oeuvres complètes, tome I (Pléiade edition), 1999, ISBN 978-2-07-011561-7
- Jean Racine: Petits Classiques Larousse - Nouvelle Série: Andromaque. With materials: Text Integral, Berlin: Cornelsen, 2001, ISBN 3-464-30820-0
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dr. Gottfried Schwarz, KLL, Kindler's Literature Lexicon
La Thébaide (1664) Alexander the Great (1665) Andromaque (1667) Les Plaideurs (1668) Britannicus (1669) Bérénice (1670) Bajazet (1672) Mithridate (1673) Iphigénie (1674) Phèdre (1677) Esther (1689) Athalie (1691)