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Andromaque's choice
Author(s) -
Tobin Ronald W.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
orbis litterarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.109
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1600-0730
pISSN - 0105-7510
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0730.2003.00777.x
Subject(s) - humanity , perfection , mythology , honour , tragedy (event) , philosophy , object (grammar) , character (mathematics) , literature , law , art , epistemology , theology , political science , linguistics , geometry , mathematics
The pivotal moment in Racine's Andromaque occurs when Andromaque announces her ‘innocent stratagème’ calculated to save her honour and Astyanax. Although her choice of self over son reveals her priorities, this is not the conclusion of the vast majority of critics who, for over 200 years, have made Andromaque the object of a form of cultural protectionism. It is time to put an end to an ill‐conceived myth that has become tradition: the moral perfection of the title character. This myth impoverishes the complexity of Racine's first great female figure, and by extension, the truth of his vision of humanity in his ‘tradition‐breaking’ tragedy.