Jean Racine's Andromache - Jean Racine

Love? What does love mean in this fearsome drama? Not much that is affirmative. Not much to heat the heart of a sentimental spectator. It signifies a passion that amounts to illness
an alternately aching and frantic desire that cannot be slaked. The three characters who love strive to conquer love by straining their will power to its elastic limits.And what does loved mean here? Not the ecstasy of glowing with selflessness and basking in another's affection
but a tormenting burden that cannot be shaken off
can only be readjusted to serve as an instrument of convenience or harm. from the Afterword by Albert Bermel