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| Character | Andromache | |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Female | |
| Age Range(s) | Adult (36-50), Senior (>50) | |
| Type of monologue / Character is | Descriptive, Lamenting, Reminiscing life story/Telling a story | |
| Type | Dramatic | |
| Period | Ancient Greek | |
| Genre | Tragedy, Drama | |
| Description | Andromache laments her fate | |
Summary
The play follows the fates of several Trojan women after Troy is conquered by the Greeks. Some of the Trojan women are Hecuba, the Trojan queen wife of King Priam and Hector's and Cassandra's mother, Polyxena, Andromache's daughter who will be sacrificed at the tomb of the Greek warrior Achilles, and Cassandra, who will become Agamemnon's concubine.
In this monologue Andromache, Hector's widow and mother of Polyxena, laments the death of her husband and the fact that she is soon to become the concubine of Achilles' son Neoptolemus.
In this monologue Andromache, Hector's widow and mother of Polyxena, laments the death of her husband and the fact that she is soon to become the concubine of Achilles' son Neoptolemus.
Written by Administrator
| Excerpt |
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| ANDROMACHE Hear, O mother of children give ear to what I urge so well, that I may cheer my drooping spirit. 'Tis all one, I say, ne'er to have been born and to be dead, and better far is death than life with misery. For the dead feel no sorrow any more and know no grief; but he who has known prosperity and has fallen on evil days feels his spirit straying from the scene of former joys. Now that child of thine is dead as though she ne'er had seen the light, and little she recks of her calamity; whereas I, who aimed at a fair repute, though I won a higher lot than most, yet missed my lick in life. For all that stamps the wife a woman chaste, I strove to do in Hector's home. In the first place, whether there is a slur upon a woman, or whether there is not, the very fact of her not staying at home brings in its train an evil name; therefore I gave up any wish to do so, and abode ever within my house, nor would I admit the clever gossip women love, but conscious of a heart that told an honest tale I was content therewith. And ever would I keep a silent tongue and modest eye before my lord; and well I knew where I might rule my lord, and where 'twas best to yield to him; the fame whereof hath reached the Achaean host, and proved my ruin; for when I was taken captive, Achilles' son would have me as his wife, and I must serve in the house of murderers. And if I set aside my love for Hector, and ope my heart to this new lord, I shall appear a traitress to the dead, while, if I hate him, I shall incur my master's displeasure. And yet they say a single night removes a woman's dislike for her husband; nay, I do hate the woman who, when she hath lost her former lord, transfers her love by marrying another. Not e'en the horse, if from his fellow torn, will cheerfully draw the yoke; and yet the brutes have neither speech nor sense to help them, and are by nature man's inferiors. O Hector mine! in thee I found a husband amply dowered with wisdom, noble birth and fortune, a brave man and a mighty; whilst thou didst take me from my father's house a spotless bride, thyself the first to make this maiden wife. But now death hath claimed thee, and I to Hellas am soon to sail, a captive doomed to wear the yoke of slavery. Hath not then the dead Polyxena, for whom thou wailest, less evil to bear than I? I have not so much as hope, the last resource of every human heart, nor do I beguile myself with dreams of future bliss, the very thought whereof is sweet. |
