The 17th century dramatist Jean Racine was considered, along with Molière and Corneille, as one of the three great playwrights of his era. The quality of Racine's poetry has been described as possibly his most important contribution to French literature and his use of the alexandrine poetic line is one of the best examples of such use noted for its harmony, simplicity and elegance. While critics over the centuries have debated the worth of Jean Racine, at present, he is widely considered a literary genius of revolutionary proportions. In this volume of Racine's plays we find "Andromache", the third of twelve plays by the author. The drama is a five act tragedy based on Euripides' play "Andromache" and draws upon the third book of Virgil's "Aeneid". In the aftermath of the Trojan war, Andromache has been taken prisoner in Epirus by Pyrrhus, her husband Hector has been slain by Achilles, who is due to be married to Hermione, the only daughter of the Spartan king Menelaus and Helen of Troy.
