ACT V. SCENE V

1584. On bien, or else. de for modem à.

1586. à main forte, with violence,

1595. Not, as wesee from 161 2, because the populace implicate Hermione in the assassination of Pyrrhus, but because she has killed herself.

1603. parce qu'. This is said to be the only instance of this common* place word in ail the tragédies of Racine.

1604. Racine uses the same device to announce the death of Bajazet (V. xi).

1606. inquiète, restless» Far more emphatic then than now. Cp. 321.

1609. objet, spectacle,

1610. That is : They ascend the palace steps and thence look down on the corpse of Pyrrhus, its bearers and the crazed Hermione.

I613. espérance, expectation,

1618. exemple, exemplar^ rather than ** example."

1625. The madness with which Orestes is now overcome is perhaps to be attributed to the vengeance of the Furies for the ironical blas> phemy of 161 3-1620.

1627. entreyoi. For the spelling, see 688.

1 629-1 644. To the crazed Orestes, Pyrrhus seems restored to life, but as he seeks to slay once more his rival, Hermione seems to défend her beloved, and Orestes feels himself given over without hope to th< Furies and their train of démons and serpents.

1636. soi for elU, Cp. 1323.

1638. The hissing of the récurrent x is a noted case of onomatopœia.

1639. appareil. Cp. 23.

1641. Euripides, Orestes^ 245, sqq., is hère followed with wise modération.

1645. sentiment, consdousness, hère. Orestes now falls senseless (transport, 1646), which alone enables Pylades to save him from him* self and the Epirotes.