Scene 3 provides an important bit of information: it indicates Pyrrhus' thorough indifference to Hermione. Conversely, his impatient dismissal of Phoenix at Andromache's appearance shows the extent of his love for her. The play's development depends largely upon Pyrrhus' feeling for the two women.
The intimations of greatness that Pyrrhus gave in his contemptuous rejection of Orestes' demands are exposed as a sham in his behavior toward Andromache in Scene 4. His protection of her son was not prompted by compassion but by self-interest. It is a weapon to put pressure on Andromache. Astyanax is, after all, negotiable. His safety must be paid for by Andromache's love. Pyrrhus turns out to be not a fearless knight but a crude blackmailer. Brutal soldier that he is, he minces no words, either in his concessions or in his threats.
His crudity only aggravates a conflict that is basically irreconcilable. Andromache cannot possibly love Pyrrhus. He is the major cause of her bitter suffering. In addition, she loves Hector with a constancy that goes beyond the grave. Here, incidentally, Racine vividly demonstrates the effectiveness of drawing upon the literature of the past. The mere mention of Hector's name illuminates for the informed spectator the depth of Andromache's love. That a woman should wish to remain loyal to her dead husband at any cost might seem, in the case of the ordinary marriage, unreasonable, but when that husband is Hector, who led his people against a mighty war machine for ten years and died heroically in defense of his city, her resolve is understandable.
