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Tag Archives: Cressida
A love as false as Cressid…
I found the oaths Troilus and Cressida very interesting. They were speaking as if they knew they were a story and that their tale would become an “epic.” The ironic thing is that Panderus’s extra added sentence was the only one to transcend the play and actually become a integral part of the English language. Troilus and Cressida may not be like Romeo and Juliet, who are madly in love and willing to sacrifice everything for each other. Nor are they like cunning Antony and Cleopatra, but they do try in their own way to become something of legend. We also discussed how self-conscious the characters in this play were and that may also be a reason that is holding them back from being true lovers. They seem only to care for their “image” of love than rather the love itself: you can’t love wholly and be self-conscious about it. Another thing is, this relationship does seem rather one-sided. Seems as if Troilus is the one who loves Cressida and Cressida is like, ‘well if this is the best I can do, I’ll take what I can get (a prince of Troy)’ and she doesn’t really have a passionate love for him which is why their bonds and promises and oaths are so easily broken: their love is not true.
Scene Study – Group 5 – Act 5, Scene 3
Posted in Troilus and Cressida
Tagged Cressida, group 5, Hector, scene study, shakespeare, Troilus
2 Comments
Helen vs. Cressida
While you know from the beginning of Troilus & Cressida that the main love story is going to be, of course, between Troilus & Cressida, I couldn’t help but realize while reading Act III of the play that this is the first time we meet Helen. After all, this war was instigated by her, and she is known as the most beautiful woman in the area – it seems natural that Shakespeare would write about the most beautiful woman, not a lesser beauty like Cressida.
But when you compare Helen’s remarks in Act III, Scene I, to Cressida’s in Act I, Scene II, something about Helen falls flat in comparison to Cressida. Whereas Cressida is constantly on her toes ready to go head to head with whomever she is speaking to, Helen resorts to bawdy jokes.
It’s also interesting to note that while Helen is the main reason this war is taking place, it is Cressida’s name in the title of the play. However, throughout much of the play thus far, it has been Helen, and not Cressida, that has been driving much of the plot. That is because the majority of the plot has been the talk of war, and the rivalry between Ulysses & Achilles. This may be a weakness on Shakespeare’s part, but the romance that the title alludes to is not really picked up until Act III. There are other pairings – Ulysses & Achilles, Pandarus & Troilus, Achilles & Patroclus – that are explored more deeply before we ever see Troilus & Cressida in love.
