Tag Archives: Troy

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.