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= Troilus_and_Cressida =
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Introduction
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'The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida', often shortened to 'Troilus and
Cressida' ( or ), is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written
in 1602.
At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love
affair. Cressida is forced to leave Troy to join her father in the
Greek camp. Meanwhile, the Greeks endeavour to lessen the pride of
Achilles.
The tone alternates between bawdy comedy and tragic gloom. Readers and
theatre-goers have frequently found it difficult to understand how
they are meant to respond to the characters. Frederick S. Boas has
labelled it one of Shakespeare's problem plays. It is the subject of
lively critical debate.
The Trojans
=============
* Priam, King of Troy
* Priam's children: Cassandra (a prophetess), Hector, Troilus, Paris,
Deiphobus, Helenus, and Margarelon (bastard)
* Andromache, Hector's wife
* Aeneas, a commander and leader
* Antenor, another commander
* Calchas, a Trojan priest who is taking part with the Greeks
* Cressida, Calchas's daughter
* Alexander, servant to Cressida
* Pandarus, Cressida's uncle
The Greeks
============
* Agamemnon, King of the Greeks and leader of the Greek invasion
* Achilles, prince
* Ajax, prince
* Diomedes, prince
* Nestor, wise and talkative prince
* Ulysses, King of Ithaca (In some editions, the character is referred
to as Odysseus.)
* Menelaus, King of Sparta, brother to Agamemnon
* Helen, wife to Menelaus, living with Paris
* Thersites, a deformed and scurrilous low-class "fool"
* Patroclus, protégé and supposed lover of Achilles
Synopsis
==========
'Troilus and Cressida' is set during the later years of the Trojan
War, faithfully following the plotline of the 'Iliad' from Achilles'
refusal to participate in battle to Hector's death. Essentially, two
plots are followed in the play. In one, Troilus, a Trojan prince (son
of Priam), woos Cressida, another Trojan. They profess their undying
love, before Cressida is exchanged for a Trojan prisoner of war. As he
attempts to visit her in the Greek camp, Troilus glimpses Diomedes
flirting with his beloved Cressida, and decides to avenge her perfidy.
While this plot gives the play its name, it accounts for only a small
part of the play's run time. The majority of the play revolves around
the leaders of the Greek and Trojan forces, Agamemnon and Priam,
respectively. Agamemnon and his cohorts attempt to get the proud
Achilles to return to battle and face Hector, who sends the Greeks a
letter telling them of his willingness to engage in one-on-one combat
with a Greek soldier. Ajax is originally chosen as this combatant, but
makes peace with Hector before they are able to fight. Achilles is
prompted to return to battle only after his protege Patroclus is
killed by Hector before the Trojan walls. A series of skirmishes
conclude the play, during which Achilles catches Hector and has the
Myrmidons kill him. The conquest of Troy is left unfinished, as the
Trojans learn of the death of their hero.
Scene 1
=========
The play opens with a Prologue, an actor dressed as a soldier, who
gives us the background to the plot, which takes place during the
Trojan War. Immortalized in Greek mythology and Homer's 'Iliad', the
war occurs because a Trojan prince, Paris, has stolen the beautiful
Helen from her husband, King Menelaus of Sparta, and carries her home
to Troy with him. In response, Menelaus gathers his fellow Greek
kings, and they sail to Troy hoping to capture the city and reclaim
Helen.
Within the walls of Troy, Prince Troilus complains to Pandarus that he
is unable to fight because of heartache; he is desperately in love
with Pandarus's niece, Cressida. Pandarus complains that he has been
doing his best to further Troilus's pursuit of his niece, and that he
has received small thanks for his labors. After he departs, Troilus
remarks that Pandarus has been growing irritable lately. As he
ponders, the Trojan commander Aeneas comes in, bringing news that
Paris has been wounded in combat with Menelaus. As the noise of battle
comes in offstage, Troilus agrees to join his Trojan comrades on the
field.
In the Greek camp, Ajax summons his slave, Thersites, and orders him
to find out the nature of the proclamation that has just been posted.
Thersites, a foul-mouthed ruffian, refuses to obey and instead curses
his master and the Greeks with equal vigor, provoking Ajax to beat
him. Achilles and Patroclus come upon them and he includes them in his
curses. Offended at Patroclus' request he stop, he replies "I will
hold my peace when Achilles' brooch bids me, shall I?", the term "in
the 16th century meant, among other things, a 'pointed rod, spit or
pricker, implying that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers. They send
him away, and Achilles tells Ajax the news of Hector's challenge to
any brave Greek warrior. The selection of the warrior has been put to
a lottery otherwise, Achilles says as he leaves, he would have been
the only possible choice, a remark that produces a sneer from Ajax.
In Troy, Pandarus converses with a servant while he waits to speak
with Paris and Helen. When they come in, he compliments Helen
profusely, and asks her to excuse Troilus if Priam asks about him at
dinner that night. Paris and Helen ask where Troilus will be dining,
and Pandarus refuses to tell him but they both guess that he will be
in pursuit of Cressida, and they make bawdy jokes about it as they
depart to greet the returning warriors.
Diomedes comes to Troy to make the exchange of Antenor for Cressida,
and he is greeted heartily by Aeneas and Paris. Aeneas goes to fetch
Cressida, remarking that this exchange will deal a heavy blow to
Troilus; Paris concurs, but says regretfully that they have no choice:
"the bitter disposition of the time will have it so". After Aeneas is
gone, Diomedes is asked who he thinks deserves Helen more: Paris, or
Menelaus? With great bitterness, the Greek replies that both deserve
her, since both are fools, willing to pay a great price in blood for a
whore.
Achilles boasts to Patroclus how he will kill Hector. The two
encounter Thersites, who delivers a letter to Achilles, and then
unloads his usual torrent of abuse on them, calling Patroclus
Achilles' male varlot, his 'masculine whore', and on the entire
campaign. The letter is from the Trojan princess, Polyxena, whom
Achilles loves, and it begs him not to fight the next day; he tells
Patroclus sadly that he must obey her wishes. They go out, and
Thersites remains; he watches from the shadows as the feast breaks up.
Most of the lords go to bed, but Diomedes slips off to see Cressida,
and Ulysses and Troilus follow him. Noting that Diomedes is an
untrustworthy, lustful rogue, Thersites follows him as well.
Scene 2
=========
In another part of the city, Cressida converses with her servant, who
recounts how a Greek warrior named Ajax, a valiant but stupid man,
managed to overcome the great Trojan prince Hector the previous day,
and that Hector is fighting furiously because of this defeat. Cressida
is joined by Pandarus, and they discuss the Trojan princes, with
Pandarus taking the unlikely position that Troilus is a greater man
than Hector. As they converse, several Trojan lords pass by them
returning from battle, including Antenor, Aeneas, Hector, and Paris;
Pandarus praises each one, but tells his niece that none of them can
match Troilus. He then leaves Cressida, promising to bring a token
from Troilus. Alone, Cressida says that while she returns Troilus's
feelings, she is holding him off; she is enjoying his pursuit of her.
Pandarus finds Troilus pacing about impatiently in an orchard, and
assures him that his desire for Cressida will soon be satisfied. He
goes out, leaving Troilus giddy with expectation, and brings in
Cressida; after urging them to embrace, Pandarus departs. Left alone,
they profess their love for one another, and each pledges to be
faithful to the other. He reassures her and again pledges to be
faithful, declaring that thereafter history will say of all lovers
that they were as true as Troilus. Cressida declares that if she ever
strays from him, she hopes that people will say of false lovers that
they were as false as Cressida. Pandarus declares that if ever the
pair prove false, may 'all pitiful goers-between' be called after his
name.
Scene 3
=========
In the Greek camp, the great general and king Agamemnon is conversing
with his lieutenants and fellow kings. He asks why they seem so glum
and downcast for although their seven-year siege of Troy has met
little success so far, they should welcome the adversity that the long
war represents, since only in difficult times can greatness emerge.
Nestor, the oldest of the Greek commanders, cites examples of how
heroism emerges from hardship. In response, Ulysses expresses his deep
respect for what they have said, but points out that the Greek army is
facing a crisis not because of the duration of the war, but because of
a breakdown in authority within the Greek camp. Instead of being
united, they are divided into factions: Achilles refuses to fight, and
instead stays in his tent while Patroclus ridicules the Greek
commanders; others, like Ajax and his foul-mouthed slave Thersites,
follow this example, and so the entire army is corrupted. The others
agree that this is a great problem, and as they discuss what is to be
done, Aeneas appears under a flag of truce, bringing a challenge from
Hector. The Trojan prince offers to fight any Greek lord in single
combat, with the honour of their respective wives as the issue. The
Greeks agree to find a champion and offer Aeneas hospitality. As
Aeneas is led away, Ulysses tells Nestor that this challenge is truly
directed at Achilles, since only Achilles could match the great Hector
in battle. But to have Achilles fight Hector would be dangerous,
because if Achilles lost, it would dishearten the entire army.
Therefore, Ulysses suggests, they should have Ajax fight Hector
instead; even if Ajax loses, they can still claim that Achilles would
have won in his place. At the same time, by choosing Ajax as their
champion, they will infuriate Achilles and perhaps goad him into
rejoining the war, bringing with him all his soldiers. Nestor,
impressed with Ulysses's intelligence, agrees to the plan.
Alone, Thersites sneers at the pretensions of both Ajax and Achilles.
When Patroclus and Achilles appear, he calls them fools; Patroclus
moves to strike him, but Achilles holds him off. They see the Greek
commanders Agamemnon, Ulysses, Nestor, and Diomedes approaching,
accompanied by Ajax, and Achilles quickly retires to his tent. When
Agamemnon asks to see him, Patroclus tells the general that Achilles
is ill. Agamemnon grows angry, but Achilles refuses to emerge, and
tells Ulysses, who goes in to see him, that he still refuses to fight
the Trojans. Agamemnon suggests that Ajax go in and plead with
Achilles, but Ulysses declares that doing so would be insulting to
Ajax, and then he, with the other Greek commanders, praises Ajax
profusely, saying that he is the best of their warriors. They agree to
leave Achilles in his tent, and decide that Ajax will be their
champion against Hector the next day.
Meanwhile, in the Greek encampment, Cressida's father, Calchas, who
has betrayed Troy in order to join the Greeks, asks the Greek general
to grant him a favor. He asks that they exchange the Trojan commander
Antenor, for his daughter, so that he might be reunited with her.
Agamemnon agrees, and orders Diomedes to supervise the exchange. On
Ulysses's advice, the Greek commanders then file past Achilles's tent,
and scorn the proud warrior, ignoring his greetings and making him
uneasy. He goes to Ulysses and asks him why he is being scorned, and
Ulysses tells him that he is no longer a hero and he will be forgotten
quickly. He tells, and suggests that Achilles could restore his fame
and honor if he stopped dallying with enemy women and took the field.
When Ulysses is gone, Patroclus tells Achilles to follow Ulysses's
advice; seeing that his reputation is at stake, Achilles agrees.
Thersites comes in and reports that Ajax is now striding about the
camp, completely puffed up with his own importance. Patroclus
persuades the foul-mouthed slave to talk Ajax into bringing Hector,
safely conducted by Agamemnon, to Achilles' tent after their fight the
next day, so that Achilles may speak with Hector.
Hector girds for battle, while the women, i.e. his wife, Andromache
and his sister, Cassandra plead with him not to go. Both have had
dreams that prophesy his death, but he dismisses their warnings.
Troilus comes in and says that he will be fighting too; indeed, he
chides Hector for having been too merciful to his enemies in the past,
saying that today Troilus plans to slay as many men as he can.
Cassandra leads Priam in, and the old king pleads with his son not to
fight, saying that he too feels foreboding about this day, but Hector
refuses to listen and goes out to the battlefield. Pandarus brings
Troilus a letter from Cressida; Troilus tears it up and follows Hector
out to the field.
Scenes 2–3
============
Meanwhile, as morning breaks, Troilus takes a regretful leave of
Cressida while she pleads with him to stay a little longer. Pandarus
comes in and makes several bawdy jokes about their recent lovemaking;
suddenly, there is a knock at the door, and Cressida hides Troilus in
her bedroom. Aeneas enters, and demands that Pandarus fetch Troilus.
When the young prince emerges, Aeneas tells him the sad news that
Cressida must be sent to her father in the Greek camp. Troilus is
distraught, and goes with Aeneas to see his father, Priam, while
Pandarus breaks the news to Cressida, who begins to weep.
Scene 4
=========
Troilus brings Diomedes, together with the great lords of Troy, to
Cressida's house, and begs leave to say goodbye to his lady. When they
are alone, he pledges to be faithful, and Cressida promises that even
in the Greek camp, she will remain true to him. Then Diomedes is
brought in, and Troilus demands that he "use her well...for, by the
dreadful Pluto, if thou dost not, Though the great bulk Achilles be
thy guard, I'll cut thy throat" (4.4.124-129). Diomedes retorts that
he will make no promises but will treat Cressida as she deserves, not
because any Trojan prince orders him to. At that moment, a trumpet
sounds, calling them all to the Greek camp for the duel between Hector
and Ajax.
As the battle rages, Thersites wanders the field, escaping death by
brazen cowardice.
Scene 5
=========
In the Greek camp, the newly arrived Cressida is greeted by all the
Greek commanders. Ulysses insists that she be kissed by everyone, only
then refusing to kiss her himself and when she is gone, he declares
that she is a loose, unvirtuous woman. Then the Trojan lords arrive,
and the conditions of the duel are set by Aeneas, who remarks that
since Ajax and Hector are related, Hector's whole heart will not be in
this fight. As the two combatants prepare, Agamemnon asks Ulysses
"what Trojan is that same that looks so heavy" (4.5.113.1). Ulysses
tells his general that the downcast Trojan is Troilus, and then goes
on to praise him profusely, saying that Troilus may even be a greater
man than Hector.
Another part of the plains, Agamemnon summarises the ways the Greeks
are doing badly in the battle, including that Doreus is taken prisoner
and Patroclus probably slain. Then Nestor enters and says that "There
is a thousand Hectors in the field" (5.5.20) The scene ends with
Achilles asking where Hector is.
Scene 6
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Troilus calls Diomedes a traitor for capturing his horse. Diomedes,
Ajax and Troilus exit, fighting.
Hector spares the unprepared Achilles, who boasts that Hector was
simply fortunate to find him unarmed. Hector sees a Greek in ornate
armour and pursues him.
Scene 7
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In another part of the plains, Menelaus and Paris enter the scene
fighting. Thersites is confronted by a bastard son of Priam, but
declares that as he is himself a bastard they have no business
fighting each other.
Scene 8
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Achilles and his men find Hector, who has finished fighting and taken
off his armour in order to try on the golden armour of the warrior he
has conquered. Surrounding the unarmed Trojan, they stab him to death.
Scene 9
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Agamenon, Ajax, Menelaus, Nestor, Diomedes and others enter marching.
Word spreads among the Greeks of the death of Hector.
Scene 10
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An embittered Troilus informs the Trojans of Hector's death, and
curses Pandarus. Left alone on the stage, the unhappy Pandarus
wonders why he should be so abused, when his services were so eagerly
desired only a little while before.
Sources
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The story of the persuasion of Achilles into battle is drawn from
Homer's 'Iliad' (perhaps in the translation by George Chapman), and
from various medieval and Renaissance retellings, whereas the story of
Troilus and Cressida is a medieval chivalric romance that is not part
of Greek mythology.
Shakespeare drew on a number of sources for this plotline, in
particular Chaucer's version of the tale, 'Troilus and Criseyde', but
also John Lydgate's 'Troy Book' and Caxton's translation of the
'Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye'.
The two storylines of 'Troilus and Cressida'--the love story of the
title characters, and the warfare mainly around Hector, Ajax and
Achilles--have completely different origins. While the warfare is of
ancient origins and is at the core of the Troy saga in the Homeric
epics, especially the 'Iliad', the story of Troilus and Cressida is
part of the narrative material of the Middle Ages: it does not come
from Greek mythology, but belongs to the narrative motifs found in the
medieval retelling of popular material.
At its first appearance, somewhen between 1155 and 1160, this new
storyline is an embellishment by Benoît de Sainte-Maure in his 'Roman
de Troie', which was written for the court of King Henry Plantagenet
as a kind of "prince mirror". For his part, Benoît extended stories
from Dictys Cretensis and Dares Phrygius from the late Roman period,
which entwine around the 'Iliad' material, with his own romantic
sub-plot. The 'Roman de Troie' was in turn a source for Boccaccio's
"Il Filostrato", which was the main source for Chaucer's poetry
'Troilus and Criseyde' (); Shakespeare knew Chaucer's works very well.
Other versions of the material, such as John Lydgate's "Troy Book" and
Caxton's "Recuyel of the History of Troy", were at the time of
Shakespeare in England in circulation and probably known to him.
The story was a popular one for dramatists in the early 17th century
and Shakespeare may have been inspired by contemporary plays. Thomas
Heywood's two-part play 'The Iron Age' also depicts the Trojan War and
the story of Troilus and Cressida, but it is not certain whether his
or Shakespeare's play was written first. In addition, Thomas Dekker
and Henry Chettle wrote a play called 'Troilus and Cressida' at around
the same time as Shakespeare, but this play survives only as a
fragmentary plot outline.
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Date and text
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The play is believed to have been written around 1602, shortly after
the completion of 'Hamlet'. It was published in quarto in two separate
editions, both in 1609. It is not known whether the play was ever
performed in its own time, because the two editions contradict each
other: One announces on the title page that the play had been recently
performed on stage; the other claims in a preface that it is a new
play that has never been staged.
The play was entered into the Register of the Stationers' Company on 7
February 1603, by the bookseller and printer James Roberts, with a
mention that the play was acted by the Lord Chamberlain's Men,
Shakespeare's company. Publication followed in 1609; the stationers
Richard Bonian and Henry Walley re-registered the play on 28 January
1609, and later that year issued the first quarto, but in two
"states". The first says the play was "acted by the King's Majesty's
servants at the Globe"; the second version omits the mention of the
Globe Theatre, and prefaces the play with a long epistle that claims
that 'Troilus and Cressida' is "a new play, never staled with the
stage, never clapper-clawed with the palms of the vulgar".
Some commentators (like Georg Brandes, the Danish Shakespeare scholar
of the late 19th century) have attempted to reconcile these
contradictory claims by arguing that the play was composed originally
around 1600-1602, but heavily revised, possibly by another hand,
shortly before its 1609 printing. The play is noteworthy for its
bitter and caustic nature, similar to the works that Shakespeare was
writing in the 1605-1608 period, 'King Lear', 'Coriolanus', and 'Timon
of Athens'. In this view, the original version of the play was a more
positive romantic comedy of the type Shakespeare wrote ca. 1600, like
'As You Like It' and 'Twelfth Night', while the later revision
injected the darker material - leaving the result a hybrid jumble of
tones and intents.
The Quarto edition labels it a history play with the title 'The Famous
Historie of Troylus and Cresseid', but the First Folio classed it with
the tragedies, under the title 'The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida'.
The confusion is compounded by the fact that in the original pressing
of the First Folio, the play's pages are unnumbered, the title is not
included in the Table of Contents, and it appears to have been
squeezed between the histories and the tragedies. Based on this
evidence, scholars believe it was a very late addition to the Folio,
and therefore may have been added wherever there was room.
Analysis and criticism
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The difficulties surrounding the date of the play are insignificant
compared with the difficulties of its genre identification.
The famous 19th century literary critic named Frederick S. Boas argued
that 'Troilus and Cressida' (along with 'Measure for Measure' and
'All's Well That Ends Well'), deserves its own special category:
"Problem Play." The term problem play was drawn from the socially
conscious drama of playwrights contemporaneous with Boas, like Ibsen
and Shaw, and describes a play centred on a social or political
problem in such a way as to promote debate but not easy resolution.
Yet the deep sense of 'Troilus and Cressida', according to Anthony B.
Dawson, lies exactly in its perplexity: "It is still full of puzzles,
but that fact has been recognized as a virtue rather than a defectits
difficulties are generative, its obstacles fruitful".
Jonathan Bate is one of many modern authors who regard the play as a
satire, deliberately undermining the heroic and romantic style of
George Chapman's new and popular translation of Homer. He instances
the cynical attitude of Pandarus towards the overnight tryst arranged
between the lovers, and the weak, "feminine" language of the
supposedly valiant warriors. The warrior in magnificent armour
delivering the prologue to the play may have been a parody of Ben
Jonson's 'Poetaster'.
Although positioned between the Histories and the Tragedies in the
First Folio, the editors' initial intention was for it to follow 'The
Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet', placing it unequivocally with the
tragedies it resembles, notwithstanding the lack of typical tragic
plot structure. It was only a delay in the typesetting process which
caused it to be "slotted in" after 'The Famous History of Henry VIII',
when the volume was finally published. Nowadays 'Troilus and
Cressida' is often grouped with the so-called "problem comedies" with
'Measure for Measure' and 'All's Well That Ends Well'. Throughout this
work we can observe Shakespeare's tone changing from light comic to
intensely tragic.
Literary critic and scholar Joyce Carol Oates wrote that in reality
these shifts complemented the values Shakespeare questioned in the
play: love, honour, and hierarchy. To Oates 'Troilus and Cressida' is
one of the most intriguing plays ever written, and in her opinion
appears remarkably 'modern'. Oates considered the play a new kind of
contemporary tragedy - a grand existential statement:
Performance history
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Being composed around 1602, the play was most probably staged between
1602 and 1603, as the Stationers' Register entry for 1602/3 records a
public performance by the Chamberlain's Men. Taking into account the
fact that the second public printing of the quarto edition (1609)
dropped the first's familiar testimonial "as acted by the King's
Majesty's Servant's at the Globe", it has been suggested that work was
performed only once. Instead, the volume was recommended for the
libraries of the "eternal reader".
Public performances through history seem sparse. In 1679 John Dryden
"new modell'd the plot", re-ordered the scenes, and presented the work
as 'The Truth Found Too Late' at the Duke's Theatre, London. In 1795
John Philip Kemble prepared an acting version which emphasised the
warriors and sidelined Cressida, but he abandoned the production
before opening night. Henry Irving, actor-manager of the Lyceum
Theatre, London, commissioned a new version in 1889 but he did not
stage it.
Since then, it has become increasingly popular. Peter Holland of
Cambridge University attributes this to the work's relevance at times
of impending war: William Poel's 1912 production served as a warning
as the Great Powers of Europe armed themselves for conflict and
Michael Macowan's modern dress production of 1938 at the Westminster
Theatre coincided with the Munich crisis. In the international
production at the Swan Theatre, Stratford of August 2012 the depiction
of Thersites as a wounded war veteran, and the manner in which the
Myrmidons killed Hector, "resonat[ed] with […] the ongoing wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan."
In comparison to the performance history of other, more frequently
performed plays, the delayed acceptance of 'Troilus and Cressida' into
the theatre also means that the claims of relevance become especially
acute. When the play had been chosen for performance during the
twentieth century, while being out of fashion before, it showed that
there was something about its themes and subject matter which was
familiar in the mindset of the contemporary audience. Colin Chambers
characterised the mood of that period thus: There were signs that
British theatre was beginning to reconnect to its society, having
previously failed, in [Peter] Hall's words, "to take into account the
fact that we have had a World War […] and that everything in the world
has changed - values, ways of living, ideals, hopes and fears".
Theatre was staking its claim as a cultural force of significance.
As Barbara Bowen points out: 'We see the play as modern partly because
we have so little history of premodern readers seeing the play'.
The play can be seen as a metaphorical mirror, reflecting contemporary
issues and political concerns. For example: John Barton, during his
preparation for the 1968 Royal Shakespeare Company production, saw the
parallels between the prolonged war in Viet Nam and the stalemated
siege of Troy as offering a way into the script, commenting that: "The
basic situation […] is ludicrous, but also an insoluble impasse where
both sides are inexorably committed." This was not referenced on
stage, however, where the "wars and lechery" of the play (Act 5 scene
2) were shown in the context of the new sexual freedoms of the late
nineteen-sixties.
Modern revivals
=================
The BBC broadcast a modern-language and modern-dress version by Ian
Dallas as 'The Face of Love' in 1954, which was then staged by RADA at
the Vanbrugh Theatre in 1956, providing Albert Finney with his first
lead stage role.
In July 2009, the Hudson Shakespeare Company of New Jersey presented a
production as part of their annual Shakespeare in the Parks series.
Director Jon Ciccarelli set the action in ancient Greece but sought to
put a modern twist on the action by comparing the title pair to 'Romeo
and Juliet' and posing the question: would their relationship have
lasted if they had lived? Ciccarelli hypothesized that Shakespeare
knew the answer and that it was that it would have not. He stated that
Troilus and Cressida pine for each other, like their more famous
counterparts, and share a passionate evening, the morning after which
Troilus is eager to leave. Cressida is later exiled from Troy and
quickly takes up with another man proving love is fickle and fleeting.
Other notable departures show that the Greek heroes are anything but
heroic, showing Shakespeare satirized revered figures like Achilles as
childish and barbaric, and sympathized with the pragmatic Hector.
The Public Theater in New York has produced three revivals, in 1965,
1995, and 2016.
In 2012, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Wooster Group
co-presented a controversial collaborative production in
Stratford-upon-Avon, wherein each company handled one side of the
conflict. Elizabeth LeCompte directed the scenes featuring the
Trojans, dressed as 1800s Native Americans, with American actors Scott
Shepherd as Troilus and Marin Ireland as Cressida. Mark Ravenhill
directed the scenes featuring the Greeks, dressed as contemporary
soldiers, with British actors Danny Webb as Agamemmnon and Diomedes,
Joe Dixon as Achilles, Scott Handy as Ulysses, and Zubin Varla as
Thersites.
Literary and cultural references
======================================================================
The siege of Troy was one of the popular literary subjects in England
circa 1600 and was among the most important events in world history
for the contemporaries of Shakespeare. An abundance of allusions in
Shakespeare's complete works show that Shakespeare felt able to assume
his audience would be aware of this narrative material. In addition,
from the records of Philip Henslowe, at least two lost dramas on this
subject are known.
Translations of the 'Iliad' were made in Greek, Latin and French in
Elizabethan England; moreover, Shakespeare's contemporary George
Chapman also prepared an English version. Shakespeare probably knew
the 'Iliad' through Chapman's translation and may have drawn on it for
some of the parts of his play, but Shakespeare probably also drew on
medieval and post-medieval traditions.
In the traditions of Middle English literature, the material was
presented on the one hand in a knightly courtly form, but on the other
hand increasingly transformed in a negative-critical way. Above all,
the image of Cressida changed in the course of the 16th century, so
that at the turn of the century Troilus and Cressida had become
increasingly included in infidelity and falsity and the name Pandarus
became used as a synonym for procurers ("pander").
Accordingly, Shakespeare's arrangement of events and figures is part
of a longer tradition of transforming and, in particular, detracting
from the established narrative material. Almost all the characters
prove unworthy of their legendary reputation. In his drama,
Shakespeare does not simply intensify these negative tendencies, but
links and superimposes contradictory characterizations in order to
make his characters interesting and accessible to his audience. The
play's lack of popularity in the playhouse indicates that in this he
was unsuccessful.
See also
======================================================================
* List of idioms attributed to Shakespeare
External links
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*
*
*
* [
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/troilus/ SparkNotes Chapter
Summaries and Study Guides]
*
[
http://william-shakespeare.classic-literature.co.uk/the-history-of-troilus-and-cressida/
The History of 'Troilus and Cressida'] - HTML version of this title.
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20120419065207/http://www.usfca.edu/jco/tragedyofexistence/
Joyce Carol Oates on 'Troilus and Cressida']
License
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Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troilus_and_Cressida
