troiluscressidaessay - Professor Rhonda Sanford ENGLISH...

ENGLISH 3573-3
Assignment 1
Love and War in Troilus and Cressida
Love and war are topics addressed with cynicism and polyvalence in
Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida. Through character’s witty remarks, prose, or drawn
out speeches, a deduction of Shakespeare’s further commentary can be drawn. A
constant theme throughout the play is reflected through the character’s discussion of
power in the realms of love and war. Both seem to be heavily dominated by men and
men set the standards that women rely on for their own values in society. Ulysses’s war
speech discusses the hierarchies explored in the play, while Cressida’s character’s wit
provides the reader with a breath of fresh air concerning the strict power relations
dominating the play. The commentary from Thersites about war is equally as interesting
providing yet another layer to the complexity of the role of love and war within the play.
The love plot of Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida is an interesting contrast to
Geoffrey Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde , an interpretation of Boccaccio’s Il Filistrato .
In Chaucer’s version, Troilus and Criseyde are involved in a very naïve love affair
facilitated heavily by Criseyde’s uncle, Pandarus. Shakespeare uses a similar model,
however provides Cressida with more dimension as Chaucer’s Criseyde is only seen
briefly in the first two books and does not provide the reader with insight to her thoughts.
She is submissive to her uncle and does not appear to make many decisions of her own.
The soliloquy in Act 1 shows Cressida’s exterior wit along with her interior feelings.