WS ABC Part 23, Cressida (of Troillus &)

CRESSIDA, "there's language in her eye, her cheek, her lip, nay her foot..." is the beautiful daughter of Chalchas, who, during the siege of Troy, has defected to the Greek camp. Troilus, the son of the Trojan King Priam, falls in love with her. Her mischievous Uncle Pandarus decides he will be their go-between but in the meanwhile, Chalchas has persuaded the Greek general, Agamemnon to arrange a prison exchange. 

As a result, when Troilus sees Cressida again, he finds her embracing Diomedes, another Greek general. Troilus is out for blood but when he fights Diomedes, the latter merely takes his horse away from him and sends it to Cressida. And Cressida, what does she have to say about all this? This passive creature, the victim of her emotions, doesn't say much. She merely justifies her flighty behaviour before fleeing off stage in Act V. sc ii:

                    Ah, poor our sex!this fault in us I find,
                    The error of our mind directs our mind:
                   What error leads must err; O, then conclude,
                   Minds sway'd by eyes are full of turpitude.

 This play was probably written before 1603 and was first published in 1609. It was then described as a new work, 'never staled with the stage, never clapper-clawed with the palms of the vulgar.' Its sources include Homer's Iliad together with Caxton's Recuyell of the Histories of Troy {the first book printed in English in 1475} and John Lydgate's Troybook. (c.1412-20). Shakespeare also possibly used Chaucer's poem Troilus and Cressida, itself a work based on Boccaccio's Filostrato. 

Although this play is often categorised as a tragedy, it is really a 'problem play' in that it is a mixture of tragedy and comedy. Chivalric-heroism is mocked; Achilles is a stupid, boastful homosexual braggart; the great lover, Troilus, is debased and looks like a romantic fool while Cressida is shown to be 'a daughter of the game.' She is heartless and has no real depth of feeling. All she succeeds in doing is to wake an excessive passion for her in Troilus.

The Shakespeare expert, Prof. Stanley Wells, comments that Troilus and Cressida is perhaps, the Bard's most pessimistic play, 'a profound examination of human values, especially in relation to love and war, in the light of eternity. It does not seek popular appeal, but has found receptive audiences for the first time in the twentieth century.'

Personal post-script: My faithful 1997 Honda CR-V is also called Cressida. I hope she continues to be more loyal and faithful than the classic Cressida of ancient mythology and of the Swan of Avon.

Next time I will deal with Cordelia, another unfortunate Shakespearean heroine.

Please share this with your fellow Bardolators. For comments, please write to me at: wsdavidyoung@gmail.com   or:   
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