CHAPTER VIII. TROILUS AND CRESSIDA. ANALYSIS OF THE PLAY. AMONGST all the allusions to classical antiquity that occur so constantly in Shakespeare's works, and more especially in his earlier plays, none are more frequent than those relating to the Trojan war. In the poem of "Lucrece," we have seen the much-wronged wife of Collatinus contemplating a picture of the destruction of Troy, with many sad applications to her own case. In "Henry VI." the messenger who relates the death of the Duke of York to his sons, compares him to Hector holding the Greeks at bay (Pt. III., Act II., Sc. 1); and Henry VI. himself says to Warwick, "Farewell, my Hector, and my Troy's true hope" (Pt. III., Act IV., Sc. 8). Mention is also made, in the same play, of Helen and Menelaus, of Priam, Nestor, Ulysses, and Sinon; and in "Much Ado about Nothing," Benedict is declared to be as valiant "as Hector" (Act II., Sc. 2). Similar instances may be found in Shakespeare's later plays, as in "Antony and Cleopatra," where Antony, congratulating his companions-in-arms after their victory, says to them, "You have shown all Hectors" (Act IV., Sc. 8); and in "Coriolanus," when Volumina blames Virgilia, who trembles lest her husband should be wounded (Act I. Sc. 3): Away, you fool! it more becomes a man Than gilt his trophy: the breasts of Hecuba, When she did suckle Hector, look'd not lovelier And further on, Aufidius hurls defiance at Coriolanus in these words (Act I., Sc. 8): "Wert thou the Hector That was the whip of your bragg'd progeny, But it would be useless to multiply quotations. The point of special import and significance is that Shakespeare always shows a predilection for the Trojans, while the Greeks find but little favour in his sight. This undoubted bias on his part exhibits itself in an especially lively manner, and has its widest scope, in "Troilus and Cressida." There are far grander works amongst Shakespeare's plays, but there is none more curious, there is none that affords more matter for reflection and commentary in the realms, not only of learning and of history, but also of æsthetics, than does "Troilus and Cressida." Questions that we must endeavour to answer erowd upon us, touching the legendary accounts of the two lovers; the origin of Shakespeare's sympathy with the Trojans and with Hector, and of his grudge against Achilles and the Greeks; and touching the immediate sources of his knowledge, as well as the consideration of the real worth and value of this caricature of epic poetry, with respect to which the most conflicting judgments have been pronounced, it being declared on the one side to be the least deserving of Shakespeare's productions, while it is admired on the other side as one of his most brilliant masterpieces. But we must, in the first place, turn to the play itself. Its personages are those which all accounts of the Trojan war have made familiar to us: Priam, Hector, Paris, Æneas, Antenor, Calchas, Agamemnon, Achilles, Ulysses, Nestor, Ajax, Diomedes, Patroclus, Thersites, Helen, Andromache, Cassandra, etc.; besides these, there are two persons who, in Homer, have only a shadowy existence-Troilus, son of Priam, and Cressida, daughter to Calchas. All that we learn from Homer concerning Troilus is that he fought mounted in a chariot, as was the case with many another of his heroes. In the 24th Book of the "Iliad," Priam laments the death of his son, saying 66 Oh, woe is me, Who have begotten sons, in all the land The best and bravest; now remains not one; This mention of his death, and the epithet of little significance added to his name, represents all the information concerning him given us by Homer. As to Cressida, daughter to Calchas, who is called Chryseyde by Chaucer, and Brisaida by Boccaccio, the Homeric origin of her name may be sought either in Chryseis, daughter to Chryses, a priest of Apollo, or in Briseis, the loved and lovely captive of Achilles; but her story has nothing in common with that of either Briseis or Chryseis. Shakespeare's Calchas bears very little resemblance to the character in Homer, and is a Trojan priest who has sided with the Greeks, and is in the Greek camp while his daughter remains at Troy with her uncle Pandarus, who plays an important part in the piece.* * The prologue, which is thought by several critics not to have been written by Shakespeare, relates the story of the Trojan war, and announces the writer's * There are two personages named Pandarus in Homer, and one in Virgil, but their name is all they have in common with the character in Shakespeare. Analysis of "Troilus and Cressidd? ITY 159 CALIFORNIA intention of leaping over the first part, and beginning in the midst of the course of events. The opening scene is laid in Troy, in front of Priam's palace. Troilus and Pandarus enter, and Troilus at once makes Pandarus the confidant of his love for Cressida. Pandarus adds fuel to the fire by singing praises to her beauty and her wit; Troilus interrupts him with"O Pandarus! I tell thee, Pandarus, When I do tell thee, there my hopes lie drown'd, Reply not in how many fathoms deep They lie indrench'd." In Troilus we see all the fervent love and trust of a first youthful passion. His impetuosity and innocence of heart make him believe the uncle and the niece to be a thousand times more stern, more difficult to be persuaded and to be won, than they are in reality. 1 "O gods, how do you plague me! I cannot come to Cressid but by Pandar; As she is stubborn-chaste against all suit." But Pandarus is no more "tetchy" than Cressida is "stubborn-chaste." The worthy man pretends to hold back, but it is merely in order to be further pressed, and he only declares he will neither meddle nor make in the matter for the sake of increasing his importance, and of making the value of his services doubly felt. In the second scene, he begins to open his batteries. upon Cressida. As he enters, she is talking with her servant about Hector, who had started before sunrise for the field of battle. Pandarus immediately joins in the conversation, but only to bring forward the name of Troilus, whom he praises at every turn for his courage and wit and beauty. Cressida answers with a running fire of taunts and epigrams. It might be concluded that she was perfectly indifferent towards Troilus, if it were not that, from the first moment of her entrance, her excessive levity of tone, at times outrunning the limits of decorum, and the suspicious compliancy of her mind excite doubts, but too well founded, as to the truth and honesty of her words and character. While the uncle and niece thus bandy words together, a retreat is sounded, and the Trojan army returns. "Hark! they are coming from the field: shall we stand up here, and see them, as they pass toward Ilium? good niece, do; sweet niece Cressida." Pandarus points out the different heroes to his niece, impatiently wondering, as each goes by, where Troilus is. At last Cressida asks "What sneaking fellow comes yonder?" "Pan. Where? yonder? that's Deiphobus;-'tis Troilus! there's a man, njece!-Hem!-Brave Troilus! the prince of chivalry! . . . O brave Troilus!-look well upon him, niece; look you how his sword is bloodied, and his helm more hacked than Hector's; and how he looks, and how he goes!-O admirable youth! he ne'er saw three and twenty. Go thy way, Troilus, go thy way; had I a sister were a grace, or a daughter a goddess, he should take his choice. O admirable man! Paris?-Paris is dirt to him; and, I warrant, Helen, to change, would give money to boot." * When Cressida is left alone, she further enlightens us as to her character by an edifying soliloquy, in which she gives a short but substantial statement of principles. "But more in Troilus thousandfold I see Than in the glass of Pandar's praise may be ; That she was never yet that ever knew * A scene striking in its analogy to this is to be found in the "Phonissæ” of Euripides, in which Antigone watches the field of battle from one of the terraces of the palace, and an old servitor tells her the names of all the chiefs of the enemy's army. г |