Countless people have said- Shakespeare is to be seen, not read.
This statement could not be truer for the play ‘Troilus and Cressida’. The differences in the script and production can be described as nothing short of immense. Shakespeare wrote all his plays knowing they would all be enacted on stage, in front of a large audience. Nothing he put in his work was a mistake, but it was all carefully orchestrated stir the viewers. Troilus and Cressida is one such play.
Shakespeare establishes Troilus in the first scene of the play as a love struck young prince of Troy.Deeply in love with Cressida, Troilus resorts to asking her uncle Pandarus to put in a good word for him. He is portrayed as the typical teenager in love, too young to know what love really is. The audience adopts this stereotypical approach when the play is enacted. This is predominantly due to the way Troilus describes Cressida. “Her eyes, her hair, her cheek, her gait, her voice” (1.
1. 50) is what he tells Pandarus he loves about her. The Trojan prince seems more enamored by her beauty, leading an audience to believe it is more lust, not love, that he is feeling.Shakespeare also uses Pandarus’ character to show to what extent Troilus truly desires Cressida.
Pandarus is constantly telling the prince to wait, to which Troilus replies he has waited long enough and it is now time to act upon his desires. Cressida is introduced in the very next scene as an excitable and likable girl. She never once acknowledges her feelings for Troilus while Pandarus is showering praise on him (even calling him a greater man than Hector). However once her uncle leaves Cressida admits to the audience that “more in Troilus thousandfold I see; Than in the glass of Pandar’s praise may be” (1.
2. 244-245), effectively revealing her feelings for the young warrior. Thus Shakespeare establishes the two characters and their mutual feelings for each other.Though Troilus is portrayed as a confident young man in the production, he is a little naive in his argument with Hector to keep Helen in Troy. He objectifies Helen, saying it is not her, but her value that is important. His logic is that the Trojans are now past fighting for just one woman; it is now a matter of honour for them.
He smartly appeals to Hector’s sense of honour and duty, thus winning the argument. Troilus is letting his vision of love cloud what is actually right.He is a romantic and sees the defense of a woman as right, regardless of what it might cost. He does not appreciate the seriousness of the whole situation. Shakespeare masterfully juxtaposes the harsh seriousness of the ongoing Trojan War to the bright, new and slightly self-centered love shared between Troilus and Cressida. This leads the audience to believe the two young Trojans do not totally appreciate the war and are more focused on each other.
Shakespeare is slowly detaching the audience from the couple, leading people to question whether two people so long could really know what love is.The scene where Troilus and Cressida meet for the first time in the play is characterized by false promises. Troilus waits in anticipation for Pandarus to lead in Cressida. Just like a male relative would hand over his younger niece/daughter, Pandarus hands Cressida over to Troilus, in a scene that is eerily similar to an arranged marriage. Both of them are eager to consummate their relationship.
They both tell each other just how deeply (and just how long) they have loved each other and then swear to one another that they will always stay loyal come what may.Cressida wonders whether what she is doing is right, and Troilus quickly convinces her that there is nothing wrong with them being together. Shakespeare plays this scene out so that the audience feels the love that the two of them share is genuine. The duet sequence witnessed in this scene is an important one.
In the production, both characters run about the stage speaking to each other and to the audience about their feelings. This sequence brings across their emotions very clearly. Troilus asks why, if she loved him, it took Cressida so long to reciprocate his love.She explains that she always had feelings for Troilus, but she liked to be pursued. Troilus then expresses his devotion by saying from now on all lovers will be known “As true as Troilus”(3.
2. 162) and Cressida responds by saying henceforth everyone who is not faithful will be known “As false as Cressid”. This now seems like a typical love story, with the audience softening to the two characters. While all this is happening, Cressida’s father asks Agamemnon, the Greek king, to exchange a Trojan prisoner for his daughter. Agamemnon agrees and sends one of his men, Diomedes, to supervise the exchange.
When we next see Troilus and Cressida, it is morning at Cressida’s house. Aeneas arrives to give Troilus the news that his beloved has to be exchanged. Upon hearing this the Trojan prince goes mad, screaming and shouting in anguish. His performance in the production is enough to let the audience know how much he truly cares about his love, and how hurt he really is. As he goes off to talk to his father, Pandarus breaks the news to Cressida, who breaks down into tears. The passion witnessed in this seen makes the audience feel the anguish the two are going through.
Here Shakespeare instills a general feeling of pity for the characters. When Troilus returns to say farewell to his Cressida, he asks her, after an impassioned scene between the two, to stay loyal to him. Cressida is shocked that he even had to ask her to stay faithful. Shakespeare is constantly reassuring the audience that Troilus and Cressida will be true to one another, so that none of them suspect what is to come. Troilus then hands Cressida his sleeve as a token of his love.
She then promises to be only his even though she is in the Greek camp “’mongst the merry Greeks” (4. 4. 55).The irony of that statement is to be proven in scenes to come.
Troilus then leads her out to Diomedes. When Cressida arrives at the Greek camp, Ulysses immediately suggests all the princes and kings kiss her welcome. At first Cressida is hesitant to accept any kisses, but she soon begins to readily consent to them. Shakespeare no longer requests the audience to pity Cressida. Instead he becomes ruthless in his portrayal of her, playing on her promiscuousness. Her easy acceptance of her fate does not help her in the eyes of the audience.
She goes from being a playful, excitable young woman to a immoral wanton. This perception of Cressida may seem harsh, but Shakespeare was in no mood it be easy on her. After the duel between Hector and Ajax, Troilus finds himself a guest in the Greek camp. With a little help from Ulysses, he follows Diomedes to Cressida’s tent.
Here the most important scene involving Cressida and Troilus takes place, even though the two never speak to one another, and Cressida does not know her former lover is watching her. Cressida plays with Diomedes the same way in which she played with Troilus in the beginning of the play.She rejects Diomedes advances, while not letting him lose interest. She paces about, speaking her mind and allowing the audience to observe the conflict in her mind. While all this is going on, Troilus is hidden nearby, watching as his lover toys with another man.
He walks around, and stands right next to Cressida (she cannot see him) as she talks, This dramatic tool creates a beautiful juxtapose of emotions between the two. When Cressida hands Diomedes Troilus’ sleeve, it is seen as the final act of betrayal. Troilus is shattered and is in denial stating, “No, this is Diomed’s Cressida.” (5. 2136).Troilus pledges to defend his honour and gain revenge by defeating Diomedes in battle the next day.
He decides to vent his pent up anger in the battlefield. In his eyes, the once blooming relationship between himself and Cressida is over. He calls her a “revolted fair” (5. 2. 185) and then tears up a letter he receives from her. This is Shakespeare’s way of showing Troilus cut of all ties with Cressida.
Shakespeare is considered one of the greatest playwrights of all time for his effective dramatic tools and techniques.He uses Troilus and Cressida as vessels to present his own views on love. He uses juxtaposes at the right times, advanced rhetoric and inspiring duet sequences to keep the audience riveted. Shakespeare is one of the few playwrights who can shape an audience’s opinion and make them agree with his point of view. Troilus and Cressida is a roller coaster ride of a love story and one of Shakespeare’s hardest plays to interpret.
Ending on a cynical note, the play leaves a bittersweet taste in one’s mouth, pitying Troilus and being disgusted by Cressida.
