Troilus and Cressida

Cressida is the romantic heroine of the play and the daughter of the Trojan priest Calchas. She is described as exceedingly beautiful by Troilus, with a hand so white that in comparison “all whites are ink” (1.1.56). Described as a swan, the jewel of India, and prettier than Helen herself, Cressida embodies the archetype of the beautiful damsel. At the same time, the play rapidly undercuts this image, establishing Cressida as realistic and opportunistic, rather than just a dreamy heroine. 

Cressida is also shown to be witty, as seen in her successful parrying of Pandarus’s hyperbole regarding Troilus. For instance, when Pandarus tells her that the sight of the youthful Troilus made Queen Hecuba laugh tears of joy, Cressida dryly replies that the queen’s eyes “wept stones” (1.2.145). Cressida implies the queen cried not because of Troilus but from a mote in her eye; at the same time, she also subtly insults Pandarus for his unfunny story. 

Though Cressida has wit, the play positions her intelligence as a somewhat negative quality, since it makes Cressida calculating and shrewd. This discordant portrayal highlights the gendered attitudes towards women in Shakespeare’s time, as well as the problem of retrofitting her character to fit her known fate from Chaucer’s story. Shakespeare needs to make Cressida beautiful and witty so the audience can understand why Troilus fell in love with her, yet she also needs to be the betraying stock female character of medieval and Renaissance culture.

Infidelity is the theme associated with Cressida and is foreshadowed by her father Calchas’s defection to the Greek side. Mirroring her father’s betrayal, Cressida too will forsake Troilus. Her betrayal echoes the play’s larger themes of a pessimistic, nihilistic world and ruined romantic and heroic ideals. The infidelity can also be seen as Cressida’s bid to survive in a gendered world. Cressida did not willingly go to the Greek camps but was traded like goods by her father and the Trojan commanders. In the Greek camps, she is immediately passed around to be kissed, a situation that highlights the sexual danger she faces. Given these circumstances, Cressida chooses to align with Diomedes despite her misgivings, since this may enable her survival. Diomedes’s wooing of Cressida is tinged with hostility; he threatens to leave each time she acts coy. Pressured, Cressida gives in. 

Further, Cressida is also acutely aware of the fact that, as a woman, she has to put on constant performances: first act aloof so Troilus stays interested in her, and then act like she prefers Diomedes to secure his favor. Cressida’s speeches about the market value of women are pragmatic, incisive, and filled with brutal social commentary on an unfair world. When Troilus is impatient to leave after their night of lovemaking, Cressida cannily notes, “I might have still held off / And then you would have tarried” (4.2.21-22). Cressida knows her availability to Troilus reduces her worth in a society obsessed with women’s virginity. Though Cressida does not appear in the play after Act V, Scene 2, she is given some of its cleverest speeches, highlighting her importance as a character.

Ulysses is an important character in the play, cast in the role of the shrewd strategist. His portrayal in Troilus and Cressida is aligned with the popular perception of the character: In Homer’s Iliad, Ulysses (Odysseus) acts as an advisor to Agamemnon and intercedes with the mercurial Achilles without losing his temper. In Shakespeare’s play, Ulysses is given many great speeches about the need for order, rank, and strategy to weather a nihilistic universe. 

Ulysses’s classical wisdom is combined in these speeches with the mercantile values and imagery of the play’s 17th-century context (See: Symbols & Motifs). When he suggests that Ajax, the lesser warrior to mighty Achilles, should meet Hector’s challenge, the idea is that the Greeks must be like “merchants / First show foul wares and think perchance they’ll sell” (1.3.367-368). This shows Ulysses has a wise understanding of how the market works. His stratagems include ignoring Achilles to shake him out of his languor, since he knows Achilles—born for glory—dreads indifference the most. After Ulysses’s stratagem pays off, he explains to Achilles that the warrior cannot rest on former great deeds, since past fame is like “a rusty mail / in monumental mockery” (3.3.152-153). Thus, he tells Achilles that like a rusted armor, old greatness has no market worth.

While Ulysses’s views on the importance of following the chain of command establish him as the voice of reason in the play, one of his greatest flaws is his hypocrisy. Ulysses’s double standard is glaringly obvious in his treatment of Cressida: When she greets the Greek commanders, it is Ulysses who suggests everyone should kiss her. Cressida decides the safest course is to go along with the men, and acts coy, teasing Ulysses that she will kiss him later. A stung Ulysses immediately labels her wanton and “sluttish” (5.1.62). It is also Ulysses who plants the seed of suspicion against Cressida in Troilus’s mind, telling the young warrior that Diomedes is smitten with her. 

After Troilus grieves the closeness between Diomedes and Cressida, Ulysses pragmatically tells him everything is over. Thus, Ulysses represents the larger, patriarchal world of trade, wars, and enforced order in the play. Both in the case of Achilles and Troilus, he urges the warriors to participate in battle, insinuating romance and play are frivolous matters.

Shakespeare’s Achilles varies from the heroic Achilles of Greek mythology and the Iliad. The story of Achilles refraining from battle is consistent with mythological sources, but what is vastly different in the Shakespearean play is the sneaky manner in which Achilles orders Hector killed. In the Iliad, Achilles refrains from the battle because he is angry at Agamemnon for taking away Briseis, the captive woman he feels is owed to him. Achilles is roused to fight by the death of his beloved cousin Patroclus, whom Hector slays by accident. Achilles goes on to spear Hector to death in a long one-on-one battle. 

In Troilus and Cressida, Achilles’s ambush of Hector is far more ignoble. In fact, the play builds up a dichotomy between what Achilles is supposed to be—he is described by Ulysses as one “whom opinion crowns / the sinew and forehand” (1.3.145-146) of their army—and Achilles’s actual actions. By creating this dichotomy between perception and reality, the narrative paints Achilles as a far more complex and negative character than in the Iliad. The layered portrayal of Achilles also highlights the theme of the Disillusionment With Romantic and Heroic Ideals.

According to Greek sources, Achilles is the son of the mortal king Peleus and the nereid (sea-nymph) Thetis. He is destined for a life that is short, yet so glorious it turns immortal. Achilles’s impending death gives him an aura of pathos. Since the events of Troilus and Cressida end before the death of Achilles, this pathos is missing from his character. In the play, Achilles’s most redeeming quality is his love for Patroclus and the Trojan princess Polyxena. It is out of love for the two that he abjures violence, resisting Ulysses’s stratagem till the last moment. Patroclus’s death is the pivotal moment that pushes Achilles to the amoral side; he is described by Ulysses as weeping, cursing, and arming himself as he beholds Patroclus’s corpse. The extremes to which Achilles is driven show the corrupting influence of war. Unlike the Iliad, there is no glory for the hero in the play, only the ignominy of violence.

Although the play does not have a single clear antagonist, Pandarus is the character with the most antagonistic features. By the end of the play, his physical form mirrors his inner corruption, his bones aching. Pandarus is Cressida’s uncle. He functions as a go-between in the play, facilitating the love between Troilus and Cressida. Such go-betweens are a common character type in classical and Renaissance drama; however, Pandarus treats Troilus and Cressida’s romance as an empty, lust-filled transaction, foreshadowing its meaningless end. 

Identified with lechery and pimping in the play, Pandarus is given some of the bawdiest lines and jokes in it, such as when he mocks Cressida for not having slept all night, implying she spent the night having sex with Troilus. The manner in which Pandarus brings Cressida to meet Troilus creates the image of a greedy hustler forcing a young woman into sex work. He coaxes Cressida to remove her veil and asks her not to be a baby. This uncomfortable sequence foreshadows his final speech in which he refers to himself and the audience as hustlers.

The play—and Pandarus himself—frequently draws attention to the associations with his name. In Act III, Scene 2, Pandarus prophesizes that if Cressida betrays Troilus, he will forever be known as a bawd and a pimp. A dated meaning of the verb “pander” is to pimp; this usage was common in Shakespeare’s time. Not only does Pandarus pimp or barter relationships, he also panders or appeases people through empty flattery. Thus, he praises Troilus to Cressida, and vice versa. He also flatters Helen, repeatedly calling her fair and sweet, till Helen comments on the redundancy of his speech. 

Pandarus’s character deteriorates as the play advances, with Troilus shunning him in the last scene. However, in a striking narrative choice, it is Pandarus who closes the play, calling the theatre “Pandar’s Hall” (5.10.48) or a house of sex work, and the audience “good traders in the flesh” (5.10.46). His speech is a reminder that the entire world is a hustle, and everyone is complicit in corruption. Even the noblest love stories, such as that of Troilus and Cressida, end with a Pandarus on the stage.

Playing the stock Shakespearean character of the knowing fool, Thersites is an old, ill-tempered man known for his foul language. Thersites is the attendant of Ajax at the beginning of the play, but soon becomes the fool of Achilles. Thersites is frequently shown cursing and abusing other characters, his language referring to bodily functions and illnesses. For instance, he wonders if Agamemnon has boils all over him, and if the boils were running. Thus, he embodies the type of the base and broad comedian. 

The fool in Shakespeare is often a character who may be comical and low in appearance, but speaks the truth about himself and the audience. Thus, the fool is a mirror to society. In Troilus and Cressida, Thersites regularly mocks the Greek and Trojan soldiers, parodying a roll call of honor. From Agamemnon to Achilles, no one is exempt from his sharp tongue. This shows both Thersites’s innate cynicism, as well as his observation that most supposed heroes are anti-heroic.

Thersites performs another function in the play, which is that of the observer and the commentator. Since he has held back from battle, he often sits at the margins, noting the action and describing it, such as when he sees Diomedes courting Cressida or the episodes of battle. In Act V, Scene 2, he watches not just Cressida and Diomedes, but also Troilus and Ulysses watching the couple, adding another layer of critique to the proceedings. This establishes him as a stand-in for the audience; his status as a watcher is a useful narrative device since it enables Shakespeare to comment on the performance within the performance being enacted on the stage. For instance, when Cressida laments that she betrays Troilus because her mind has turned against her, Thersites cynically notes she is putting on a performance, saying she would be truer if she said “[her] mind is now turned whore” (5.2.113). Thus, Thersites sees through the pretensions of all the play’s characters.

Perhaps the noblest character in the play, Hector is described as a mighty warrior with a strong physique. The oldest son of Priam and Hecuba and the husband of Andromache, Hector is a heroic figure in both the Iliad and the play. However, Shakespeare introduces a few twists in Hector’s character that make him more complex, also illustrating the play’s theme of the Disillusionment With Romantic and Heroic Ideals. 

One of these twists is Hector’s vacillations about the fate of Helen. Though Hector believes Helen’s one life cannot outweigh the hundreds of Trojan lives at stake, he ends up reversing his position over the course of one scene. This is both because of narrative constraints—if Hector would return Helen, the plot would end right there—and because the play wants to show that even the noblest characters are divided in their self.

Another twist is Hector’s hunt of a man for his beautiful armor. Since this event follows his sparing of Achilles, it makes little sense why noble Hector would spare the life of an arch-foe to go after a stranger, and for a superficial reason. Hector’s uncharacteristic behavior is meant to show that even he fails as a hero, his greed leading to him getting cut off from the rest of his army so Achilles can ambush him. Nevertheless, his death constitutes the tragic climax of the play, and signals the end for the Trojans. That Hector dies while far worse men than him survive shows that the world is meant only for the corrupt.

Handsome and passionate, Paris is the son of Priam, brother of Hector, Cassandra, and Troilus, and the partner of Helen. Paris is a legendary figure whose abduction of Helen led the Greeks to converge upon Troy. Though Paris is said to have kidnapped Helen, most accounts show Helen happy with the good-looking and youthful Paris, a foil to her older husband Menelaus. 

In Shakespeare’s play, Paris fluctuates between being a romantic hero driven by passion rather than reason, and a man with double standards. When Priam wonders if Helens should be returned to end the war, Paris gallantly declares that Helen is priceless. Even the world is not enough value for her. However, when Cressida is to be exchanged for a single warrior, Paris gives her up readily, despite knowing of Troilus’s love for her. This shows Paris to be a weak-willed, opportunistic character, keeping with the play’s anti-romantic strain.

Helen is the legendary beauty who “caused” the Trojan War. However, that reading of her character is gendered: In Greek myths, she is very young when Menelaus, king of Sparta, wins her hand in marriage in a contest. It is unclear if she elopes with or is abducted by a visiting Paris. She certainly has little say in the war being waged ostensibly for her. In truth, the war is to avenge Menelaus’s honor and for political control over Troy. 

In Shakespeare’s play, Helen is described as exceedingly beautiful, but her portrayal is superficial and anachronistic. She embodies a courtly noblewoman of Shakespeare’s time, wanting entertainment, such as when she coaxes Pandarus to sing for her. That she is preoccupied with such frivolous concerns when a war is waging outside shows her in a poor light. 

Characters in the play judge Helen for her supposed wantonness, with some of the play’s most misogynistic speeches directed against her. Diomedes, for instance, compares her to diseased flesh and table scraps, while others often call her a “prostitute.” This reflects the problematic attitude towards women’s sexuality in Shakespeare’s time. Helen is also positioned as a double for Cressida, since both commit infidelity.

Diomedes is a prominent Greek warrior assigned the task of exchanging Cressida for Antenor. It is implied he is young and handsome, since Cressida says his pleasant appearance deceived her eyes. Like many other characters in the play, Diomedes displays double standards. He denounces Helen for being wanton, but openly lusts for Cressida, a woman whom he is supposed to guard. He deploys unfair methods to win over Cressida, such as threatening to walk out on her if she doesn’t give him a token of love. Worse, when she does hand him the token, he knows it is from her former lover, and wears it in battle to taunt Troilus. 

In battle, he proves a poor foil to Troilus—fleeing from him, stealing his horse, and implying through the theft that he has slain the horse’s rider. Thus, Diomedes is a negative character in the play.

Patroclus is Achilles’s beloved cousin in both the Iliad and Shakespeare’s play, though some ancient Greek sources imply he was Achilles’s lover. The Iliad does not state this openly, but depicts the relationship between the two men as close. Shakespeare’s play acknowledges the same-sex attraction between Patroclus and Achilles, with characters referring to Patroclus derogatorily as Achilles’s “mistress.” Ulysses describes Patroclus as strutting around like an actor, mimicking the Greek generals for Achilles’s amusement. 

However, when Patroclus appears on stage, he does not seem as frivolous as in Ulysses’s description. He saves Thersites from being beaten by Ajax and Achilles, and suggests Achilles join the battle to restore his honor. Patroclus is a catalyst in the play’s action, as it is his death that forces Achilles to enter the battle.

The sister of Troilus, Paris, and Hector, and daughter of Priam and Hecuba, Cassandra is the character type of the “mad” prophetess. Although her brothers frequently dismiss her visions as “brain-sick raptures” (2.2.123), they ignore her at their peril. Cassandra, along with Andromache, tries to stop Hector from going to the battlefield as she has had a vision about his death. Hector’s dismissal of Cassandra and Andromache signifies the rejection of domestic and womanly wisdom in pursuit of the masculine, violent ideals of war.

Ajax is a powerful Greek warrior with both Trojan and Grecian ancestry. Although he is supposed to be second only to the mighty Achilles, characters often describe Ajax as foolish and vain. When Ajax is chosen to fight Hector, he is described by Thersites as stalking “up and down like a peacock” (3.3.269) and behaving so oddly that he seems a “very land-fish, language-less, a monster” (3.3.281). Thus, he is presented as the archetype of the strong but dull brute. 

Ajax’s fight with Hector is anticlimactic, leading to the two declaring a draw and embracing like brothers. Later, the news of Patroclus’s death rouses Ajax so he foams at the mouth in anger, turning against Troilus and Hector. This shows his shifting loyalties: Like other characters in the play, he vacillates between different positions and emotions.