Troilus and Cressida
Troilus and Cressida is a work considered a "comedy of conflict" whose author was William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written around 1602, shortly after finishing Hamlet. It was published in quarto in two separate editions, both from 1609. It is not known whether the play was ever performed in its own time, because the two editions contradict each other: one of them announces on its title page that the play was recently performed at the scenery; the other maintains in its preface that it is a new work that has never been performed.
This work was written for an audience with knowledge of Greek and Trojan myths and in particular the Trojan War.
The work is considered an aberration by many. The quarto edition is titled a historical work with the title The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid (The famous history of Troilus and Cressida) , but the First Folio classifies it among the tragedies, with the title The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida (The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida). The confusion is compounded by the fact that in the original printing of the First Folio, the pages of the work are not numbered, and the title has obviously been squeezed into the table of contents. Based on this evidence, scholars consider that it was a very late addition to the Folio, and therefore that it was added where there was a gap. It is a bitter work, hardly classifiable even by Shakespeare's early editors. The play is not a conventional tragedy, since its protagonist does not die, but it ends on a very somber note, with the death of the Trojan nobleman Hector and the destruction of the love between Troilus and Cressida. Throughout the play, the tone oscillates wildly between bawdy comedy and sad melancholy, and it is sometimes difficult to understand how one should react to the characters.
Date and publication
The work entered the Stationers' Register (an early form of copyright for printed works) on February 7, 1603 by the bookseller and printer named James Roberts, with a mention that it was staged by the Lord Chamberlain's men, Shakespeare's company. No publication followed, however, until 1609; the stationers ("papereros") Richard Bonian and Henry Walley re-registered it on January 28, 1609, and the first quarto was published later that year, but in two & #34;shapes". The first says that the work was "performed by the servants of His Majesty the King on the Globe"; the second version omits the mention of the Teatro Globo and includes a long cover letter in which he maintains that Troilus and Crésida is "a new work, never before performed on stage...&# 34;
Some scholars (such as Georg Brandes, the Danish Shakespearian scholar of the late 19th century) have attempted to reconcile these conflicting claims arguing that the work was originally composed around 1600-02, but that it was extensively revised shortly before its 1609 edition.
Troilus and Cressida stands out for its bitter and caustic nature, similar to the works that Shakespeare was writing in the period 1605-1608, King Lear, Coriolanus, and Timon of Athens. Thought to have been written shortly after Hamlet, almost certainly developed at the same time as Timon of Athens , which also deals with a classical Greek theme, it being believed that Shakespeare must have been suffering from depression at the time.
From this point of view, the original version of the play is more of a romantic comedy of the type Shakespeare wrote around 1600, for example As You Like It and Twelfth Night, while the last revision included the darker stuff – leaving behind a hybrid jumble of tones and intentions.
Fonts
The love story of Troilus for Cresida and her infidelity, is a medieval tale that does not belong to Greek mythology. It's a medieval addition to the classic Trojan War theme. Shakespeare drew on a number of sources for his plot, notably Chaucer's version of the story, Troilus and Cressida. In turn, the plot had been found by Chaucer in Boccaccio's Il Filostrato. and whimsical".
The story of how Achilles was persuaded to return to battle is taken from Homer's Iliad (perhaps in George Chapman's translation), and from various medieval and renaissance works revisited. tell the same story.
It was a popular tale among playwrights of the early 1600s, and Shakespeare may have been inspired by contemporary works. The Iron Age, a two-part play by Thomas Heywood also deals with the Trojan War and the story of Troilus and Cressida, but it is not known whether it was written before Shakespeare's. Thomas Dekker and Henry Chettle wrote a play entitled Troilus and Cressida at the same time as Shakespeare, but this play survives only as a fragmentary plot outline.
Reputation
In Troilus and Cressida Shakespeare seems to satirically contemplate that Greek world considered heroic. It is considered by some to be one of Shakespeare's problematic works, particularly for its disappointing last act. Others consider it an experimental piece that tries to break the conventions of the genre, and whose disconcerting characters can be compared to those of Hamlet. Johann Wolfgang Goethe considered the work "Shakespeare's imagination in its freest version".
The intriguing and surprising nature of the work has meant that Troilus and Cressida was not very popular on stage and no documentary trace survives of any performance between 1734 and 1898. In the Restoration, it was condemned by John Dryden, who called it a "bunch of nonsense" and he rewrote it. It was also condemned by the Victorians for its explicit sexual references. It was not performed in its original form until the early 20th century, but since then, it has become an increasingly popular play due to its cynical depiction of immorality and disillusionment with the people, particularly after World War I. Its popularity peaked in the 1960s when public discontent with the Vietnam War increased exponentially. The play's main themes—a protracted war, the cynical breaking of publicly made vows, and the lack of morality of Cressida and the Greeks—resonated strongly with the disgruntled audience. Numerous performances of this work were then made, emphasizing the abyss between ideals and harsh reality.
Synopsis
The play is set in the Trojan War, and essentially has two plots. In one Troilus, a Trojan prince, the youngest son of King Priam, woos Cressida, the daughter of a Trojan priest, who has gone over to the enemy side. Troilus burns with love for Crésida, who does not reject him, and they have sexual relations. They swear eternal love, but things happen differently than they planned. Antenor, a leader of the Trojan army, is captured by the Greeks. Calchas, Cresida's inconsiderate father, proposes to Agamemnon to exchange Antenor for Cresida. The Trojans agree to the change and Cressida leaves Priam's city, promising to remain faithful to Troilus.
But in the Greek camp Diomedes, one of the leaders of the Greek army, successfully conquers Cressida, who willingly surrenders to him. Troilus, who has tried to visit her in the Achaean camp, sees her with Diomedes and considers her a prostitute. Seeing the infidelity of her beloved, he makes sure that the next fight against the Greeks will be a bloodbath. Her brother Héctor also falls into this fight.
Although that is the story that gives the play its title, this plot actually occupies few scenes: most of the play concerns an intrigue between Nestor and Odysseus to get the proud Achilles to come back to life. fight in the battle for the side of the Greeks.
The play ends with a series of skirmishes between the two sides, and the death of the Trojan hero Hector.
Characters
Trojans
- Príamo, king of Troy
- The sons of Príamo: Casandra (a prophet), Héctor, Troilo, Paris, Deífobo, Helenus and Margerelon (bastardo)
- Andromaca, wife of Héctor
- Eneas, a commander
- Antenor (mitology), another commander
- Calcas, a Trojan priest who takes part by the Greeks
- Crésida, the daughter of Calcas
- Alexander, servant of Crésida
- Pandaro, uncle of Crésida and jester
Greeks
- Agamemnon, King of Micenas and head of the expedition
- Achilles, prince
- Ayax, prince
- Diomedes, prince
- Nestor, wise and parlanchin prince
- Ulysses (Odysseus), Prince
- Menelaus, king of the Greeks and leader of the Greek invasion
- Helena, wife of Menelao, living with Paris
- Tersites, a scurry and low-class deforme
- Patrol, friend (or "lover") of Achilles
Themes and tropes
This satire speaks of the disloyalty of love, the trickery of honor and the futility of war, ignoring all hope.
- Sex / War
Sex and warfare are constantly linked in the work. Not surprising, considering that the play's title story revolves around wartime sex, and a war that revolves around who gets the right to sleep with Helena:
"And to think that the whole pretext is a whore and a bastard! It is a good thing to fight the two rival parties and to bleed to death! Now the dry serpigo falls on such pretext, and that war and lubricity kills them all!" says the cynical and sick Tersites.
A frustrated Troilus who laments at first: "I can't fight this argument/ It's too deprived of food for my sword" - "sword" it is an obvious phallic symbol. Similarly, the word "disarmed" it appears frequently in connection with fighting, also meaning in slang "lose your erection". When Troilus is going to have sexual relations with Crésida, he fears that the experience will be so satisfying that "I will lose distinction in my joys;" / Like a battle, when they charge / The enemy in formation." This comparison makes sex seem like a loveless, physical, almost brutal activity.
There is talk of the war, of the reasons why it was started, leaving the impression that kings and princes only act out of their vanity. Barnard considers that in this work, Shakespeare demonstrates that, in his opinion, war does not fix anything: "Plunged in frivolity, vanity and the spirit of warfare, war devastates nations, devours human dignity, converts women into mere harlots, bring two peoples to an end. In war everyone loses, some more and others less".
- Frustrated hopes
From the beginning of the play, the public's expectations are constantly frustrated. Although the prologue claims that the play's emphasis is on belligerence, it opens with the procrastinator Troilus calling for someone to "disarm" him. Despite being called "Troilus and Cressida,"Cresida rarely appears. Despite her Trojan War setting, there is virtually no fighting in the first four acts; only political maneuvering and petty disputes. The depicted Greek and Trojan heroes are markedly different from the Homeric epic poem. Troilus is a bit like Chaucer's betrayed lover. Accustomed to the philosophy and pun-filled comedy of the first four acts, you don't expect the unglamorous and hard-fought battle of the fifth act.
What the audience experiences is reflected in almost all of the characters. Agamemnon tries to cheer up his disillusioned generals by telling them that hopes are always dashed: "the broad proposition that hope makes / in all projects... / fails in the promised largesse."
Accommodations
The story has been adapted as an opera, Troilus and Cressida, by William Walton in 1954.
It is not one of the works of Shakespeare frequented by cinema and television, being able to mention three British productions for television:
- 1981 - Troilus & Cressida of Jonathan Miller.
- 1954 - BBC Sunday Night Theatre: Troilus and Cressida George Rylands.
- 1966 - Troilus and Cressida Michael Croft and Bernard Hepton.
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