Book Review: Troilus and Cressida

I really need to get reading happy, funny, joyful plays because I swear, the last few have had all the joy of an overflowing toilet. You’d have thought I’d catch onto the fact that Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare wasn’t going to be a bundle of laughs because it is set during the Trojan War – but no, I thought this was going to be a love story amid trying circumstances. Not to spoil the play for anyone – but damn, was I wrong.

Okay, so maybe I'm not being entirely fair. Shakespeare is excellent – I’m a huge fan. Anyone who knows me, knows I do love me some Shakespeare. I mean did this play make me giggle? Yes. Imagine being called “a dish full of fool” or a “finch egg!” it made the morning commute enjoyable, to say the least – and I did look like a fool chuckling to myself. What is interesting is that you have great comedic moments betwixt tragic moments too – such as the death of Hector. This is, after all, set in a war zone. I do like the juxtaposition; I think in a setting as bleak as a war zone you need a little humour to offset the devastation that war causes. If you know your Homer, then you know that the Trojan War was a long and bitter feud. It does not end well for the Trojans to say the least.

Anywho, onto the main characters: Troilus and Cressida – both are Trojans. Troilus is a soldier and is very much in love with Cressida and vice versa. In the first part of the play, they both bemoan the fact that they cannot see each other and are very much in love. Great. But my question is: Do they love each other, or simply love the idea of each other? When they collide and meet, damn, you have to hand it to Shakespeare as the language is beautiful “Hard to seem won; but I was won, my lord, with the first glance that ever – pardon me: If I confess much you will play the tyrant. I love you now, but not, till now, too much. But I might master it”. You could argue that they both have built up their ideas of each other to the point where both are shy and fallible. But otherwise, if you do not find this scene charming and utterly hilarious – you need therapy.

Then it gets a little ridiculous for me; I have to find out what the heck Shakespeare was thinking way back when. Why? Because despite declaring love for one another so ardently, Cressida openly flirts with Diomedes when she Cressida is sent to the Greek camp as part of a hostage exchange. It honestly makes no sense. How can you write a character that spends the majority of her time pining over her lover and then turns into a coquette? It befuddles me. Many have considered Troilus and Cressida as a problem play and I can see why – the characterisation of Cressida is problematic. Who even is she at the end of this play? Her entire character that has been formed throughout just seems to get thrown out the window. Shakespeare is considered a great feminist – A good 95% of the women in his plays are strong, magical beings (and then you get The Taming of the Shrew – but that’s an entirely different blog post). It does make me wonder – did Shakespeare hit his head or eat a bad kipper? The ending of the play was most dissatisfying. It wasn’t tragic or humorous - it ends on a damp squib.