"Troilus and Cressida" (1602) by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) - A Critical Discussion

[DIShGo]

Achilles is such a coward, he doesn't even kill Hector himself. He has his minions do it, after Hector spared his life. Despicable. And then he tells them to spread the word that he has murdered Hector.

Shakespeare took a character, known in Greek mythology as brave, handsome and nearly invincible, and made him a worthless brute. It seems like part of his broader message that war is stupid, no matter the reason for it; that love is often fickle and fleeting; and that pleasures of the flesh can lead to horrible disease and death.

When read in its entirety, the play feels like a very dark comedy where you know from the start that things will not end well. The reasonable people in the play, who warned against fighting, who said Helen wasn't worth it, and who tried to take ego out of the equation, were ignored. The hot heads, guided by lust and ego and greed, prevailed, and the results were disastrous.

I think, had I seen the play performed, I would have left feeling depressed and deflated. It has a very modern, cynical feeling toward the end. It seems to ask the question, "What is the point of any of this?"

I did find it interesting that he allowed Thersites one more comic bit, where he talks his fellow bastard out of killing him, right in the middle of the depressing brutality of the final scenes.

How ironic that the first person to say, "All is fair in love and war" was a complete unknown: English author Francis Edward Smedley in his 1850 novel "Frank Farleigh" about the life of a schoolboy. Never heard of it? Neither had I.

That's interesting that such a well-known phrase is from such an obscure source.

What are your thoughts about the final scene with Pandarus? Did you find the ending fitting? Satisfying?

[DonRocks]

You are absolutely right. I *am* learning about Greek mythology by doing this, and it has whet my desire to learn more!

I'm sure there are multiple versions of this, but Wikipedia mentions Calchas, Diomedes, and Menelaus as having been inside the Trojan Horse.