Troilus and Cressida: Backdrop to the play and role of Cressida

The backdrop to The tragedy of Troilus and Cressida is the Trojan war. Calchas, the father of Cressida, predicts the fall of Troy and has to escape. He joins the opposing side, the Greeks. Cressida, the niece of Lord Pandarus stays with the Trojans. So, Cressida is a member of the aristocracy, therefore, social norms of her class are even more restrictive than women of a lower class. Thus, when studying the role of Cressida this needs factoring in as does her situation. Her father has joined the enemy so she is treated less well than she would otherwise have been had her father remained with the Trojans. This insecure position makes her more dependent on her uncle who is determined that she and Troilus get together as a couple. His interference causes further complications for the two since Pandarus insists on helping Troilus court Cressida.

This is a story of courtly love since Troilus is one of the sons of Priam, the king of Troy. Meanwhile, Calchas is missing his daughter, Cressida, and wants to exchange her for a Trojan prisoner of war. Thus, Cressida has no choice but to leave the Trojans, leave Troilus, the man she fell in love with, and join her father in the Greek camp. She doesn't want to go, even strongly resists going, but with no support from anyone, even Troilus, she leaves promising to meet Troilus in 10 days. Once in the camp she realizes she can't keep her promise. Despite her father being in the camp, she again is mistreated and ends up with the determined Diomedes. Troilus goes on to see her as just Diomedes's mistress rather than a woman who he was in love with but who was placed in an impossible situation which he himself had allowed her to end up in. My question is: Did Troilus really love Cressida? To me, that should be the main question not whether Cressida loved Troilus because it's obvious she did. I think she wasn't unfaithful to Troilus because, as far as she could reason, there was no hope of being with Troilus now she had been forced into the opposing camp. The situation being rather like Romeo and Juliet except worse because the Trojans and the Greeks were at war. The tragic element is the impact of war on people's lives, not some cynical stance that romantic love inevitably ends in tragedy. 

For me, Cressida's monologue in Act 3 scene 2 is pivotal but it is also a standard audition piece which is why I also chose it. What drew me to this monologue was the pace of it, the angsting of Cressida which reflects women today and the need for the actress playing her to be able to switch from shy, coy to strong and bold. I really gave the monologue and the character of Cressida, and the play as a whole, a great deal of thought before recording it.

There's been much moralizing about the character of Cressida down the ages. We still hold the same binary views played out through Troilus and Cressida. He's the injured party, his heart has been broken by the fickle, heartless Cressida. In fact, Troilus falls in love with Cressida as a result of Cupid being annoyed with him for having a light-hearted attitude towards love so he makes him fall for Cressida. As we see later at the end of the play, Troilus has been more in love with an idealized version of Cressida rather than Cressida, the woman, who is only human and so, despite being sincere in her love for Troilus, cannot live up to his impossibly high standard of her. Cressida, on the other hand, genuinely falls in love with Troilus, the man with all his imperfections. She is worried in Act 4 that Troilus doesn't truly love her and won't stay faithful to her once they are apart. The added complications in their wooing is the interference of Pandarus, uncle to Cressida, who tries to bring the two together romantically and sexually and gives Troilus advice on seducing Cressida.

It's clear Cressida never falls out of love with Troilus as we see in Act 5 scene 2 where Cressida says to (the Greek) Diomedes that the 'sleeve' he refers to belongs to 'one that loved me better than you will'. This is the sleeve that belonged to Troilus which he gave to Cressida earlier and, in return, she gave Troilus a glove to keep. It's not her fault that she has to go to the enemy camp (Greek) where her father is. She'd rather not go but Troilus says she has no choice about it. Cressida is worried that it'll damage their love and she's afraid that seeing each other again will be nigh on impossible. We need to constantly be aware that the backdrop to the love story between the two is the Trojan War not 21st century England. Therefore, we shouldn't apply some 21st century moralistic standards of behaviour to the events.  

The philosophical part of the play is precisely the question that philosophers of ethics still grapple with today, namely: Is there such a thing as absolute morality? 🤔 Those who would tend to argue in the affirmative are the ones who view Cressida negatively and see her as unfaithful, fickle and worse. Others argue that morality is not objective and absolute but rather subjective - there are no moral facts in the world. I remember writing an essay on this topic in my first year of my BA Philosophy. Possibly this is also why I was drawn to this play. It focuses on a topic I read, studied and wrote about in philosophy. This play is analysing and arguing about how moral philosophy plays out in practice. I haven't chosen the play or the monologue as a vehicle to hint at anything or anyone. I don't indulge in hints. I speak plainly which is what drew me to this particular monologue. Uni was full of people hinting at things without saying anything directly. I can't stand that. It's so tedius, confusing and misleading.  

If you have something to say, say it. And this is what Shakespeare is pointing out here. How often do women today say they can't go out with you because they are terribly busy (washing their hair💆💇) only to find they actually are just trying not to look desperately keen on you🤦🤷. In the same way, women never tell a man they love him until he says it first and neither do they propose to him🙄. We still hold to this outdated notion that women can only propose to men on Feb 29 every 4 years. How is this more enlightened than BCE? Women still play these 'coy' games today yet judge Cressida for doing the same despite the play being set in the Bronze Age. 

So social/moral norms are not that different today which is something that should concern us and is why I also thought this play and monologue relevant to society here and now. Yes, of course, women can have more independence today but they are still held back by societal expectations e.g. 2020/1 saw women doing more housework than men, having the responsibility for home educating their children, and being more vulnerable to losing their jobs than men. Domestic violence has became an even greater problem during this time. If we are honest with ourselves we can see that life for women hasn't changed nearly enough and this is something that, I think, this play brings out in a gritty way.  We are shown the less glamorous side of life beneath the glossy image of courtly love and heroism. 

Understanding the play and connecting with it is, I think, essential if an actor is to portray the character convincingly. And rather like researching a philosopher, it's important to have a theory that can be applied consistently and makes sense on all levels. Keeping the authorial intent and historical backdrop further illuminates a play for an actor. I'm not keen on modernising Shakespeare. Who are we fooling? 🤔 We all know Shakespeare wasn't born in the last century. One of the wonderful aspects of enacting Shakespeare is the language. Whether it's medieval Chaucer, (who also wrote a poem on Troilus and Criseyde which could well have been the basis for Shakespeare's version rather than the French or Italian versions which portray Cressida very negatively,) or Tudor/Jacobean Shakespeare, the English is different from the English that we speak today. And this play, is strong on rhetoric, something I'm researching with regard to the philosopher, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle. Indeed, the sentiments within this monologue reflect some of the Orations in Cavendish's political writings. Troilus and Cressida  is also very political given its backdrop of war just as Cavendish's time has the backdrop of the English Civil War (1642-1651) and her life in exile as maid of honour to Queen Henrietta Maria. So, having studied Chaucer and Shakespeare, I feel very comfortable studying Early Modern texts in the original.

Therefore, studying Old English is an important part of education, without it so much heritage and culture will disappear. It is part of appreciating British culture so we should embrace this Old English rather than modernise it. The same is true of the costumes within that era. Fashion is part of history and helps us to remember the era it's set in and  creates an  aesthetic experience. So if I was putting on a Shakespeare play I'd want to take all these factors into consideration. Going to the theatre🎭should be an experience you can't achieve in any other way!👍❤🎭