Love and War in Shakespeare and Chaucer

and Geoffrey Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde"

This paper explores the different treatments of the love relationship between Troilus and Cressida in William Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida" and Geoffrey Chaucer's version, "Troilus and Criseyde". Specifically, it compares the "sexualized" and warlike nature of the relationship between Shakespeare's lovers with the more romantic relationship depicted by Chaucer. In addition, it explores the connections each author makes between the lovers' relationship and the war between Troy and Greece. Finally, the paper suggests that Shakespeare may have tailored his drama to hold the interest of a live audience.

Shakespeare begins his version of "Troilus and Cressida" with a Prologue that describes the war raging between Troy and Greece. In this Prologue, there is no mention of the relationship from which the play takes its title. However, the first scene of the first act introduces the true nature of the war with which the play is concerned. In Act I, scene i, Troilus reveals that he is not really interested in his country's war with Greece. Instead, he is consumed with thoughts of his love, Cressida. Thereafter, the play concerns itself more with the war between the sexes than with the war between the two nations. Indeed, the war between the sexes soon appears to become the very reason for the war between the nations. For, in addition to the combative relation

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a sadness and sense of loss. In addition, Chaucer uses the failure of the relationship to advocate a more heavenly love. This is diametrically opposed to Shakespeare's portrayal, in which the nature of love relationships is so debased as to appear almost animal-like. In fact, instead of any idea of ascendancy into heaven, Shakespeare's version ends with scene after scene on the battlefield. Although the play appears to be entirely about relationships, it in fact shows that none of the characters are capable of sustaining any sort of relationship because their real focus is on themselves. By the end, Troilus has denounced Cressida as a traitor and a whore. The numerous battles that take place at the end only underscore the fact that love is war. As Thersites, the fool, says in Act V, scene ii: "Lechery, lechery; still wars and lechery; nothing else holds fashion" (192-93). Cressida is not really seen by anyone in the play as a real person; rather, she is merely used as a pawn in the war between Troy and Greece. Shakespeare is apparently playing with the seeming similarity of the passion that engenders love and the passion that engenders war. To show that the two varieties of passion are very similar, if not indeed t
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Approximate Word count = 1258
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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