THE LORD CHAMBERLAIN’S MAN 213
Cressida seemingly embraces her
move to the Greek camp, allowing
the generals and soldiers to kiss
her in a way that prompts Ulysses
to doubt her virtue. Although
Cressida struggles with guilt about
betraying Troilus, she fails to reject
Diomedes; she encourages him.
These decisions are made freely,
and imply that the characters,
rather than fate or destiny, are
responsible for their own tragedies.
Which genre?
When it first appeared in print
in 1609, the play was announced
as The Historie of Troylus and
Cresseida. An introduction by the
publisher claimed that the play was
a comedy. To further complicate
matters, the First Folio lists the play
under the tragedies. However, the
only character to die during the
play’s action is the heroic Hector.
The play is cynical in tone but,
with its subversive depiction of
legendary warriors and of the
character of Helen, it seems to have
a mischievous, darkly comic heart.
While there is humor in the
situations these characters find
themselves in, the play is riddled
with despair and disappointment.
Ulysses discusses the importance
of order in the army and attempts
to teach Achilles about honor and
reputation, but all in vain. Achilles
would prefer to cheat his way to
glory by murdering Hector like a
coward, rather than fight battles.
Shakespeare forces the audience
to experience Troilus’s pain as he
witnesses Cressida offer her newlover the very token that he gave to
her in exchange for her fidelity. At
that moment Troilus loses faith in
love and loyalty. There is nothing
comical about this sentiment.
In the late 19th century, the
British scholar Frederick Boas
recategorized the text as a
“problem play,” meaning that it
is comic in structure but tragic
in tone and subject matter. Irish
playwright George Bernard Shaw
sparked scholarly interest in the
play in 1884 when he argued that
the subject matter “starts at the
twentieth century.” In other words,
it is a modern play expressing the
concerns of a new age. It is self-
consciously cynical, and it refuses
to provide the audience with
characters and events that satisfy
our sense of justice. As such, it is
seen as one of Shakespeare’s most
bitter and disillusioned plays. ■For their 2012 production, the
Ngakao Toa theater company moved
the action to the tribal Maori wars of
pre-European New Zealand. The play
starts with a haka, or war dance.I am a bastard, too. I love
bastards. I am bastard begot,
bastard instructed, bastard in
mind, bastard in valour, in
everything illegitimate.
Thersites
Act 5, Scene 8