Saturday, January 17, 2009

Troilus and Cressida Shakespeare

The children read Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, each taking parts act by act. As may have been expected by those familiar with Troilus and Cressida, the children were disappointed. In their view, the attitude of the playwright seemed sour. They were offended by Shakespeare's besmirching of the hero Achilles and ribald treatment of Telemonian Ajax.

Dissatisfied with the play, the children could not fathom whether it was meant to be a tragedy or satirical farce. They could not emotionally identify with any of the characters and especially thought the treatment of Cressida offensive and unrealistic. They did not feel that Shakespeare gave enough detail to explain why she acts as she does. Nor was there enough about her to help the audience regard her as more than a flittering shade. Come to think of it, most of Shakespeare's women are wimpy, vaccillating creatures, if not altogther insane. Generally, if they act in a decisive fashion, it is usually to murder someone, or to commit suicide or adultery.
(The renowned and learned Shakespearian scholar, Dr. Nalin Ranasinghe disagrees with this opinion, citing the fair Rosalind, as an example of a noble Shakespearian woman.)


The greatest disappointment about Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida is that it is not really about Troilus and Cressida at all. Did he write it as a bit of buffoonery to mock human nature, employing the Iliad as a familiar backdrop?