Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer

First transcribed: c. 1382

Type of work: Poetry

Type of plot: Love

Time of plot: Antiquity

Locale: Troy

Principal characters

• Troilus, the young prince of Troy
• Criseyde, a young widow
• Pandarus, Troilus’s friend and Criseyde’s uncle
• Diomedes, a Greek warrior

The Poem:

Calchas, a Trojan prophet who has divined that Troy is doomed to defeat, flees to the Greeks, leaving behind his beautiful daughter, Criseyde, a young widow. One day in April, the citizens of Troy are observing the rites of the spring festival. Among those in the temple is Troilus, a son of King Priam of Troy. Troilus, who has always been scornful of the Trojan swains and their lovesickness, sees Criseyde and falls deeply in love with her at first sight. Himself now sick with the love malady, Troilus invokes the god of love to have pity on him. Because he feels that he has no hope of winning Criseyde, he becomes the scourge of the Greeks on the battlefield.

Pandarus, Troilus’s friend, offers his advice and help when he learns that Troilus has lost his heart to a beautiful Trojan. When Troilus at length reveals that his lady is the fair Criseyde, Pandarus, who is Criseyde’s uncle, offers to become his mediator. Pandarus thereupon calls on his niece to gossip with her, and in their conversation he brings up the subject of Priam’s sons, praising the bravery of Troilus. Gradually he discloses to Criseyde that young Troilus is dying for love of her. Criseyde suspects that the intentions of neither Troilus nor Pandarus are honorable, and she cries out in distress, but Pandarus convinces her that Troilus’s love is pure. She feels herself drawn to the prince when she beholds his modesty as he rides past her house after a day of battle outside the walls of Troy. She decides, after much inner turmoil, that it would not be dishonorable to show friendship to Troilus to save the young man’s life.

At the suggestion of Pandarus, Troilus writes a letter to Criseyde, to which she responds in a restrained letter of her own. When Troilus, wishing to be with Criseyde, tires of this correspondence, Pandarus arranges a meeting by asking Deiphobus, Troilus’s brother, to invite the pair to his house for dinner. After the dinner, Criseyde gives Troilus permission to be in her service and to adore her.

Pandarus, eager to bring about a private meeting of the lovers, studies the stars and decides on a night that will be propitious for a tryst. He invites Criseyde to dine with him on that evening, with Troilus already hidden in his house. After they have dined, as the lady prepares to take her leave, it begins to rain, and Pandarus persuades her to stay. Through Pandarus’s wiles, the lovers are brought together. After yielding to Troilus, Criseyde gives him a brooch as a token of their love.

At about this time a great battle is fought between the Greeks and the Trojans, and several of the Trojan leaders are captured. In an exchange of prisoners, Calchas persuades the Greeks to ask for his daughter, Criseyde, in return for Antenor, a Trojan warrior. The Trojan parliament, after much debate, approves the transaction. Hector, another brother of Troilus, is unsuccessful in arguing that Criseyde should remain in Troy. Troilus is in despair.

After plans for the exchange have been made, Pandarus brings the lovers together again secretly. Criseyde, brokenhearted, tells the prince that their separation will not be for long, and that she will remain faithful to him. Troilus and his party accompany Criseyde to the place appointed for the exchange. There they meet Antenor, whom they are to conduct to Troy, and Diomedes, a young Greek warrior, leads Criseyde away to the Greek camp. Troilus returns to Troy to await the passing of ten days, at the end of which time Criseyde has promised she will return. Diomedes manages to seduce Criseyde by the tenth day, however, and she gives him the brooch that Troilus had given her at their parting. In return, Diomedes gives her a horse he had captured from Troilus in battle.

After several weeks of anxious waiting, Troilus writes to Criseyde. She answers him, weakly avowing her love for him and saying that she will return to Troy at the earliest opportunity. Troilus, sensing that something is amiss, grieves. One day, he sees the brooch he had given Criseyde on a piece of armor taken from Diomedes on the battlefield. Knowing that Criseyde has forsaken him for another, Troilus seeks out and fights Diomedes indecisively many times. Eventually the unhappy Troilus is killed by the mighty Achilles.

Bibliography

Boitani, Piero, and Jill Mann, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Chaucer. 2d ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Collection of essays includes discussions of Chaucer’s style, the literary structure of his works, the social and literary scene in England during his lifetime, and his French and Italian inheritances. Includes two essays on Troilus and Criseyde: “Telling the Story of Troilus and Criseyde,” by Mark Lambert, and “Chance and Destiny in Troilus and Criseyde and the ’Knight’s Tale,’” by Jill Mann.

Condren, Edward I. Chaucer from Prentice to Poet: The Metaphor of Love in Dream Visions and “Troilus and Criseyde.” Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2008. Presents an in-depth analysis of Chaucer’s early poetry in which Troilus and Criseyde is compared with his dream visions—Book of the Duchess (c. 1370), House of Fame (1372-1380), and Parlement of Foules (1380).

Donaldson, E. Talbot. Speaking of Chaucer. 1970. Reprint. Durham, N.C.: Labyrinth Press, 1983. Includes three chapters devoted to Troilus and Criseyde. Explores the connection between Criseyde and the masculine narrator, who is described as loving Criseyde with “avuncular sentimentality,” and concludes that the ending of the poem reveals the instability and illusory quality of human love.

Frantzen, Allen J.“Troilus and Criseyde”: The Poem and the Frame. New York: Twayne, 1993. Discusses the literary and historical context of the poem and provides a reading that focuses on its internal framing devices of social and symbolic orders. Includes a chronology of Chaucer’s life and works.

Howard, Donald R. “Troilus and Criseyde.” In Chaucer: His Life, His Works, His World. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1987. Chapter on the poem is part of a masterful biographical, historical, and literary study of Chaucer. Topics addressed include Chaucer’s intended audience; his transformation of Boccaccio’s Il filostrato; the characters of Troilus, Criseyde, and Pandarus; and the achievement of the poem. Concludes that Troilus and Criseyde is Chaucer’s masterpiece.

Kaminsky, Alice R. Chaucer’s “Troilus and Criseyde” and the Critics. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1980. Analytical survey of criticism on Troilus and Criseyde includes chapters on the philosophy of the poem and on formalistic and psychological approaches to the work.

Knapp, Peggy Ann. Chaucerian Aesthetics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Focuses on the aesthetics of The Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde, particularly their use of language and representation of games, people, women, humor, and community.

Mieszkowski, Gretchen. Medieval Go-Betweens and Chaucer’s Pandarus. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. In medieval literature, two contrasting figures act as go-betweens: the elegant aristocrat, who brings men and women together for consensual romantic love, and the ancient crone, who captures women as prizes. Mieszkowski argues that the character of Pandarus in Troilus and Criseyde, who brings the couple together for both lust and romantic love, displays characteristics of both figures.

Pugh, Tison, and Marcia Smith Marzec, eds. Men and Masculinities in Chaucer’s “Troilus and Criseyde.” Woodbridge, England: D. S. Brewer, 2008. Collection of twelve essays offers varying interpretations of the poem’s representation of masculinity.

Salu, Mary, ed. Essays on “Troilus and Criseyde.” 1982. Reprint. Cambridge, England: D. S. Brewer, 1991. Collection of essays addresses such topics as the poem’s text, its lessons, its realism, and paganism and comedy in the work.