The metamorphosis of Cressida

Abstract

This thesis traces the changes in Cressida's character according to the purpose of each author who wrote about her. The slave-girl, Briseis proceeds from Homer's Iliad: (1) to Briseida in Ephemeris de Historia Belli Trojani by Dictys Cretensis and De Excidio Historia by Dares Phrygius, both of whom described Troilus and Briseida against the background of the Trojan War, but made no suggestion of a love story; (2) to Briseida in Roman de Troie by Benoit " de Sainte-Maure, who first told of the love of Troilus for the faithless Briseida; (3) to Criseida in 11 Filostrato by Giovanni Boccaccio, who used the Troilus story to express his grief concerning the fickleness of women; (4) to Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer, who placed a pagan story into a Christian framework to show the effect of one's putting his hopes for happiness in worldly love; (5) to The Testament of Cresseid by Robert Henryson in his moral poem, who for the first time in literature depicted her degeneration after she had been jilted by Diomede; (6) to Cressid in The Iron Age by Thomas Heywood, an historical pageant written for the pleasure of theatre-goers during a period when the Troy saga was very popular, in which she appears more of a character-type than an individual; (7) to Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare, who disillusioned, may have written this play to question the ancient ideals of heroism and romance as he shows the dangers of personal and political disorder by allowing passions to overcome judgment.