Troilus and Cressida Act Five – “The error of our eye directs our mind: What error leads must err…”

Troilus and Cressida Act Five – “The error of our eye directs our mind:

What error leads must err…”

What is so amazing about ‘Troilus and Cressida’ is the way that Shakespeare is able to combine comedy and satire with the most tragic and bleak of endings to paint a picture of love and power done with wit, strength and irony. ‘Troilus and Cressida’ shows us a portrait of the corrupt and artificial world of men at war while satirising everything from attitudes to war and military glory to romantic love and sex.

Act Five of the play starts near the end of a feast and Achilles is seen bragging to Patroclus about how he will easily kill Hector the very next day. Then Thersites enters and throws his usual round of abuse on Achilles and Patroclus and on both Greeks and Trojans, and delivers a letter from Achilles’ Trojan Princess who pleads with Achilles not to fight the next day. After all his bragging, Achilles decides to follow his love’s wishes. As they exit we see Diomedes as he goes off to visit Cressida, although he is secretly followed by Troilus and Ulysses. Thersites decides to spy on Diomedes and the others.

Diomedes calls for Cressida and Cressida’s father goes to get her while Troilus and Ulysses secretly watch (and Thersites secretly watches everyone). Cressida is wooed by Diomedes and although she doesn’t encourage him, she doesn’t dismiss him straight away and even gives Diomedes a love token in the form of a sleeve that Troilus gave her. Cressida ends the conversation by telling Diomedes to go but then she agrees to see him again and be open to the possibilities. Troilus judges her as unfaithful for this but Shakespeare has Cressida end her scene with an indication of her inner turmoil not seen or heard by Troilus:

“Ah, poor our sex! this fault in us I find,

The error of our eye directs our mind:

What error leads must err; O, then conclude

Minds sway'd by eyes are full of turpitude.”

When Cressida and Diomedes have gone, Troilus is in agony, and then vows to kill Diomedes on the battlefield. They leave to go back to Troy to prepare for the next day.

Also back in Troy, Hector is preparing for a fight despite the pleas of his wife Andromache and sister Cassandra who have both had dreams predicting Hector’s death. Hector dismisses their pleas:

“Mine honour keeps the weather of my fate:

Lie every man holds dear; but the brave man

Holds honour far more precious-dear than life.”

Troilus enters and states that he also will be fighting today and says to Hector:

“Brother, you have a vice of mercy in you,

Which better fits a lion than a man…

When many times the captive Grecian falls,

Even in the fan and wind of your fair sword,

You bid them rise, and live….

For the love of all the gods,

Let's leave the hermit pity with our mothers,

And when we have our armours buckled on,

The venom'd vengeance ride upon our swords,

Spur them to ruthful work, rein them from ruth.”

Hector pleads with Troilus to not fight today but Troilus replies:

“Who should withhold me?

Not fate, obedience, nor the hand of Mars

Beckoning with fiery truncheon my retire;

Not Priamus and Hecuba on knees,

Their eyes o'ergalled with recourse of tears;

Not you, my brother, with your true sword drawn,

Opposed to hinder me, should stop my way,

But by my ruin.”

Cassandra brings back Priam who also asks his son not to fight since he also feels this day will end badly but Hector pleas and goes out to battle. Just after this, Pandarus brings a letter from Cressida to Troilus who tears up Cressida’s letter before he also enters the field of battle.

On the battlefield, everyone’s fate is individual. Troilus, of course, fights Diomedes mono on mono. Thersites escapes the battlefield due to being a coward. Then we see that the Trojans drive back the Greeks and Agamemnon orders the dead body of Patroclus to be laid before Achilles, to make Achilles enter the battle. Achilles and Hector fight against one another for a while but then they break off. Hector decides to keep fighting Greeks while Achilles goes to find his men. With his men in tow, Achilles goes back to find Hector and they gang up on Hector, stab him to death. “Strike, fellows, strike; this is the man I seek. (Hector falls)

So, Ilion, fall thou next! now, Troy, sink down!

Here lies thy heart, thy sinews, and thy bone.

On, Myrmidons, and cry you all amain,

'Achilles hath the mighty Hector slain.”

They then attach his body to a chariot and dragged Hector’s body around the outside of the walls of Troy.

Troilus leads the Trojans back into Troy with the news of Hector’s death. “Go in to Troy, and say there, Hector's dead:

There is a word will Priam turn to stone;

Make wells and Niobes of the maids and wives,

Cold statues of the youth, and, in a word,

Scare Troy out of itself. But, march away…

Strike a free march to Troy! with comfort go:

Hope of revenge shall hide our inward woe.”

As they leave, Troilus encounters Pandarus who he curses:

“Hence, broker-lackey! ignomy and shame

Pursue thy life, and live aye with thy name!”

Pandarus is left alone on stage and ends the play bemoaning the way he was once wanted and is now berated:

“A goodly medicine for my aching bones! O world!

world! world! thus is the poor agent despised!

O traitors and bawds, how earnestly are you set

a-work, and how ill requited! why should our

endeavour be so loved and the performance so loathed…

It should be now, but that my fear is this,

Some galled goose of Winchester would hiss:

Till then I'll sweat and seek about for eases,

And at that time bequeathe you my diseases.”

And this is the end of the play. So ‘Troilus and Cressida’ is a thoroughly modern almost existential play. We are not given a happy, moral or heroic ending. We are left with disappointment and disillusion as Shakespeare shakes our preconceptions about love, war and heroes.

Shakespeare returns in:

‘Measure for Measure’ where  Shakespeare examines whether or not morality can or should be legislated.