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Two of the greatest masters of British literature, Shakespeare and Chaucer, tended to look to the classics when searching for inspiration. A lesser-known example of this lies in an ancient tale from Greece about two star-crossed lovers. There are many variations on the names of these lovers, but for the purpose of solidarity, they shall henceforth be referred to as “Troilus and Criseyde” for Chaucer and “Troilus and Cressida” for Shakespeare. Chaucer’s “Troilus and Criseyde” offers up a classic tale of love that is doomed, whereas Shakespeare’s “Troilus and Cressida” is not only tragic but also biting in its judgment and representation of characters. This difference may be due to the differences in time periods for the two authors, or their own personal dispositions, but there can be no denying the many deviations from Chaucer’s work that Shakespeare employs. Shakespeare’s work, by making the characters and situations more relatable, builds upon Chaucer’s original work, rather than improving it or shattering it.
In Chaucer’s tale, Cressida is in Troy with her father, a Trojan soothsayer who switched sides when he had a vision of Troy losing. Troilus is a Trojan prince who doesn’t believe in love until he happens upon Criseyde and – surprise, surprise – falls in love. Pandarus helps the two together, only to have Cressida’s father set up an exchange with the Greeks wherein Criseyde is traded for a Trojan prisoner. Criseyde then chooses another lover, Diomedes, after she realizes how hopeless the situation is. Troilus later dies in battle, but he is happy as he ascends to the “eighth circle,” some sort of allusion to Heaven, supposedly.
Shakespeare’s version has Pandarus and Troilus acting skeevier and Cressida acting sluttier, at ...
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...speare Did to Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde." Shakespeare Quarterly 9.3 (1958): 311-319. Web. 12 November 2013.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Project Gutenberg EBook of Troilus and Criseyde." 12 July 2008. Project Gutenberg. Web. 27 November 2013.
Davis-Brown, Kris. "Shakespeare's Use of Chaucer in "Troilus and Cressida": "That the Will Is Infinite, and the Execution Confined"." South Central Review 5.2 (1988): 15-34. Web. 12 November 2013.
Morgan, Gerald. "The Ending of "Troilus and Criseyde"." Modern Language Review 77 (1982): 257-271. Web. 12 November 2013.
Rollins, Hyder E. "The Troilus-Cressida Story from Chaucer to Shakespeare." Publications of the Modern Language Association (PMLA) 32.3 (1917): 383-429. Web. 12 November 2013.
Shakespeare, William. The History of Troilus and Cressida. Ed. Jonathan Crewe. 4. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 2000. Print. November 2013.
Shakespeare, William. "Shakespeare Study Guides - Spark Notes - Spark Notes: Today's ...." spark notes. John Heminges, Henry Condell, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. . .
Cooper, Helen. "Deeper into the Reeve’s Tale, 1395-1670." Pp. 168-184. In Chaucer Traditions: Studies in Honour of Derek Brewer. Ruth Morse and Barry Windeatt, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1990.
Clark, W.G., and W. Aldis Wirhgt, eds. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Vol 2. USA: Nd. 2 vols.
Boardman, Phillip C. "Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400)." Enduring Legacies: Ancient and Medieval Cultures. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson Custom Pub., 2000. 430-54. Print.
Chaucer’s epic poem, Troilus and Criseyde, offers an ambiguous question as to whether or not Criseyde truly consents to the intimate relationship with Troilus. While Troilus falls instantly in love in Book 1, Criseyde falls in “love” gradually, if love is even what she is truly feeling. Although Criseyde eventually gives what seems to be vague consent, we cannot be certain if real love prompts her to do so or if there is another force at work. Evidence from the text tells us that it is not real consent or real love, but the ethical responsibility that Criseyde feels that she has for Troilus and Pandarus’s well-being after Pandarus threatens her with their deaths and pressures her in various other ways. The language throughout the poem insinuates
Chaucer, Geoffrey. Troilus and Criseyde. Ed. Larry Benson The Riverside Chaucer.. Boston: The Houghton Mifflin Company. 1987. P. 471-585.
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1
From The Riverside Chaucer, Third Edition. Ed. Larry D. Benson, Ph.D. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. Chaucer, Geoffrey. A. The Canterbury Tales.
Mitchell, J. Allan. (2005). Chaucer's Clerk's Tale and the Question of Ethical Monstrosity. Studies in Philology. Chapel Hill: Winter 2005. Vol.102, Iss. 1; pg. 1, 26 pgs
Thad Jenkins Logan. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 , Vol. 22, No. 2, Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama (Spring, 1982) , pp. 223-238
Dutton, R., & Howard, J.E. (2003). A Companion to Shakespeare’s Works.(p. 9) Maiden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
Shakespeare’s works are some of the finest examples of Tragedy and Comedy from the English cannon of literature. The reason that his works are so poignant and reflective is his use of both emotions in order to progress the other. In his interpretation of Troilus and Cressida the traditional story of tragic love and loss are peppered with irony and satire in order to address topical issues of Gender roles, Government action/inaction, and hero worship through juxtaposition and humor.
From the works of William Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser it is clear that some similarities are apparent, however the two poets encompass different writing styles, as well as different topics that relate to each other in their own unique ways. In Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” and Spenser’s “Sonnet 75”, both poets speak of love in terms of feelings and actions by using different expressive views, allowing the similar topics to contain clear distinctions. Although Edmund Spenser’s “Sonnet 75” and William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” relate in the sense that love is genuine and everlasting, Spenser suggests love more optimistically, whereas Shakespeare focuses on expressing the beauty and stability of love.
Chaucer is not some unknown literary author who is known only by a dozen people in the English field. Besides Shakespeare, Chaucer is probably one of the most well-known contributors to English literature, if not the most well-known. His name is instantly recognizable, and many a high school student learned of him through the oftentimes-painful reading of his most famous work, The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer’s work is an extremely important text in terms of the evolution of the English language; The Canterbury Tales set itself apart from other literary works at the time by being one of the first pieces of literature to be written in English instead of French, and its extreme popularity spurred the creations of even more English literature, allowing the language to regain its prominence and evolve into the English we know today (“Chaucer”; Kemmer). Today, it’s the most prominent example of Middle English work, and is studied not just for its literary worth but as evidence of what the language was like at the time. The Canterbury Tales and Chaucer’s importance are extreme, and the author enjoyed his fame during his life as well as long after, largely due to his abilities to make sound decisions, take risks, learned to learn as a professional, and transfer knowledge, skills that people even today can utilize to be successful.