For Tuesday: Troilus and Cressida, Acts 3 and 4

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: In Act 4, Scene 4, why does Troilus keep advising Cressida to “be true”? How does she respond to this, and how does he clarify his meaning? If he consistent in what he means by this phrase?

Q2: After their night together, Cressida says to Trolius, “Prithee, tarry. You men will never tarry. O foolish Cressid!” (4.2.20-21). Does she regret giving into him and revealing her affections? Does she have cause to doubt his love? Is his language of love less than hers?

Q3: In Act 3, scene 3, Ulysses is trying to rouse Achilles into action and ultimately, get him to return to the Trojan War (which he is sitting out). One of the things he tells him is, “no man is the lord of anything—/Though in and of him there be must consisting—/Till he communicate his part to others;/Nor doth he of himself know them for aught/Till he behold them formed in the applause/Where they’re extended” (3.3.120-124). What do you think he means by this? Do you think he believes this, or is it just something to get Achilles riled up?

Q4: In Act 3, scene 2, we get an echo of the Balcony Scene in Romeo and Juliet. However, the scene is complicated by the presence of Pandarus, who keeps interjecting vulgar terms of business (“Go to, a bargain made. Seal it, seal it”). Besides this, how do the two lovers proclaim their love for the audience? Does it sound ‘authentic’? Do any of the same themes from Romeo and Juliet crop up in their discussion?