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  • Essay / Inevitability of Criseyde's choice

    In Troilus and Criseyde, a Trojan prince, Troilus falls in love with Criseyde who is a beautiful widow. Pandarus, who is Troilus's friend and Criseyde's uncle, helps Troilus by making Criseyde fall in love with him through fair or foul means. The relationship between Troilus and Criseyde appears to be a success until Criseyde's father, who has defected to Greece, proposes an exchange between Criseyde and a Trojan soldier. Criseyde sadly goes to the Greek camp, promising Troilus that she will return in 10 days but she falls in love with Diomedes, one of the Greek soldiers. Criseyde was accused of betraying Troilus's love by countless critics. However, Criseyde's case can be compared to that of a woman who is introduced to a man by a matchmaker, marries him and discovers that the information her matchmaker gave her was false. Should she be condemned if she left him? Criseyde is not to blame because she did not have the right reasons to make an honorable choice: she was falsely manipulated by her uncle, Troilus was too indecisive to protect her, and Diomedes approached her with bad intentions. Criseyde's uncle, as a matchmaker, forced her to love Troilus. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Pandarus knew that Criseyde would fall in love with a type of man and tricked her into believing that Troilus was that man. When Pandarus visited her for Troilus's sake and saw that she was reading The Siege of Thebes from Statius's classic epic Thebaid (2.12), he discovered that Criseyde loved violent and passionate battle stories. Pandarus continues to emphasize that Troilus is a sturdy and bold warrior. Pandarus intentionally told her about Troilus as a warrior, which overlaps with the story she was reading. “Now here, now there, he chased them so quickly, /there was only Greek blood” (2.29) However, in reality, Troilus was not a brave virile warrior. When he initially fell in love with Criseyde, he locked himself in his room, refusing to sleep or eat (2.70). From Book 2, stanzas 52 to 78, he lamented his sorrow and took no action until Pandarus came to him. As Criseyde tried to prove to Troilus that his suspicions about his infidelity were wrong and cried, Troilus fainted (3.156). So when the Trojan Parliament decreed that Criseyde should be exchanged with Antenor, he again went alone to his chamber and lamented the fate of his love (3.32-49) and he sat "Like a lifeless image, pale and discolored” (3.34). ). Pandarus presented a "Troilus" that Criseyde would fall in love with, not a real Troilus. Furthermore, Pandarus lied to Criseyde that Troilus had learned from his friend that she was in love with Horastes (3.114). All of this indicates that Pandarus's manipulation of Troilus' character, even resorting to lies, clouded Criseyde's judgment. Troilus was lazy. He was slow to make decisions at critical moments. When the Trojan Parliament organized a conference on the exchange of Criseyde for Antenor, Troilus was present at the conference but did not speak, unlike his brother Hector (4.22-26). All he did was lock himself in his room and whine. Pandarus, after hearing about the decree, came to see him. Troilus says to Pandarus: “let me weep and moan until I die” (4.57). Pandarus tried to bring Troilus out of his lethargic despair and suggests this to him and encourages him not to delay his action: It is not a shame for you, nor a vice, to take the one you love most. Maybe she would think you were too nice to let her go to her house like that./457671.