As it is divided into five books, it takes some time to read it all. But I enjoyed every second of it. I believe that the characters, however few especially when compared to Shakespeare , are the principal asset of 'Troilus and Criseyde'. They truly engage both one's interest and involvement. I felt a bond, a connection almost, with Troilus that is really hard to describe. It is true that both Chaucer's and Shakespeare's Troilus are similar as regards to his embodiment of a 'lover's truth' one of the main ideals of the courtly love tradition.
However, with Chaucer's version, I found a certain charming aspect, in all its innocence, to his character that makes him unique. An example would be the first night he shared with Criseyde. It also explains why Troilus had to secure Pandarus' help and to do the wooing for him, unlike Boccaccio's Troilo, who did the wooing for himself. Obviously, the poem has more to it than just that. In fact, the poem's brilliance is hard to express and prove without an example: "The game has gone so far since yesterday, That Phoebus first shall tumble from on high, And doves be one with eagles in the sky, And every rock on earth shall break apart, Ere before Troilus be sundered torn away from my heart" This is part of just one stanza spoken early on in the poem by Criseyde.
For those that are accustomed with the story, they can understand the level of irony in these verses, that are so elegantly written. There are also a variety of philosophical and religious Catholic concerns that Chaucer expertly inter-weaved into his poem. If anything they provide a chance for the magnificent author to achieve an outstanding elevation of speech which he is so universally acclaimed for.
However, one should not assume that this poem was written just to exhibit Criseyde's treachery, especially as an example. Chaucer makes it clear that it was not his intention, throughout the poem, to do so.
Too many tales have already been written about that, he says. In his characteristic originality, he actually tells the part about her desertion and affair with Diomede with obvious pain and reluctance. The result is that he presents a charming heroine, who is not stereotyped by all means.
This is yet another difference between Chaucer and Shakespeare and Boccaccio. It would be unfair to think that any of these poets is inferior to the other as well though, a mistake I hope one does not make. Each have their own particular merits.
There is a lot to be said about Chaucer's 'Troilus and Criseyde'. I believe it is one of the best poems I have ever read for Chaucer's particular style always manages to enchant me. A masterpiece. View 2 comments. Throughout almost the entire book, Troilus and Cressida appears to be the idealized courtly romantic poem.
Eventually, they find each other in love. Then it gets interesting. The games of love and human drama are all ultimately foolish and small-minded affairs. Life is wasted Throughout almost the entire book, Troilus and Cressida appears to be the idealized courtly romantic poem. Life is wasted on the self-absorbed infatuations which consume us.
Life is about the adoration of God. I have no idea how accurate and true the translation is to the original. There seems to be an inherent problem in reading a translation of a poem.
Where the author may have agonized over a turn of phrase, a punctuation mark or a simple word, we are always left with a shadow of the intent. To be perfectly honest, I struggled to read this version. Not because I could not do it, but simply because it was tedious and I hated this version. Does it really hurt a story to translate the words to modern spelling?
Some say yes, but I say no. Had I not spent the time seeking a version that was a simple update to modern spelling, I would have hated this story with every fiber of my being. As it were, I actually loved this story. It started out funny, then it shifted to sweet and heartwarming, To be perfectly honest, I struggled to read this version.
It started out funny, then it shifted to sweet and heartwarming, and finally it ripped my heart out. As I read book four and five, I found myself tearing up.
It shocked me to be moved by the story, because I had no idea that I felt that invested in the characters. There is something about them, about their devotion to one another, that causes your heart to break. As for Criseyde, I do not see her "betrayal" as an actual betrayal.
Instead, I read it very differently and saw it as a survival mechanism. From first to last, she is concerned with her protection and survival. I felt just as much sorrow for her as I did for Troilus. This story is worth a read and I suggest people find a version that is less tedious, unless you are used to reading in I believe Middle English.
Aug 17, Bregje rated it it was ok. Troilus and Pandarus desperately need a lesson in consent. Not once has Criseyde initiated any action. She is always guilted into doing something she does not want to do because the boys spin some story to put the blame on her.
It also takes until book IV for her to get a proper monologue, which is then still shorter than the several-page-long laments the men often get. It is hard to comprehend that this poem is written by the same man who created the Wife of Bath. I cannot deny that it is beaut Troilus and Pandarus desperately need a lesson in consent. I cannot deny that it is beautifully written, the main reason for the work to still get two stars. I especially enjoyed the part where Troilus curses the sun for rising III.
However, my enjoyment of the style does not outweigh my annoyance at the misogynistic overtone of the poem, so much so that I wonder if we can still call this canon. The last straw was the ending, which only reinforces the stereotype that women are lying and cheating creatures and does little to rehabilitate Criseyde's character. I cannot wait for the course I will be taking on this next year. Yes, another reread of this text, my third this semester.
I don't think I'm going to want to read it for a long time after this, lovely as it is. I just can't seem to get to grips with it well enough to do my essay, so I just marathoned it, alongside Shakespeare and Dryden's versions. I don't know quite what to make of it, actually: she is so virtuous, and we see her in so much detail for the first part of the story, but then we see her Yes, another reread of this text, my third this semester.
I don't know quite what to make of it, actually: she is so virtuous, and we see her in so much detail for the first part of the story, but then we see her betrayal only from Troilus' point of view -- when it seemed to me that she was the one who risked most for their love, and who was ready to put more into it. Maybe I'm too coloured by Shakespeare and Dryden, though. The actual edition I used was the Norton one, so my original comments on that still stand.
Oct 18, Bettie rated it liked it Recommends it for: Laura, Susanna. Shelves: historical-fiction , war , autumn , epic-proportions , classic , radio-4x , love , published , poetry , ancient-history. Sep 09, Jennifer Irving rated it it was amazing. May 26, Eye of Sauron rated it really liked it Shelves: classics , fiction , poetry.
It strikes me as odd that so many would classify this simply as a love poem. Yes, it concerns the romance of a man and a woman, but it doesn't end too well, and it's definitely her fault. Far from celebrating temporary, earthly love, Chaucer makes this into a cautionary tale: "Oh all you fresh young people, he or she, In whom love grows and ripens year by year, Come home, come home from worldly vanity!
Cast the heart's countenance in love and fear Upwards to God, who in His image here Has made you; t It strikes me as odd that so many would classify this simply as a love poem. Cast the heart's countenance in love and fear Upwards to God, who in His image here Has made you; think this world is but a fair Passing as soon as flower-scent in air What need is there a feigning love to seek? It's also an interesting choice to take the setting of the Iliad and create a Christian dramatic poem from the minor characters.
An enjoyable read, but not a necessary one. Mar 07, Chrystal rated it liked it Shelves: poetry. The poetry itself; 5 stars.
The story however, is not that interesting, and the characters are pretty infantile and melodramatic. The story isn't important though; what is important is the moral of the poem which Chaucer makes clear by inserting quotes from Boethius about the wheel of Fortune and ending the poem with warnings about being deceived by paganism and earthly love.
I was annoyed with Troilus, this supposedly manly warrior, constantly weeping on his bed and threatening to die for love. Criseyde annoyed me because she was so gullible and so easily swayed by men.
Neville Coghill's notes throughout were of monumental assistance to understanding the poem, and understanding the childish characters.
Pandarus suggests that Troilus elope with Criseyde, but Troilus refuses, explaining that as a chivalrous soldier, he cannot do anything so dishonorable. Criseyde is also very saddened to hear of the exchange. She is visited by her women at the palace and must hide her sorrow at leaving Troy. When she is alone, she allows herself to weep. Pandarus appears, and reassures him that all will be well, urging him to go to Criseyde.
Troilus visits Criseyde and they emotionally discuss her leaving Troy. She rejects the idea of running away together, saying they would regret it later. Instead, she reassures Troilus that she will deceive her father and return to him in Troy in 10 days time.
Troilus gives Criseyde a special brooch to remember him by. Troilus leaves her in the morning with a sense of dread. Criseyde is exchanged for Antenor and she joins the Greek camp.
Immediately, the Greek warrior Diomede offers to protect Criseyde from any harm. Troilus spends his days pining for Criseyde and feeling much anticipation for when she will return.
On the tenth day after her departure, Criseyde does not return to Troy as promised. She writes to Troilus, explaining it is too difficult for her to leave under her father's watch.
Although she deeply misses Troilus, she is already letting herself be wooed by Diomede. She decides that she is in need of protection, and accepts Diomede as her lover, giving him the brooch that Troilus gifted her.
She experiences much remorse but feels it is the best thing to do. He dreams of Criseyde embracing a boar. He writes Criseyde a heartfelt letter, asking why she has not come. She writes a reply, but it is vague and short. Troilus visits his sister Cassandra to unravel the meaning of his dream, and she describes the boar as a new lover. Troilus continues to write to her, but her replies are consistently short and uninterested.
This confirms the affair. Troilus moans about bad fortune and laments being betrayed. For the first time, Pandarus has nothing to say but that he is sorry. Criseyde teases her uncle and when they have finished laughing she tells him where they are up to. Pandarus replies that he knows all about that sorrowful story but insists they should turn their thoughts to spring, as a prelude to introducing his news about Troilus.
He invites her to dance but Criseyde recoils in horror. As a widow, she says, it would be better for her to live in a cave, to pray, and read the lives of the saints. Read more: Guide to the classics: Homer's Iliad. For just as Thebes was destroyed under siege, so too will Troy be. We know that this love story will turn out badly. In the very first stanza, Chaucer has told us the ending of the story: that Troilus will win Criseyde, but that she will forsake him.
Like the Trojans, we may not be able to learn from the past so as to avoid disaster. The stories for this day are much happier than those of the fourth day, all of which ended with the deaths of two unhappy lovers. Rather beautifully if unrealistically , two of them simply died of unrequited love. One of the stories in The Decameron is the first story in European literature to have a working-class hero and heroine. Pasquino is a weaver and Simona is a spinster. Their story is told on the fourth day.
Both die as a result of rubbing poisoned sage on their teeth and gums. At the end of the fourth book of Troilus and Criseyde, the lovers have agreed that Criseyde will return to Troy after she has been exchanged for a Trojan captured by the Greeks. Both seem to be equally distraught at the turn of events which means she has to leave Troy against her will.
Apart from all the weeping, which does get on the nerves, Troilus does very little for himself. If it had been left to him, he would have died on his bedroom floor the first time he saw Criseyde. From a twenty-first-century perspective, Troilus is not much of a protagonist, but Chaucer would not have wasted so many hand-written pages on someone who would not have appealed to his fourteenth-century readers. In Das Verlies there has finally been a murder. In fact, there have been three.
I have to admit that Franz managed this rather well. I knew, as he intended, that all was not as it appeared, but I did not expect the murder to happen in front of my eyes, as it were. The reader has got to know one of the victims particularly well and should be shocked at the murder.
The murders are committed on page , not quite halfway through the book. Murders are usually committed in the first couple of chapters, or even before the book starts. Julia Durant and her colleagues finally have a case to solve. The book is made up of tales of varying lengths. Some are only a page or so long, others are ten or more pages.
The conceit behind the collection is that seven women decide to flee Florence where the Black Death has killed thousands of people and made life there difficult. They decide to take refuge in an idyllic house, where they have servants to look after them, beautiful grounds to walk in and plenty of amusements.
There follow ten days of story-telling. These stories are all short, presumably because there was no time for the storytellers to prepare anything too elaborate. The stories for this day have a common theme of quick thinking turning a bad situation around. At the moment both Troilus and Criseyde are bemoaning the fact that Criseyde is about to be exchanged for a Trojan prisoner. There are lots of tears, but whereas Troilus can barely rise from his bed, Criseyde is able to receive her friends and talk to them without them knowing that her heart is breaking.
Skip to content Since last we met I have finished two books. Available now:. Books read in challenge: 9 Books read in year: 39 April Munday is the author of the Soldiers of Fortune and Regency Spies series of novels, as well as standalone novels set in the fourteenth century.
Available now: Amazon. Books read in challenge: 8 Books read in year: 38 April Munday is the author of the Soldiers of Fortune and Regency Spies series of novels, as well as standalone novels set in the fourteenth century.
All in all reading Troilus and Criseyde is a pleasurable, if confusing, experience.
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