Troilus and Criseyde

Criseyde is a protagonist and love interest in Troilus and Criseyde. She is the daughter of Calkas, a Trojan astronomer and prophet who joins the Greeks after determining that Troy will lose the war. As a result, she lives alone and has independent control over her finances and property—a rare degree of freedom for a woman of her time and place. Pandarus is her uncle, and she has the support of Ector and the other princes of Troy to help her to protect her estate. Criseyde is described as very beautiful, with golden blonde hair and pale skin. However, she often wears black like a widow, and her temperament is serious and somber. Rather than enjoying the pleasures of spring, Pandarus finds her listening to a literary work about the siege of Thebes. 

Criseyde is initially reluctant to meet with Troilus because she fears that a romantic relationship would rob her of her independence. She only agrees to write to him initially because Pandarus pleads with her to be merciful, promising her that Troilus will surely die if she is unkind to him. Even then, she ensures that her letter will not lead Troilus to believe that she reciprocates his feelings, writing, “I nevere dide thing with more peyne / Than written this, to which ye me constreyne” (2.1231-32). Criseyde’s affections for Troilus develop more gradually. While she feels attracted to him from the first moment that she sees him, she is much more guarded and cautious about pledging her love to him. However, she does develop genuine love for Troilus after she sees his devotion, discretion, and care for her. 

At the end of the poem, Criseyde becomes an antagonist to Troilus rather than a love interest. She betrays Troilus by accepting Diomede’s proposal and failing to return to Troy as she promised. However, the poem suggests that in so doing, Criseyde makes the only choice that might allow her to survive the war, and Chaucer does not present survival as a less worthy goal than romantic devotion. Like her father, Calkas, Criseyde forsakes abstract values in favor of preserving her life. Her certain foreknowledge of the war’s outcome makes this choice possible, indicating that there remains a space for free will even as fate or divine providence shapes individual lives.

When Diomede is confessing his love to her initially, Chaucer clarifies that “she naught his tales herde / but here and ther, now here a word of two” (4.178-79). By indicating that Criseyde has not truly fallen for Diomede, Chaucer creates a more complex and morally ambiguous character. He ultimately concludes that she does not deserve to be maligned in his writing because “[h]ire name, allas, is publysshed so wide / That for hire gilt it oughte ynough suffise” (5.1095-96). Criseyde is a complex character whose actions cause conflict throughout Troilus and Criseyde but who also has sympathetic motivations.

Pandarus is a mentor figure in Troilus and Criseyde. He is Criseyde’s uncle and Troilus’ friend. Pandarus is characterized by his rhetorical prowess and his cunning manipulations that bring Troilus and Criseyde together. He often uses examples from Classical literature such as Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Pandarus is a loyal friend to Troilus, and they form a deep bond as they plot to bring the lovers together. 

Pandarus’ cunning and persuasive skills are frequently compared to those of a hunter, suggesting that romantic pursuit parallels the pursuit of an animal. He reassures Troilus that his plans will bring Criseyde closer to him by comparing her to a deer approaching a hunting shelter: “Lo, hold the at thi triste cloos, and I / Shal wel the deer unto thi bowe dryve” (2.1534-35). Similarly, Criseyde playfully tells Pandarus, “Fox that ye ben! God yeve youre herte kare! / God help me so, ye caused al this fare” (3.1565-66), comparing how he has tricked her into meeting with Troilus to a fox hunting a rabbit. These metaphors indicate how Pandarus is characterized as tricky and even predatory, although never malicious. 

However, Pandarus’ ultimate failure to ensure a happy future for Troilus and Criseyde causes a major shift in his character at the end of the poem. While his schemes and persuasive speeches initially work to unite the lovers, he is unable to keep them together after Criseyde returns to the Trojans. Chaucer indicates how monumental this moment is by calling attention to Pandarus’ stunned, silent reaction to Criseyde’s betrayal: 

This Pandarus, that al thise thynges herde, 

And wiste wel he seyde a soth of this, 

He nought a word ayeyn to hym answerde; 

For sory of his frendes sorwe he is, 

And shamed for his nece hath don amys, 

And stant, astound of thise causes tweye,

As stille as ston; a word ne kowde he seye (5.1723-29).

While Pandarus has previously used his words constantly, talking in long speeches and using language to accomplish his goals, his final silence indicates that he has no power left in the narrative.