Troilus Essay, Research Paper

English: Shakespeare:

Troilus and Cressida: Manipulations of a Universal Wolf

February 25, 2000

Tris Warkentin Shakespearean Comedy Troilus and Cressida,

question 2 11/18/99 Manipulations of a “Universal Wolf” The focus

of Troilus and Cressida on appetite as a type of human value, and

hence a cause of action, causes a break in the Great Chain of

Being, and thus the dissolution of order in both Troy and the Greek

camp outside of it. The original causes of the Trojan War have

dissolved over time. The gods are gone. The fearless heroes who

had formerly fought the war have been reduced to quarreling

descendants of their heroic ancestors. Elements such as Destiny,

fate, and Fortune have been removed. The only causes left to

produce disaster are the actions of human beings, and these

actions arise from impulses of human appetite that have no cause

beyond the irrational nature of human desires, freed from the

controls of reason. This is caused by the lack of a stable hierarchy

by which value could be estimated, and choice of value made.

When considering the disintegration of order in Troy and the Greek

camp, there are three important topics to consider. These details

are; inactive sets of values, the active set of appetite as a value, and

the break in the Great Chain of Being. Although there are three

different kinds of values dealt with in Troilus and Cressida, two of

them have no effect on the descent of the Trojans and Greeks into

anarchy; inherent value, perceived value, and human appetites.

These different types of values are supported by different

characters. Hector believes in inherent values, and Ulysses explains

and manipulates relative values. Shakespeare portrays Hector as a

noble hero who has some bad moments. Hector has high integrity,

but he does not follow through with his actions. In their duel, Hector

lets a weary Ajax go, because he is kin. Hector also courteously lets

Achilles get away when they are fighting. Despite his magnanimous

ideals, Hector dies because he pursues and kills a Greek, because

he covets the Greek s gorgeous armor. After killing the Greek,

Hector disarms to rest. At this moment Achilles and his men arrive.

Hector objects, saying, “I am unarmed; forgo this vantage, Greek”

(V 8 9). His appeal to chivalry and fair play is ignored, and the

Greeks kill Hector. Hector s chivalric value system leads him to

behave nobly and talk eloquently of reason and human feelings. But

in the end, Hector chooses glory over good sense, kinship over

successful combat, and greed for gorgeous armor over prudence.

Hector s insistence on inherent, physical values end with his death.

Relative values are another approach to the question of what

motivates men to act the way they do. Ulysses best expresses this

point of view in his speech on degree,(I 3 75) or status on the Great

Chain of Being, which at first appears to be the same as the

definition of the medieval Great Chain of Being, which bound

everything in the universe into an “unbreakable, harmonious

hierarchy of beings.” However, Ulysses relates degree on the chain

to the Greek military and factions, not the universe, although he

compares it to the orderliness of the heavens, with the sun properly

dominant (I iii 85). Ulysses warns that if proper order is not

observed among men the outcome will be as chaotic as “when the

planets/ In evil mixture to disorder wander” (I iii 94-95). For

Ulysses, place or position is the key to the problem of values.

Ulysses is very concerned with the need to maintain degree and

order in political relationships, and he warns: “Take but degree

away, untune that string,/ And hark what discord follows!” (I iii

109-110). When Ulysses recognizes that Achilles is out of his

place, his degree, he schemes and maneuvers to put Achilles back

in his place as hero of the Greek army. Along with the absolute

value of inherent worth (expressed by Hector) and the value of

relative worth (expressed by Ulysses), there is a third source of

value in Troilus, which ultimately controls human action. This is

“appetite”, the “universal wolf.” Most of the characters in Troilus act

to achieve what they desire, or have appetite for. This is the cause

of the ensuing pandemonium. Ideally, this appetite is controlled by

reason, but the characters have no way of determining what is good

and what is evil, and therefore have no way to use reason to control

their appetites. This arises from a lack of knowledge of inherent

values, which forces the characters to relinquish their force of will

over appetite, because they have no basis to see what is evil or

righteous. That is why Ulysses warns that if degree is neglected:

“Then everything includes itself in power, Power into will, will into

appetite; And appetite, an universal wolf, So doubly seconded with

will and power, Must make perforce an universal prey, And last eat

up himself. “(I iii 119-124) As Ulysses states, if objects and men

cannot be placed into their degree on the Great Chain of Being,

then reason cannot function properly, and therefore, appetites

continue unhindered by will on the behalf of the character. The

unrestrained appetite of love produces emotional chaos, which

threatens social stability once the Chain of Being is broken and

appetite, rather than reason, controls human behavior. Troilus acts

on the basis of appetite, seeking Cressida, and yet he attempts to

elevate the object of his appetite into an inherent value of beauty, to

match his sense of his own value. When he is finally forced by

Ulysses to give an inherent value to Cressida after she is wooed by

Diomedes, he is unable to do so, and instead insists that she has

no value because she has been false, and his appetite is no longer

met: “This she? No; this is Diomed s Cressida. If beauty have a

soul, this is not she; If souls guide vows, if vows be sanctimonies, If

sanctimony be the gods delight, If there be rule in unity itself. This

is not she.” (V ii 134-139) However, there is a contradiction in this

passage. Troilus understands that there are inherent values for

everything, including Cressida. However, he is contradicting this

fact, and claims that Cressida is no more, which he realizes is not

true. Instead of maintaining the normal base of the inherent value

system and discarding the absurdity that Cressida does not exist,

he instead throws out the idea of inherent values. His logical

conclusion is that these absolute values do not exist, and that there

is not even “rule in unity itself” (V ii 138). Thus, Troilus moves from

questioning the nature of Cressida to questioning the nature of the

entire universe: “The bonds of heaven are slipped, dissolved/ and

loosed” (V ii 153-154). With these bonds broken, disorder is

possible, and it takes over quite readily. Ulysses predictions were

correct; the dissolution of degree causes chaos, much like the

wandering planets he speaks of when comparing the Greek military

to the heavens. In sum, the Great Chain of Being arranged the

universe into the order it needed to fend off discord and the decree

of human desires. The manifestations of appetite that cause this

rupture in harmony stem from the lack of inherent values, and the

lack of rationality and therefore the control over innocence and

corruption. For “when degree is shaked,/ Which is the ladder of all

high designs,/ The enterprise is sick.” (I iii 101-103).