Troilus and Cressida v. Troy the movie

Shakespeare’s interpretation of the Trojan War is much different than any other modern or historical translation of the event and its characters. I will be comparing Shakespeare’s cynical inverted view of the war and its heroes, with one of the most recent films depicting this historic event, Troy.
In Troilus and Cressida Shakespeare portrays the Trojan War as frivolous and without point. This is illustrated by the continued arguments amongst the leaders of both the Trojans and Greeks that the continued bloodshed is for nothing, and that Helen, the reason for starting the war, is a whore who isn’t worth it. This depiction of Helen as a complete whore is also something fairly unique to Shakespeare’s portrayal. In many modern analysis of the war of troy historians seem confident that the tensions for war were brewing between the two sides long before Helen was involved, and she could be seen more as a scape-goat than anything else. Another character seen by Shakespeare in a different light is Achilles. In Troilus and Cressida he is portrayed as a lazy lovesick homosexual, who has no respect for authority, and refuses to participate. He only joins the battle when Patroclus, his presumed lover, is brutally killed. The final battle is also quite anti-climactic and un-heroic, with Achilles’ men sneaking up and killing the unarmed Hector.
In the movie Troy, the portrayal of the war and its heroes is much different. “Troy” was directed by Wolfgang Peterson and starred Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, and Eric Bana. The movie revolves around climactic battle scenes, and dramatic heroic characters. Neither camp shows any sign of weakening their position. Both sides are determined to either, in the case of the Trojans, hold onto Helen or, in the case of the Greeks, reclaim her. Helen is portrayed as beautiful, virtuous, and undoubtedly in love with Paris. As for Achilles, he is seen as a brutal warrior with an authority problem. However, this lack of respect doesn’t keep him from fight viciously in each battle. There are also no illusions to any homoerotic relationship between Patroclus and Achilles. The final battle between Hector and Achilles is also much different than Shakespeare’s version. Achilles and Hector meet, and battle man to man, both armed and armored. Hector dies valiantly in the place of Paris, who had killed Patroclus.
Overall Shakespeare casts a dark light over even the most acclaimed heroic events of the Trojan War, and leaves us with the feeling that chivalry is dead and there is no honor in killing and conquering. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Troy the movie leaves us feeling that even though there are many terrible parts of war, fighting and dying to protect those around you is worth the loss and hardship of battle.
Works Cited:
Troy. Dir. Wolfgang Peterson. Perf. Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom and Eric Bana. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2004. DVD.

Blog 7 - Self Evaluation

I think I have made a considerable amount of progress in this course, and feel I have learned a lot about Shakespeare since the start of this semester. In the beginning I thought I could grasp the play by just quickly reading the spark notes, but I have come to realize that much of the smaller nuances that bring the meaning of the work to light can be lost in such quick overviews. Because Shakespeare’s works are written in such a foreign time and culture, it often takes me several times of reading through a passage before I truly feel I understand what is going on and why. I’ve taken literature classes before that discuss Shakespeare, but I like how in this class we discuss more than the plays themselves. I have learned about the context in which these works were written and how that affects the actual meaning of the plays. I also enjoy learning about how people of that time may have felt about, or reacted, to the characters and jokes in the plays. I think that reading a lot of the works in the class group has really helped me to improve my own close reading skills, better understand some of the more obscure meanings that could be derived from certain passages, and increased my confidence when reading out loud.

Of the texts we’ve read so far, my favorite was definitely Merchant of Venice. Prior to this class, I had no experience with this play and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved how the Christian characters were so critical of Shylock obsessing over his money, when it turned out that he actually placed more sentimental value on his “priceless” possessions than they did. I also found the discussions in class about the practice of usury very helpful in understanding a lot of the major irony in the play. Christians in Venice despised the Jews for lending money at interest, and yet they borrowed from them often enough that it was a thriving business in Venice. I found the Sonnets to be the most complex and difficult to understand. I think this is because I often confuse the many different poetic and rhetorical terms used when discussing the physical structure and composition of the sonnets. My least favorite work was Twelfth Night; I know this is one of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies, and I’ve worked with it before. I always found the humor to be trivial, and the ease with which the other characters were fooled so thoroughly by Viola’s cross-dressing slightly ridiculous and unrealistic. I think, for the most part, this class has captured my interest quite thoroughly. I am a Biology major, so I don’t expect to use what I am learning in my career, and I don’t have any other classes involving reading, aside from textbooks. However, I am very thankful for the diversion I find in this class. I have always loved literature, and I need it to balance out the stress of my other math and science classes.