ABSTRACT
In Troilus and Cressida, acceptance of the humanity of the ‘other’ is explicit within the present time frame of the war. In Troilus and Cressida, William Shakespeare certainly takes an iconoclastic and sceptical view of the glory and heroism of the Iliad. In Troilus and Cressida, appeals either to divine order or natural law stand in inverse relation to actual experiences of disorder or injustice. In the opening scenes Shakespeare presents Troilus and Cressida as equal protagonists, each narrating their separate versions of the relationship. Both Troilus and Cressida present ambivalent accounts of their feelings as, from their different standpoints, they ‘collaborate’ in the assumption that love cannot last. Troilus and Cressida is a play where protagonists act as if they are trapped in a continuous present, while at the same time being acutely aware that “injurious time” which has “a wallet at his back” creates the imperative to act differently.
