‘Troy’ and ‘Trouthe’ in the Troilus and Criseyde stories of Chaucer, Henryson, and Shakespeare

Abstract

The story of Troilus and Criseyde constitutes a metanarrative. This thesis is concerned with versions of the story written by Geoffrey Chaucer, Robert Henryson, and William Shakespeare. In these three tellings, characters in the texts are aware of the metanarrative. I show how the authors demonstrate this awareness in their characters, and how the metanarrative is represented and re-embodied, in the Troilus and Criseyde figures in each telling, and in the tokens they use.

The thesis examines ways in which the concept of ‘trouthe,’ that is, fidelity, truth, and sound judgement, is made problematic in all three tellings. In portraying Troilus and Criseyde and their relationship, the authors draw on the idea of a ‘trouthe’ which is destabilised in the course of the love story. This unstable ‘trouthe’ in turn contributes to the reputation of Troilus and Criseyde, which is a component of the metanarrative. In this way, information about ‘trouthe’ is drawn from and contributes to the metanarrative. I show how unstable ‘trouthe’ is paired with the changing and inherently unstable status of Troy. I propose that there is a figurative ‘Troy,’ which can only be inhabited by Troilus and Criseyde when their relationship is marked by a state of ‘trouthe’ and joy. Transactions using love tokens demonstrate the failure of ‘trouthe’ between Troilus and Criseyde. Characters in the three tellings read this failure in tokens and in body language. The repeated failure of ‘trouthe’ affects the status of ‘Troy.’