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Troilus and Cressida - Act 5, scene 2
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Troilus and Cressida - Act 5, scene 2Act 5, scene 2
⌜Scene 2⌝
Synopsis:
Diomedes pressures Cressida to keep her promise to have sex with him; they are overheard by an enraged Troilus, an anxious Ulysses, and a bitterly satirical Thersites. When Cressida gives Diomedes the love token that Troilus gave her, Troilus cannot reconcile her betrayal with his earlier experience of her. He vows to avenge himself on Diomedes.
Enter Diomedes.DIOMEDES 2989 What, are you up here, ho? Speak.
CALCHAS, ⌜within⌝ 2990 Who calls?
DIOMEDES 2991 Diomed. Calchas, I think? Where’s your
2992 daughter?
CALCHAS, ⌜within⌝ 2993 5She comes to you.
⟨Enter Troilus and Ulysses,⟩ ⌜at a distance, and then,
apart from them, Thersites.⌝
ULYSSES, ⌜aside to Troilus⌝
2994 Stand where the torch may not discover us.
Enter Cressida.
TROILUS, ⌜aside to Ulysses⌝
2995 Cressid comes forth to him.
DIOMEDES 2996 How now, my charge?
CRESSIDA
2997 Now, my sweet guardian. Hark, a word with you.
⌜She whispers to him.⌝
TROILUS, ⌜aside⌝ 2998 10Yea, so familiar?
ULYSSES, ⌜aside to Troilus⌝ 2999 She will sing any man at
3000 first sight.
THERSITES, ⌜aside⌝ 3001 And any man may sing her, if he
3002 can take her clef. She’s noted.
DIOMEDES 3003 15Will you remember?
⌜CRESSIDA⌝ 3004 Remember? Yes.
DIOMEDES 3005 Nay, but do, then, and let your mind be
3006 coupled with your words.
TROILUS, ⌜aside⌝ 3007 What ⟨should⟩ she remember?
ULYSSES, ⌜aside to Troilus⌝ 3008 20List!
CRESSIDA
3009 Sweet honey Greek, tempt me no more to folly.
THERSITES, ⌜aside⌝ 3010 Roguery!
DIOMEDES 3011 Nay, then—
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CRESSIDA
3012
I’ll tell you what—DIOMEDES
3013 25 Foh, foh, come, tell a pin! You are forsworn.
CRESSIDA
3014 In faith, I cannot. What would you have me do?
THERSITES, ⌜aside⌝ 3015 A juggling trick: to be secretly open!
DIOMEDES
3016 What did you swear you would bestow on me?
CRESSIDA
3017 I prithee, do not hold me to mine oath.
3018 30 Bid me do anything but that, sweet Greek.
DIOMEDES 3019 Good night.
TROILUS, ⌜aside⌝ 3020 Hold, patience!
ULYSSES, ⌜aside to Troilus⌝ 3021 How now, Trojan?
CRESSIDA 3022 Diomed—
DIOMEDES
3023 35 No, no, good night. I’ll be your fool no more.
TROILUS, ⌜aside⌝ 3024 Thy better must.
CRESSIDA 3025 Hark, a word in your ear.
⌜She whispers to him.⌝
TROILUS, ⌜aside⌝ 3026 O plague and madness!
ULYSSES, ⌜aside to Troilus⌝
3027 You are moved, prince. Let us depart, I pray ⟨you,⟩
3028 40 Lest your displeasure should enlarge itself
3029 To wrathful terms. This place is dangerous;
3030 The time right deadly. I beseech you, go.
TROILUS, ⌜aside to Ulysses⌝
3031 Behold, I pray you.
ULYSSES, ⌜aside to Troilus⌝ 3032 ⟨Nay,⟩ good my lord, go off.
3033 45 You flow to great ⟨distraction.⟩ Come, my lord.
TROILUS, ⌜aside to Ulysses⌝
3034 I prithee, stay.
ULYSSES, ⌜aside to Troilus⌝ 3035 You have not patience. Come.
TROILUS, ⌜aside to Ulysses⌝
3036 I pray you, stay. By hell and all hell’s torments,
3037 I will not speak a word.
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223
DIOMEDES 3038 50 And so good night.⌜He starts to leave.⌝
CRESSIDA 3039 Nay, but you part in anger.
TROILUS, ⌜aside⌝ 3040 Doth that grieve thee? O withered
3041 truth!
ULYSSES, ⌜aside to Troilus⌝
3042 How now, my lord?
TROILUS, ⌜aside to Ulysses⌝ 3043 55 By Jove, I will be patient.
CRESSIDA
3044 Guardian! Why, Greek!
DIOMEDES 3045 Foh foh! ⟨Adieu.⟩ You palter.
CRESSIDA
3046 In faith, I do not. Come hither once again.
ULYSSES, ⌜aside to Troilus⌝
3047 You shake, my lord, at something. Will you go?
3048 60 You will break out.
TROILUS, ⌜aside⌝ 3049 She strokes his cheek!
ULYSSES, ⌜aside to Troilus⌝ 3050 Come, come.
TROILUS, ⌜aside to Ulysses⌝
3051 Nay, stay. By Jove, I will not speak a word.
3052 There is between my will and all offenses
3053 65 A guard of patience. Stay a little while.
THERSITES, ⌜aside⌝ 3054 How the devil Luxury, with his fat
3055 rump and potato finger, tickles ⟨these⟩ together.
3056 Fry, lechery, fry!
DIOMEDES 3057 ⟨But⟩ will you, then?
CRESSIDA
3058 70 In faith, I will, ⌜la.⌝ Never trust me else.
DIOMEDES
3059 Give me some token for the surety of it.
CRESSIDA 3060 I’ll fetch you one.She exits.
ULYSSES, ⌜aside to Troilus⌝
3061 You have sworn patience.
TROILUS, ⌜aside to Ulysses⌝ 3062 Fear me not, my lord.
3063 75 I will not be myself nor have cognition
3064 Of what I feel. I am all patience.
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225
Enter Cressida ⌜with Troilus’s sleeve.⌝THERSITES, ⌜aside⌝ 3065 Now the pledge, now, now, now!
CRESSIDA, ⌜giving the sleeve⌝ 3066 Here, Diomed. Keep this
3067 sleeve.
TROILUS, ⌜aside⌝ 3068 80O beauty, where is thy faith?
ULYSSES, ⌜aside to Troilus⌝ 3069 My lord—
TROILUS, ⌜aside to Ulysses⌝
3070 ⟨I will be patient; outwardly I will.
CRESSIDA⟩
3071 You look upon that sleeve? Behold it well.
3072 He loved me—O false wench!—Give ’t me again.
⌜She snatches the sleeve from Diomedes.⌝
DIOMEDES 3073 85Whose was ’t?
CRESSIDA
3074 It is no matter, now I ha ’t again.
3075 I will not meet with you tomorrow night.
3076 I prithee, Diomed, visit me no more.
THERSITES, ⌜aside⌝ 3077 Now she sharpens. Well said,
3078 90 whetstone.
DIOMEDES 3079 I shall have it.
CRESSIDA 3080 What, this?
DIOMEDES 3081 Ay, that.
CRESSIDA
3082 O all you gods!—O pretty, pretty pledge!
3083 95 Thy master now lies thinking on his bed
3084 Of thee and me, and sighs, and takes my glove,
3085 And gives memorial dainty kisses to it
3086 As I kiss thee.
⌜He grabs the sleeve, and she tries to retrieve it.⌝
DIOMEDES 3087 Nay, do not snatch it from me.
CRESSIDA
3088 100 He that takes that doth take my heart withal.
DIOMEDES
3089 I had your heart before. This follows it.
TROILUS, ⌜aside⌝ 3090 I did swear patience.
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227
⟨CRESSIDA⟩ 3091 You shall not have it, Diomed, faith, you shall not.
3092 I’ll give you something else.
DIOMEDES 3093 105I will have this. Whose was it?
CRESSIDA 3094 It is no matter.
DIOMEDES 3095 Come, tell me whose it was.
CRESSIDA
3096 ’Twas one’s that loved me better than you will.
3097 But now you have it, take it.
DIOMEDES 3098 110 Whose was it?
CRESSIDA
3099 By all Diana’s waiting-women yond,
3100 And by herself, I will not tell you whose.
DIOMEDES
3101 Tomorrow will I wear it on my helm
3102 And grieve his spirit that dares not challenge it.
TROILUS, ⌜aside⌝
3103 115 Wert thou the devil and wor’st it on thy horn,
3104 It should be challenged.
CRESSIDA
3105 Well, well, ’tis done, ’tis past. And yet it is not.
3106 I will not keep my word.
DIOMEDES 3107 Why, then, farewell.
3108 120 Thou never shalt mock Diomed again.
⌜He starts to leave.⌝
CRESSIDA
3109 You shall not go. One cannot speak a word
3110 But it straight starts you.
DIOMEDES 3111 I do not like this fooling.
⌜TROILUS, aside⌝
3112 Nor I, by Pluto! But that that likes not you
3113 125 Pleases me best.
DIOMEDES 3114 What, shall I come? The hour?
CRESSIDA
3115 Ay, come.—O Jove!—Do, come.—I shall be plagued.
p.
229
DIOMEDES 3116 Farewell, till then.
CRESSIDA 3117 Good night. I prithee, come.—
⟨He exits.⟩
3118 130 Troilus, farewell. One eye yet looks on thee,
3119 But with my heart the other eye doth see.
3120 Ah, poor our sex! This fault in us I find:
3121 The error of our eye directs our mind.
3122 What error leads must err. O, then conclude:
3123 135 Minds swayed by eyes are full of turpitude.She exits.
THERSITES, ⌜aside⌝
3124 A proof of strength she could not publish more,
3125 Unless she said “My mind is now turned whore.”
ULYSSES
3126 All’s done, my lord.
TROILUS 3127 It is.
ULYSSES 3128 140 Why stay we then?
TROILUS
3129 To make a recordation to my soul
3130 Of every syllable that here was spoke.
3131 But if I tell how these two did ⟨co-act,⟩
3132 Shall I not lie in publishing a truth?
3133 145 Sith yet there is a credence in my heart,
3134 An esperance so obstinately strong.
3135 That doth invert th’ attest of eyes and ears,
3136 As if those organs ⟨had deceptious⟩ functions,
3137 Created only to calumniate.
3138 150 Was Cressid here?
ULYSSES 3139 I cannot conjure, Trojan.
TROILUS 3140 She was not, sure.
ULYSSES 3141 Most sure she was.
TROILUS
3142 Why, my negation hath no taste of madness.
ULYSSES
3143 155 Nor mine, my lord. Cressid was here but now.
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231
TROILUS 3144 Let it not be believed for womanhood!
3145 Think, we had mothers. Do not give advantage
3146 To stubborn critics, apt, without a theme
3147 For depravation, to square the general sex
3148 160 By Cressid’s rule. Rather, think this not Cressid.
ULYSSES
3149 What hath she done, prince, that can ⟨soil⟩ our
3150 mothers?
TROILUS
3151 Nothing at all, unless that this were she.
THERSITES, ⌜aside⌝ 3152 Will he swagger himself out on ’s
3153 165 own eyes?
TROILUS
3154 This she? No, this is Diomed’s Cressida.
3155 If beauty have a soul, this is not she;
3156 If souls guide vows, if vows be sanctimonies,
3157 If sanctimony be the gods’ delight,
3158 170 If there be rule in unity itself,
3159 This ⟨is⟩ not she. O madness of discourse,
3160 That cause sets up with and against itself!
3161 Bifold authority, where reason can revolt
3162 Without perdition, and loss assume all reason
3163 175 Without revolt. This is and is not Cressid.
3164 Within my soul there doth conduce a fight
3165 Of this strange nature, that a thing inseparate
3166 Divides more wider than the sky and Earth,
3167 And yet the spacious breadth of this division
3168 180 Admits no orifex for a point as subtle
3169 As Ariachne’s broken woof to enter.
3170 Instance, O instance, strong as Pluto’s gates,
3171 Cressid is mine, tied with the bonds of heaven;
3172 Instance, O instance, strong as heaven itself,
3173 185 The bonds of heaven are slipped, dissolved, and
3174 loosed,
3175 And with another knot, ⟨five-finger-tied,⟩
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233
3176
The fractions of her faith, orts of her love,3177 The fragments, scraps, the bits and greasy relics
3178 190 Of her o’er-eaten faith are given to Diomed.
ULYSSES
3179 May worthy Troilus be half attached
3180 With that which here his passion doth express?
TROILUS
3181 Ay, Greek, and that shall be divulgèd well
3182 In characters as red as Mars his heart
3183 195 Inflamed with Venus. Never did young man fancy
3184 With so eternal and so fixed a soul.
3185 Hark, Greek: as much ⌜as⌝ I do Cressid love,
3186 So much by weight hate I her Diomed.
3187 That sleeve is mine that he’ll bear on his helm.
3188 200 Were it a casque composed by Vulcan’s skill,
3189 My sword should bite it. Not the dreadful spout
3190 Which shipmen do the hurricano call,
3191 Constringed in mass by the almighty sun,
3192 Shall dizzy with more clamor Neptune’s ear
3193 205 In his descent than shall my prompted sword
3194 Falling on Diomed.
THERSITES, ⌜aside⌝ 3195 He’ll tickle it for his concupy.
TROILUS
3196 O Cressid! O false Cressid! False, false, false!
3197 Let all untruths stand by thy stainèd name,
3198 210 And they’ll seem glorious.
ULYSSES 3199 O, contain yourself.
3200 Your passion draws ears hither.
Enter Aeneas.
AENEAS, ⌜to Troilus⌝
3201 I have been seeking you this hour, my lord.
3202 Hector, by this, is arming him in Troy.
3203 215 Ajax, your guard, stays to conduct you home.
TROILUS
3204 Have with you, prince.—My courteous lord, adieu.—
p.
235
3205
Farewell, revolted fair!—And, Diomed,3206 Stand fast, and wear a castle on thy head!
ULYSSES 3207 I’ll bring you to the gates.
TROILUS 3208 220Accept distracted thanks.
Troilus, Aeneas, and Ulysses exit.
THERSITES 3209 Would I could meet that rogue Diomed! I
3210 would croak like a raven; I would bode, I would
3211 bode. Patroclus will give me anything for the intelligence
3212 of this whore. The parrot will not do more
3213 225 for an almond than he for a commodious drab.
3214 Lechery, lechery, still wars and lechery! Nothing
3215 else holds fashion. A burning devil take them!
He exits.