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).