Troilus and Cressida Act 4, Scene 3 Summary & Analysis

In the street, Paris instructs Troilus to fetch Cressida from her house. Calmly, Troilus says he will, casting his actions as a bloody act of self-sacrifice on his brother’s behalf, since losing his lady is like having his heart cut out. Paris ruefully says he knows all too well how painful love can be, but there’s nothing he can do to help.

Paris gets to keep Helen not because he loves her, but because there is a common agreement that her presence confers honor on the Trojan court and makes the losses of the war worth it. While Cressida has some value, or else the Greeks wouldn’t have traded her for Antenor, she’s clearly less valuable in the eyes of her own people, a cruel blow that underlines her vulnerability and isolation.

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Troilus and Cressida: Act 4, Scene 3 Summary & Analysis