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The lover’s tokens that Troilus and Cressida exchange after their first night together (and just before they’re permanently separated by the war) represent their loyalty. They exchange the gifts—a glove from Cressida to Troilus, and a sleeve from Troilus to Cressida—with words to that effect, as Troilus promises that he will see Cressida again so long as she remains true to him. The audience never sees the glove again, but they do see the sleeve, when Cressida presents it to Diomedes as a token of her newfound affection for him. To Troilus, watching from the shadows, the symbolism couldn’t be clearer: the love he gave her means nothing and is easily exchanged for the embraces of another man. And, given the play’s obsession with bawdy puns, it’s hard not to see the sleeve, a long tube that once enclosed part of Troilus’s body and could (in theory) slip as easily over Diomedes’s arm, as a not-so-subtle metaphor for Cressida’s genitals.
Sleeve Quotes in Troilus and Cressida
The Troilus and Cressida quotes below all refer to the symbol of Sleeve. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 5, Scene 2 Quotes
ULYSSES May worthy Troilus be half attached
With that which here his passion doth express?
TROILUS Ay, Greek, and that shall be divulged well
In characters as red as Mars his heart
Inflamed with Venus. Never did young man fancy
With so eternal and so fixed a soul.
Hark, Greek: as much as I do Cressid love,
So much by weight hate I her Diomed.
That sleeve is mine that he’ll bear on his helm.
Were it a casque composed by Vulcan’s skill,
My sword should bite it. Not the dreadful spout
Which shipmen do the hurricano call,
Constringed in mass by the almighty sun,
Shall dizzy with more clamor Neptune’s ear
In his descent than shall my prompted sword
Falling in Diomed.
THERSITES He’ll tickle it for his concupy.
TROILUS O Cressid! O false Cressid! False, false false!
Let all untruths stand by thy stained name
And they’ll seem glorious.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Sleeve Symbol Timeline in Troilus and Cressida
The timeline below shows where the symbol Sleeve appears in Troilus and Cressida. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 4, Scene 4
...before they must part, the pair exchange lovers’ tokens: Troilus gives Cressida one of his sleeves, and she gives him her glove.
(full context)
Act 5, Scene 2
...for some sort of token or pledge that she’ll keep her word. She retrieves the sleeve that Troilus gave her from within the tent and hands it over. But then, imagining...
(full context)
