Table of Contents

Antiquity and beyond - the death of Troilus, Piero Boitani; the birth of Criseyde - an exemplary triangle - "classical" Troilus and the question of love at the Anglo-Norman Court, Roberto Antonelli; a lyrical version - Boccaccio's "Filostrato", Giulia Natali; the fall of Troy in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and "Troilus and Criseyde", Malcolm Andrew; comedy and tragedy in "Troilus and Criseyde", Derek Brewer; classical and medieval elements in Chaucer's "Troilus", Barry Windeatt; Chaucer's "Troilus" - philosophy and language, Karl Reichl; true Troilus and false Cresseid - the descent from tragedy, David Benson; from history to tragedy - the story of Troilus and Criseyde in Lydgate's "Troy Book" and Henryson's "Testament of Cresseid", Anna Torti; fragments and scraps - Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida", Agostino Lombardo; Shakespeare and Chaucer - what is Criseyde worth?, Jill Mann; to make that maxim good - Dryden's Shakespeare, Sergio Rufini; Eros and Thanatos - Cressida, Troilus and the modern age, Piero Boitani.

Reviews

`this volume provides an extremely lively account both of the development of the Troilus narrative and also of the cultural implications of these development of the Troilus narrative and also of the cultural implications of these developments.
' The contributors to this splendidly collaborative venture are drawn from Italy, England, America and Germany, and work with remarkable harmony in a variety of critical styles ranging from the refreshingly belletristic to the close analysis of genre and philosophical vocabularly. Anyone who wishes to see criticism and scholarship at their best - entirely free of idees fexes or of aggression - is bound to welcome this volume.'
The moving spirit of the book is the editor Piero Boitani, professor of English in Rome, who has already established himself as the foremost medievalist of his generation.'
Robin Kirkpatrick, Weekend Telegraph
'this volume provides an extremely lively account both of the development of the Troilus narrative and also of the cultural implications of these developments ... Anyone who wishes to see criticism and scholarship at their best - entirely free of idées fixes or of aggression - is bound to welcome this volume.'
Robin Kirkpatrick, Daily Telegraph
well-conceived volume ... The strengths of this excellent volume reflect the peculiarities of its European pedigree. The four British contributors are strong on local detail and manuscript contexts; the five Italians, with their liceo classico educations, have an impressive sense of cultural depth which allows them to relate vernacular texts to Greek and Latin antecedents.'
Renaissance Quarterly
'elegant formulations, clear summaries, and sensitive translations'
Times Literary Supplement
'this is a valuable collection'
Paul Hartle, Country Life
'As the first book to offer a comprehensive survey of the Troilus story in Europe, the present volume is to be welcomed. This is a very interesting book.'
Etude Anglaises, T.XLVI, No.1 (1991)
'Piero Boitani has edited here a collection of very good essays on the different versions of the story of Troilus and Criseyde/Cressida, and packaged them expertly, in a manner which will please reeaders as much as it must have pleased the publishers, between two superb essays of his own.'
Derek Pearsall, Harvard University, Yearbook of English Studies, 1992
'this is a rich and competent collection'
S.H.A. Shepherd, Archiv für das Stadium der neuren Sprachen und Literaturen, 1992