The Ages of Troilus, Criseyde and Pandarus

Abstract

How old are the protagonists of Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde? We have to make assumptions because we are never told, and indeed Chaucer explicitly disclaims knowledge of Criseyde’s age (TC, v, 826). Such an ostentatious disclaimer itself invites speculation; but we may also ask ourselves, if the poet disclaims knowledge, can we properly seek it in his poem? We strike immediately on the ambivalence which characterises the poem. The ambivalence tells us that none of the assumptions we may make is quite safe. For example, it is usual to assume that Criseyde herself, since she is so beautiful, is also young. But if Chaucer wants us to realise that, why does he not say so, why does he leave the question of her age open? The poet never describes Criseyde as young. She thinks of herself as young, once (TC, ii, 752), but at what age does a woman cease to think of herself as young? And is she not older than Troilus? Troilus is certainly young (‘so yong’, TC, ii, 636) and if we think of him as younger than Criseyde our understanding of the relationship will certainly differ from that based on the assumption that he is older. And how old is Pandarus, uncle of Criseyde and seeming so much more experienced than either of the other two, who is yet constantly with Troilus, and classes himself with ‘us yonge’ (TC, iii, 293)? A careful reading of the poem itself in the context of Chaucer’s general usages and attitudes, and of the long tradition in literature of Troilus’s youth, may not come to any firm conclusion, but can clarify the areas of doubt and illustrate the nature of the poem, poised as it is between romance, novel and tragedy.

First published in Studies in English Literature (Tokyo), English number (1972) 3–15.