Pandarus And The Narrator In Troilus And Criseyde

279 Words2 Pages
After looking up 'pander', which means "to minister to the immoral urges or distasteful desires of another, or to gratify a person with such desires"1, I gave Pandarus' character much more importance than I did in Book 1. He is essential to the whole plot; the relationship between Troilus and Criseyde would cease to exist and have any significance without Pandarus. Without Pandarus, the tale would be a typical romance such as The Knight's Tale, with courtly love as its main theme. However, with the presence of Pandarus, there seems to be much more to the tale. His scheming and plotting is one of the main elements that grab the attention of the reader. I also noticed something that reinforced my suspicions about Pandarus having ulterior motives. In line 77, we read "Now Janus, god of entree, thow hym gyde!". I'm not sure about what "god of entree" means, but I do know that Janus is a "two-faced God". Is the use of this reference meant to imply something about the character of Pandarus? I also found it amusing how both Pandarus and the narrator use occupatio in the same stanza. In lines 1610-1615, Pandarus asks his audience, "What sholde I lenger do yow dwelle?". Soon after, the narrator asks the reader, "What shold I lenger in this tale tarien?" Like Bethany, I found the narrator quite interesting. In line 917 when Criseyde goes to sleep, the narrator says, "Reherce it nedeth nought for ye ben wise." Why does the narrator assume that his readers are 'wise'? Is he pandering to his readers, just as Pandarus is pandering to Troilus? 1 - Oxford English

More about Pandarus And The Narrator In Troilus And Criseyde

Open Document