The Problem of Pride

Tina Lau

English 220 Sec 31

18 May 2015

Pride Never Wins

        In the play Troilus and Cressida by David Bevington, the issue with pride becomes a problem for Shakespeare’s characters. Seven years of continuous battle between the Trojans and Greeks are due to a great sense of pride when Trojan prince Paris took Menelaus’s wife, Helen. It is evident Helen is nothing but a whore who is not worth fighting for but Paris wouldn’t surrender her back to the Greeks. This hurts a big part of Greek’s pride and honor. Over time, both sides feel obligated to continue on with the battle because they hold their reputation so high. In a sense, they are fighting for the title of fame and glory. Shakespeare shows the negativity that comes along with pride through two characters, Achilles and Hector.

        To have pride in yourself is one thing but to allow pride to turn into arrogance is another. People tend to overlook pride as a positive self-esteem to acquire but once it reaches a certain limit, they often end up taking advantage of their own title. One of Greek’s greatest and most prideful warrior is Achilles. Achilles is a prime example of how pride results in greed, cockiness and selfishness. Rather than fighting for the Greeks, Achilles lays in bed all day with his lover Patroclus mocking the Greek generals. As great as Achilles is praised to be, he is part of the reason why the Trojan War is still progressing. Greek commander named Ulysses notes, “Our host, having his ear full of his airy fame, grows dainty of his worth and in his tent lies mocking our designs” (1.3.143-46). The metaphor, having his ear full of airy fame, expresses Achilles permission to be cocky because his own sense of ego is so great. Ulysses criticizes Achilles for disrespecting the generals and causing disobedience with his empty fame.

With this in mind, order and unity becomes a dilemma. Achilles action influences the Greek warriors since they admire and praise him. This concerns the wise Ulysses who expresses:

The general’s disdained

By him one step below, he by the next,

That next to him beneath; so every step,

Exampled by the first pace that is sick

Of his superior, grows to an envious fever

(1.3.129-33)

Ulysses explains the hierarchy that exists between the generals and warriors yet it is still morally corrupt. He is trying to show the lack of respect that the warriors have for the generals. Ulysses refers this to an envious fever because when Shakespeare indicates a sickness, it is referring to the Syphilis. Syphilis is a disturbing and contagious disease. Shakespeare compares the warriors to this sickness because they are suffering from a great deal of pride and it keeps on growing.