Mann on Troilus’ Swoon
Mann, Jill. “Troilus’ Swoon.” Chaucer Review 14.2 (1979): 319-335.
Troilus only swoons once in Troilus and Criseyde, despite exaggerations to the contrary. Jill Mann writes that the role of the swoon can only be understood within the context of Troilus and Criseyde’s courtship. She argues that the relationship between the lovers is understood in terms of power, and that “shifts and transformations in the way each of them either exerts or refuses to exert power over the other lead to the achievement of a mature and complex relationship on which the consummation can fittingly be based” (320).
At the start of the poem, power differences between Troilus and Criseyde are based on social status. He is a prince, while she is in the dangerous position of being a woman and the daughter of a traitor. Criseyde fears masculine dominance above all else, and she finds the most terrifying aspect of love to be its subservience. Mann argues that Criseyde’s fears are unnecessary in the case of Troilus’ love, because the ordinary power structure is inverted. Criseyde becomes the lady and Troilus is her servant. Furthermore, their meeting at Pandarus’ house is a good situation because it allows them to become equals. Criseyde’s love is a process, and to abandon her previous statements about the nature of her relationship with Troilus would reveal her as a hypocrite. Similarly, if Troilus acted sexually dominant it would belie his previous statements about being her servant, and his earlier submission would be hypocritical as well.
Criseyde’s growth of love and trust in Troilus is nearly shattered by Pandarus’ story about Horaste. But it is Troilus’ swoon that saves the relationship, because it allows for the mutual submission of the lovers to each other. Confronted by a distraught Criseyde, Troilus is unable to affirm or deny his actions as told by Pandarus. To affirm them would hurt her and is a lie, but to deny them would be to acknowledge the role that Pandarus plays in their relationship. Overwhelmed by external chaos, he gives in to unconsciousness. When he awakes, Criseyde apologizes. Because of Troilus’ show of weakness, Criseyde is able to yield power to Troilus. It is only then that they are able to fit back into sexual and gendered roles to consummate their relationship. Mann reminds readers that the only reason Troilus dominates is because Criseyde has willingly submitted a part of herself to him. For Criseyde, her submission is not feared but instead is liberating to express herself the way she wishes without fear of coercion.
Jill Mann’s essay on the nature of power and Troilus’ swoon is original and exceptionally thought provoking. She introduces ideas on Chaucer’s purpose in the swoon that make an excellent argument for Criseyde’s love for Troilus. It was especially interesting to note that Boccaccio does not have Troilus swoon at the scene in Pandarus’ house but later, when it is announced that Criseyde will go to the Greeks. Mann examines Chaucer’s purpose in changing that detail, and what it means when analyzed with the rest of the text. She argues that the swoon is not placed right before the love scene as a whim or for entertainment value but instead to allow Criseyde to show her weaknesses to Troilus just as he—albeit accidentally—showed his weaknesses to her.
Mann’s theory is based on the assumption that Troilus and Criseyde do actually love each other, as opposed to the narcissistic Troilus and the uncertain Criseyde that others have seen in the same work. Mann never addresses these problems with her essay, and only mentions the other interpretation of Troilus and Criseyde offhand and dismisses it just as easily. Had she actively addressed these conflicting views, her essay would have been much stronger. Critics disagree on nearly everything in Chaucer’s works, and Mann’s assumptions that all readers feel just as she does that Troilus and Criseyde are genuinely in love limits the scope of her audience. Her thesis is based entirely off of a shared interpretation of Troilus and Criseyde and leaves no room for multiple possible interpretations of their love.
