Nature in Troilus and Cressida
Both Troilus and Cressida and The Winter's Tale deal with nature as an allegory for human nature. Many kinds of metaphors are used, from the classically romantic, to the dirty joke, to positive and negative portrayals of personalities. Many of the most powerful metaphors are in the initial portion of the play.
In Act I, Scene I, of Troilus and Cressida, Troilus compares being observed by his father and Hector to "as when the sun doth light a storm" (line 31). Presumably his inner turmoil over his love for Cressida is the storm, and his false good humor is the light in the storm. This implies that nature can be false, as well. Later in the same discussion, Troilus says his hopes are drowned, again using the depths of the ocean as an expression of his emotions (line 37). Later he compares Cressida to a pearl of India (line 76), a rare natural phenomenon. Finally, the distance between he and Cressida is a "wild and wandering flood," (line 78). With the exception of the description of the worth of Cressida, most of these are negative descriptions using Nature.
Act I, Scene II has many depictions of Nature. Alexander says that "every flower Did, as a prophet, weep what it foresaw" (lines 13-14). Alexander sees Nature as omniscient. At this part of the play, prophecy is foreshadowing. Next, Alexander compares Ajax to beasts, which are a part of Nature. Then he directly references Nature, saying that he is so full of "humours" that he is unwise, yet able to see men's true characters (line 20). Later, Pandarus and Cressida use the rhythms of Nature as something reliable on which to swear (lines 110-111). This is a very different view of Nature from Troilus's, as one that is powerful, all knowing, and reliable.
In the next scene, Agamemnon uses Nature as metaphor, saying that the veins of important plans are the location of problems, just like knots in pine trees are infections (lines 7-10). After that, Agamemnon anthropomorphizes a state of being, and gives it powerful attributes of Nature (lines 28-32). Nestor replies in the affirmative, comparing events first to a smooth sea, and then when the going gets difficult, events to waves the size of mountains (lines 36-42). Nestor continues using Nature as a metaphor, talking about "storms of fortune" (line 49).
Next, Ulysses has a speech, given to Nestor, in which he uses the idea of a natural hierarchy (lines 86-107). He points out that Sol (here, the Earth) is a king with duty to keep order, but that when the planets (which in the heliocentric model, circle the Earth), "wander" natural disasters result. Aneas agrees, and compares respect due ones' elders with the modesty of morning when beheld by a star (lines 233-335). Using the idea of Nature as virtuous, Agamemnon says to "Speak frankly as the wind" (line 259). This continues the theme of Nature as powerful, though not reliable, since it is the king's job to be reliable.
Ulysses changes the tenor of the conversation when he says that pride is a seed that has grown up in Achilles' dirtiness and must be weeded, or the seeds of the next generation will overthrow all of the Greeks (line 322-327). Then he goes to point out that Achilles is taking all the glory for himself, and it would be better to die a horrible death ("we were better parch in Afric sun") than die under his bitter gaze (lines 375-380). This is the first use of Nature as a negative metaphor by the leaders of the Greeks.
The only mention of Nature in Act II, Scene I, is as a pejorative. Ajax calls someone a toadstool, which presumably slimy and short (line 20). In Act II, Scene II, Troilus again uses the metaphor of wind, this time as an ocean breeze standing in for "consent." In the famous line, he compares Helen to a "pearl, Whose price hath launch'd above a thousand ships" (lines 85-86). Again, a pearl is a valuable natural object, which implies that Helen's worth is intrinsic.
In Act II, Scene III, Agamemnon anthropomorphizes "evasion, wing'd thus swift with...
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