The works of William Shakespeare have been awarded praise for their universality. They contain themes that everyone is familiar with—love, lust, revenge, glory. Troilus and Cressida is no different than any other of Shakespeare’s works in this respect. One of the major themes in Troilus and Cressida is that of desire. Sexual desire, mimetic desire, and the desire for glory are all incorporated in the plot and characters of the play. One character …showed first 75 words of 824 total…

…showed last 75 words of 824 total…rails against the fickle nature of man, “ O world! world! world! thus is the poor agent despised! . . . Why should your endeavor be so loved and the performance so loathed?” He questions the name and profession he has saddled himself with, but in the next line, he refers to his fellow panderers as “Good traders of the flesh.” He sees no wrong in his work, and vindicates himself to the audience. He selects his own fate.