Troilus and Cressida Act II

II.i The opening of this scene was a big WTF for me. The whole thing is 9 parts comic relief, 1 part plot and characterization.

II.i.96 kind words for a kindred spirit. If what we hear of Patroclus is true, he pulls from the same bag of tricks.

II.ii.8-25 This is the second time that Hector is the voice of reason, the second good idea he has presented.

II.ii56 "Tis mad idolatry to make the service greater than the god." I put this on my Facebook page under favorite quotes now. Please hold.

II.ii.84-89 So Troilus is not without reason after all.

II.ii I'm just noticing that Troilus ends his important speeches in couplets, as Hector does not. A nice bit of characterization through form, for Troilus is the romantic, to be sure.

II.ii.118 This is the third time that Troilus' piece of the pentameter is a continuation, an interruption of Hector's line. I love this about Shakespeare. Although it is surely not the most obvious skill of his, it is one of the most unique.

II.ii.142-145 Troilus' apple did not fall far from Priam's tree; the latter shows both the poetic traits of the former in these 4 mere lines.

II.ii It's fitting that Hector is the only one to listen to Casandra, for his warnings go just as unheeded.

II.iii.28 A great and enduring curse: "thyself upon thyself!"

II.iii.81 this is the second time Thersites has mentioned bleeding someone dry. In Galenic terms, this is a great treatment for choler, from which several of the men suffer.

II.iii.185 Achilles, for instance.

II.iii an act of import, perhaps, but not one of great imprint.