Pugh, Tison. “Queer Pandarus? Silence and sexual ambiguity in Chaucer’s Troilus and
Criseyde.” Philological Quarterly 80(2001): 17(19).
This article, shockingly begins with the phrase, “Is Panderus queer?” The objective of the article is not to prove that Pandarus is homosexual, but to analyze Troilus and Panderus’s relationship. The text never makes it clear that Panderus is not homosexual, which allows for “a queer reading of their friendship.” It is obvious that Pandarus and Troilus never have sex, but their intense affection for each other is made obvious. There has not been a great deal of criticism on the possible homosexual relationship between Troilus and Panderus since Beryl Rowland suggested in 1969 that Pandarus represented a “bisexual pimp.”
Whom or what Pandarus desires is constantly in question. Pandarus never allows anyone to see his private desires. Pugh says, “Pandarus’s silences at key moments in the text compel the reader to participate in the construction of his character.” Pandarus creates staging within scenes so that he will gain sexual satisfaction. Pandarus’s friendship fails Troilus, just as Criseyde’s love turns false.
Homosexual relationships as we now think of them were different in the fourteenth century. They were still a matter of concern, especially with Richard II’s affinity for close male friends. Richard II was “accused of being led astray by ‘obscene intimacies’ with his advisors.” Chaucer would have known of this and could have drawn on their circumstance for the story of a “queer advisor and a young nobleman.”
Throughout the text, Pandarus is continually aiding Troilus in obtaining Criseyde’s love. Pandarus never explains why he has decided to help Troilus’s cause. The question that needs to be discovered is, who does Pandarus desire? Pandarus is always giving hints, but never answers. Pandarus focuses all his attention on Troilus and Criseyde, therefore distracting questions of his personal love problems. Pandarus becomes Troilus’s confidant in love because they mutually have problems in love, but Pandarus never shares his half. Troilus in turn tells Pandarus that he will help him with his matter of love, but Pandarus refuses any aid.
Troilus tries to discover Pandarus’s love interests but he is soon distracted by his personal problems. Pandarus always tries to change the subject to avoid revealing his true interests. Pandarus mentions that his love is someone that Troilus knows, but no name is ever given. When Pandarus states that he will not steal the woman Troilus loves from him, it could mean that he is not interested in women. Throughout the text the idea of Pandarus, having a love seems to be a joke. Criseyde says, ‘Uncle… youre maistresse is nat here.” They both laugh when she says this, likely meaning that they both know that he does not have a mistress.
As Pandarus works to maintain Troilus and Criseyde’s affair, he receives gratification from the experience. Pandarus states, “That all three will be ‘gladed’ by the affair.” Pandarus is constantly reminding Troilus that if it were not for him, Criseyde would never have been his. Pandarus does not want Troilus to forget his important role in his life. Pandarus desires Troilus to rely on him, and feel that he could not do without. Pugh states, “Through Pandarus, Troilus finds sexual satisfaction; the panderer renders himself indispensable to his friend, guaranteeing his place in the young knight’s affections.” Troilus’s love for Criseyde only serves Pandarus.
Not only do Pandarus’s silence and words reveal his desires for Troilus, so does his gaze. Pandarus often “directs how, when, and where Troilus looks.” Pandarus tells Troilus to pay more attention to him that to Criseyde, the person all of his attention should be shown. Pandarus redirects the looks between Troilus and Criseyde upon himself, creating self-gratification. What is significant is that Troilus looks at Criseyde and Pandarus. When Troilus looks upon Pandarus, we discover that Pandarus feels ‘iren hoot.’ Pandarus undoubtedly finds sexual energy from his gaze.
Through Pandarus’s scheming, Troilus becomes extremely reliant on Pandarus. Their intimacy is evident in the scene where they spend the night together. Pandarus is described as having ‘mery chere.’ Troilus and Pandarus spend time together in the garden, supposedly waiting for Criseyde. However, Criseyde never shows and the two men enjoy “the hours together in a blissful garden of love.” This is the only outlet Pandarus has for his affections for Troilus.
Chaucer is known for being extremely slippery in his implications. It is extremely hard to define Pandarus’s leaning, and Chaucer leaves it to the imagination. There was not the strict ideas of the heterosexual and homosexual in Chaucer’s day. Pandarus would not have been living a homosexual lifestyle, but occasionally falling into the temptations.
It is not of the utmost importance to prove that Pandarus is indeed homosexual. The most intriguing fact is that Chaucer leaves Pandarus’s sexual leanings up to the reader’s imagination. He offers silences that we are forced to fill in. Chaucer does not make the story simple, with easy answers. Every relationship is complicated by personal desires and hidden secrets, most of all Pandarus’s.
Cassia Herndon 12/06
