Troilus and Cressida, Act 5 Scene 8 runs 22 lines of dialogue, spoken by 3 speakers. That is shorter than the play’s average scene length of about 144 lines. This scene is part of Act 5 of Troilus and Cressida.
Full Dialogue
Hector ♂
Most putrefied core, so fair without,
Thy goodly armour thus hath cost thy life.
Now is my day's work done; I'll take good breath:
Rest, sword; thou hast thy fill of blood and death.
Thy goodly armour thus hath cost thy life.
Now is my day's work done; I'll take good breath:
Rest, sword; thou hast thy fill of blood and death.
Achilles ♂
Look, Hector, how the sun begins to set;
How ugly night comes breathing at his heels:
Even with the vail and darking of the sun,
To close the day up, Hector's life is done.
How ugly night comes breathing at his heels:
Even with the vail and darking of the sun,
To close the day up, Hector's life is done.
Hector ♂
I am unarm'd; forego this vantage, Greek.
Achilles ♂
Strike, fellows, strike; this is the man I seek.
So, Ilion, fall thou next! now, Troy, sink down!
Here lies thy heart, thy sinews, and thy bone.
On, Myrmidons, and cry you all amain,
'Achilles hath the mighty Hector slain.'
Hark! a retire upon our Grecian part.
So, Ilion, fall thou next! now, Troy, sink down!
Here lies thy heart, thy sinews, and thy bone.
On, Myrmidons, and cry you all amain,
'Achilles hath the mighty Hector slain.'
Hark! a retire upon our Grecian part.
Myrmidons ♂
The Trojan trumpets sound the like, my lord.
Achilles ♂
The dragon wing of night o'erspreads the earth,
And, stickler-like, the armies separates.
My half-supp'd sword, that frankly would have fed,
Pleased with this dainty bait, thus goes to bed.
Come, tie his body to my horse's tail;
Along the field I will the Trojan trail.
And, stickler-like, the armies separates.
My half-supp'd sword, that frankly would have fed,
Pleased with this dainty bait, thus goes to bed.
Come, tie his body to my horse's tail;
Along the field I will the Trojan trail.
22 lines rendered verbatim from the dialogue corpus.
Who’s On Stage
Speaking characters in this scene
| Character | Lines | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Achilles | 16 | 72.7% |
| Hector | 5 | 22.7% |
| Myrmidons | 1 | 4.5% |
Line distribution
The top speaker in this scene delivers 16 lines, while the scene’s average per speaker is about 7 lines.
Total speakers on stage
3 named characters speak in this scene.
Scene in Context
Position within Act 5
This is Scene 8 of 10 in Act 5 of Troilus and Cressida.
Scene length vs. play average
At 22 lines, this scene is shorter than the Troilus and Cressida average scene in Troilus and Cressida (~144 lines).
Adjacent scenes
Previous: Act 5 Scene 7 · Next: Act 5 Scene 9