SOURCE: Cole, Carol A. “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places: Henryson's The Testament of Cresseid.” Michigan Academian XXIX, no. 4 (August 1997): 511-20.

In the essay below, Cole argues that the narrator plays a significant role in The Testament of Cresseid as he, like Cresseid, seeks personal fulfillment in sexual gratification.

Robert Henryson's Testament of Cresseid has prompted many interpretations. Some see it as a “tragedie” of various sorts, in keeping with Henryson's own label in line 4. Others, such as Tillyard, view it as a treatment of sin, divine punishment, and repentance. More recently the Testament has been seen as a “getting of wisdom” poem, in which Cresseid “moves slowly and erratically towards a moment of self-knowledge.” Not surprisingly, most critical attention has focused on Cresseid; the narrator generally has been seen as a minor character on the sidelines. David Parkinson calls him “a self-indulgent old fellow,” and...