Certainty is rarely applicable when reading Shakespeare, as there are few lines written that can be taken at face value. The word surety itself has several meanings in Troilus and Cressida that unveil various subtexts and characterization details.

Surety, as Diomedes uses it when he seduces Cressida, exposes multiple facets of understanding regarding the relationships Cressida has with both the Greek and Trojan leaders. The basic, and most obvious understanding of the line is that Diomedes is asking for a guarantee that Cressida will be true to her promise, which she did not intent to uphold moments before, claiming: “I prithee, do not hold me to mine oath” (5.2.29). Because this is not the first time a man has doubted Cressida’s faithfulness, the first arising from Troilus soon after he and Calchas’s daughter are married, the audience will question Cressida’s integrity; promiscuity is being implied. This is reinforced upon noting how quickly Troilus and Cressida slept together after kissing for the first time.

A token of surety is not restricted to an object. As noted in the Oxford English Dictionary, it can also refer to an action. Diomedes, in asking Cressida to prove her intent through an action, is essentially asking her for sex. At this point it is clear that not only the audience believes that she is promiscuous, even within the play, the lords of Troy and Greece are aware that Cressida is easy. The disrespect with which Diomedes treats her explains why the Trojans were so quick to trade her for Aeneus.

A separate reading of the passage arrives at the same conclusion of Cressida as a faithless object, with surety being “money deposited or pledged on behalf of a person” (OED). Associating Cressida with money invokes the reading that Cressida is a whore that Diomedes views as an investment. He is asking for an exchange for his property, which he will be absent from. Many feminist interpretations of Cressida’s character rely on this passage and her profligate actions thus far to portray her as a slut.

At this point, the audience does not have much to respect about Cressida aside from her wit. Her faithlessness alienates her as a likeable character and the other characters in the play are even treating her poorly. Another layer of the meaning of surety brings to light something that’s been present for the entirety of the play. Surety is often also used in the context of the law, being the settlement of some previous arrangement. Diomedes, in requiring a token of surety from Cressida, is asking for assurance that the transaction is complete. Indeed Cressida came to the Greek camp as a result of a transaction that she had no part in, and has been an object of other transactions – notably her marriage to Troilus, which was entirely orchestrated by Pandarus. This reading exposes the reason why Cressida is so difficult to relate to, despite her charming wit.

Cressida is treated both like a slut, and a piece of property. In acting the part, she prevents the audience from being able to establish any connection to her. In the analysis of surety, the multiple layers of her relation to other characters because clear, allowing the audience to understand why she remains just a character in a play, rather than an admirable noblewoman.