"Troilus and Cressida" has little performance history prior to the 20th century. Cressida's character is as isolated from framing as the rest of the story—we never know how her life ends, there is no "ever after" for her, and even her beginning is mysterious to us. She appears a witty young girl, only to become a serious, thoughtful, and thought-provoking woman in moments of reflection. Carol Rutter explores the reasons why Cressida is so fascinating. She writes "[...] the challenge Shakespeare constructs for this play is to put before us a Cressida, who, like the fair (but dark) lady of the sonnets is, in Eve Sedgwick's memorable term, 'oxymoron militant', a genuine contradiction."