Guide Note

Troilus and Cressida is a play by William Shakespeare considered to be one of his "problem plays."

Fast Facts

1. Writer: William Shakespeare
2. Setting: Seventh year of the Trojan War
3. Written: 1602
4. Primary source: Troilus and Criseyde by Chaucer
5. Entered into Stationers' Register: February 7, 1603
6. ISBN 978-1903436691
7. No recorded performance during Shakespeare's lifetime or between 1734 and 1898
8. Gained popularity during the 1960s as discontent over the Vietnam War grew
9. Ran for 14 performances on Broadway in 1956-1957

1. Troilus: Son of Priam, King of Troy
2. Cressida: Love of Troilus, daughter of Calchas, a traitorous Trojan Priest
3. Diomedes: A Greek prince
4. Nestor: wise and talkative prince of Greece
5. Ulysses: aka Odysseus, Greek hero and king of Ithaca
6. Achilles: Hero of Greece, the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad
7. Hector: Son of Priam, King of Troy, Greatest Trojan fighter
8. Agamemnon: King of the Greeks and leader of the invasion on Troy.

The story's eponymous characters, Prince Troilus and Cressida, the daughter of a Trojan traitor, consummate their undying love for each other, only to have their relationship cut short when Cressida is exhanged for a Trojan prisoner of war. When Troilus attempts to visit Cressida in the Greek camp, he witnesses Diomedes flirting with his beloved and decides to avenge her betrayal. This however account for a very small portion of the play. The majority of the story revolves around the leaders of the Greek and Trojan forces and their attempts to get the proud Achilles to return to battle and face the Trojan prince, Hector.

• "Words pay no debts." 3.2

• "Idol of idiot worshippers!" 5.1

• "I have had my labour for my travail." 1.1

• "He has not so much brain as ear-wax." 5.1

• "Perseverance, dear my lord, keeps honour bright." 3.3

• "Words, words, mere words, no matter from the heart." 5.3

• "The baby figure of the giant mass of things to come." 1.3

The term "Problem Play" was coined by critic F. S. Boas to describe plays in which the resolution of the themes and debates seems inadequate and, in the final act, the deliverance of justice and completion one expects does not occur. Other definitions have been proposed since, however all center around the issue that these plays cannot be easily assigned to the traditional categories of comedy or tragedy. Troilus and Cressida is not a conventional tragedy, since its protagonist does not die, ending instead on a very bleak note with the death of the noble Trojan Hector and destruction of the love between Troilus and Cressida.