Troilus and Cressida

　　Drama in five acts by William Shakespeare, performed about 1601-02 and printed in a quarto edition in 1609. Although this play is included among the tragedies in the First Folio, many critics prefer to classify it with the "problem plays" or the "darker comedies." Based on George Chapman's translation of the Iliad and on 15th-century accounts of the Trojan War by John Lydgate and William Caxton, Troilus and Cressida is an often cynical exploration of the betrayal of love, the absence of heroism, and the emptiness of honor. The play was also influenced by Geoffrey Chaucer's love poem Troilus and Criseyde, although Shakespeare's treatment of the lovers and his attitude toward their dilemma is in sharp contrast with Chaucer's. Cressida, a Trojan woman whose father has defected to the Greeks, pledges her love to Troilus, one of King Priam's sons. However, when her father demands her presence in the Greek camp, she quickly switches her affections to Diomedes, the Greek soldier who is sent to escort her. The legendary Greek hero Achilles is depicted as petulant and self-centered, and Agamemnon is a foolish windbag. Thersites, a deformed Greek, comments wryly on the actions of the other characters, while Pandarus, the bawdy go-between of the lovers, enjoys watching their degradation. The drama ends on a note of complete moral and political disintegration, allowing none of the characters to rise above their foolish behavior.

　　Troilus and Cressida is perhaps Shakespeare's most philosophical play, and its preoccupation with war, sex, and time has seemed peculiarly relevant since the First World War. Fine productions have demonstrated the play's theatrical power, and critics have explored and illuminated its ideas and its exceptionally complex language. Kenneth Muir, in his introduction, sets the play in its historical context, discusses its odd career in the theatre, examines Shakespeare's handling of his multiple sources, and assesses the contribution of interpretative criticism to a deeper understanding of this sombre examination of a fallen world. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.