Troilus and Cressida Themes

Shakespeare may have used Homer's account of the Trojan War as a major literary source, but warfare in Troilus and Cressida is far from epic or heroic. Seven years into the war, the Greek camp is...

If Troilus and Cressida had a 21st century theme song it would probably be "We Found Love in a Hopeless Place." (Forget about the disturbing music video and the whole Rihanna / Chris Brown scandal...

Honor and principles? No such thing. In Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare flips classic ideas about honor, valor, chivalry, and romance on their heads. Troilus and Cressida shows us a world that...

Buying, selling, trading, and commerce. That's what makes the world go round in this play, and not the so-called heroic deeds of men. In Troilus and Cressida, the Greeks and Trojans tend to treat...

If you've read what we have to say about the themes of "Love" and Warfare," then you already know that one's political duty can often interfere with one's personal relationships in this play. Troil...

So, you probably noticed all the shout-outs to actors, play-going audiences, and even the Globe Theater. What's up with that? Well, like a lot of Shakespeare's dramas, Troilus and Cressida is real...

Troilus and Cressida is obsessed with the passage of time. When the play opens, we get the sense that time has been moving at a snail's pace for those who have endured seven long, drawn out years...

In the world of Troilus and Cressida, men and women are expected to behave according to the kinds of gender roles that were typical in Elizabethan England at the time Shakespeare was writing this...