Troilus and Cressida

Roles

• Cressida - Teenager (13-19), Young Adult (20-35), Adult (36-50), Female

About this piece

Cressida professes her love for Troilus

Summary

The prologue introduces us to the story. The play is about the Trojan War, the mythological war between Troy and several Greek kings led by Menelaus of Sparta. The war starts when Paris of Troy steals the beautiful Helen from Menelaus. In response, the Spartan king gathers 69 princes from several cities in Greece and attacks Troy in order to rescue Helen. The play starts in the middle of the war, that is 7 years after the war started. There are several storylines and one is Troilus' love for Cressida. In the first scene of the play we find Troilus, a prince of Troy and Paris' younger brother, with Pandarus, who is the uncle of Troilus' love interest, Cressida. Right at the beginning of the play Troilus asks Pandarus about Cressida's wherabouts. When Pandarus replies that he saw her the night before and that she looked beautiful, Troilus confesses how much he loves her and how he is suffering because of it. Cressida, we learn, is actually in love with Troilus but is playing a game with him and pretending she is not. After following other storylines and characters, such as Hector's challenge to the best Greek warrior and political problems in the Greek camp, in ACT III, Scene 2 Troilus finally manages to confront Cressida. They declare they are in love with each other and in this monologue Cressida confesses to Troilus that she has always been in love with him but too afraid to come forward.

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