Troilus and Cressida

Once again, love and war/sex and violence intertwine, this time with dense philosophical discussions about perceived value and honor, a play in which heroes are not so heroic, women are not so virtuous. Quite a puzzlement, this play, and thus rather delightful to explore together. “Now, good or bad, ’tis but the chance of war."

For a detailed synopsis, check the Troilus and Cressida page on Wikipedia.

Chart listing all characters' lines in each scene: Troilus and Cressida

If your group reads the plays straight through in one sitting and you want to divide up the parts, we have a number of “cast” lists already divided up for you. These are text files that you can edit to suit your readers. We always recommend in a straight-through read that each participant take a moment beforehand to mark their parts—then everything proceeds so smoothly.

• Cast for 9, plus a Reader for Stage Directions
• Cast for 10, plus a Reader for Stage Directions

This link is to Marjorie Garber's free Harvard lecture on Troilus and Cressida.

The Testament of Cresseid is a story-poem about the death of Cressida, written a hundred years after Chaucer's story and two hundred years before Shakespeare. It's kind of a sequel to Chaucer's story and it's kind of horrible what the author, Robert Henryson, imagines of her end.

This is an audio recording of the play by professional actors with sound effects: