Ironic Engagements

Abstract

The title of Troilus and Cressida promises a love plot, especially as the revised title page of the 1609 Quarto expands it to read: ‘The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. Excellently expressing the beginning of their loues, with the conceited wooing of Pandarus Prince of Licia.’ The Prologue printed in the Folio, on the other hand, concentrates on the military conflict and makes no reference to the amorous subject. In the play itself, one plot, or plot component, is concerned with war and focused on the opposition of Hector and Achilles, the other with love and centred on the union and separation of Troilus and Cressida. After the expository scenes in the beginning of Act I, the two plots do not in fact mesh in the continuing action until the final act, when love rivalry and political enmity merge in the clash of Troilus and Diomedes.