About the work
Shakespeare likely wrote "Troilus and Cressida" in 1602, shortly after "Hamlet". Printer James Roberts entered the play in the Stationers' Register in February 1603, describing it as performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men; whether it was actually staged publicly remains disputed, since the preface to the 1609 quarto claims the play had never been on a stage. It was printed in 1609 in two differing states of the title page.
Plot
During the siege of Troy, the Trojan prince Troilus and Cressida, daughter of the defector-seer Calchas, fall in love and are brought together by Cressida's uncle Pandarus. No sooner is their love sealed than Cressida is handed over to the Greek camp in exchange for a Trojan prisoner, where she quickly turns to the Greek Diomedes. Alongside this, the play portrays the war itself as a cynical affair marked by vanity and squabbling, centred among others on the sulking hero Achilles and the ambitious Ajax.
Cultural significance
Because of its mixture of love story, war drama and biting disillusionment, the play resists clear genre classification and is often counted among Shakespeare's so-called "problem plays"; its disenchanted view of heroism and love is considered unusually modern.