SOURCE: Savage, James E. “Troilus and Cressida and Elizabeth Court Factions.” University of Mississippi Studies in English 5 (1964): 43-66.

In the following essay, Savage suggests possible allegorical correlations between characters in Troilus and Cressida and individuals in Queen Elizabeth's court, including the Earl of Essex. Savage indicates that the play reflects Shakespeare's views regarding the factionalism within Elizabeth's court and the inevitability of Essex's fate.

It is the purpose of this paper to suggest that there is much more reflection of contemporary events in Troilus and Cressida than commentators have noted and that this reference becomes most apparent when the assumption is made that not Achilles, but Hector, offers comment on the character and fate of the Earl of Essex.¹

Critical efforts to account for this puzzling play have almost always taken note of contemporary affairs, perhaps merely denying their relevance,² possibly seeing, as does G. B. Harrison, a...