TY - JOUR
AU - Hays, Michael L.
AB -  What Kind of Play Is Troilus and Cressida?l Michael L. Hays s its title suggests, this paper explores the genre of Troilus and Cressida more than it explicates the play. No one seems to like the play very much, and, except for Ulysses' speech on degree, critics strain to like it even a little. They may find it apposite to their politics but not appealing to their aesthetics. Paradoxically, discomfort or dissatisfaction with it likely reflects its success in complicating their responses because of conflicting or shifting perspectives on its romantic substance and satirical style. Thus, we come to the question of genre: what kind of play is it? Shakespeare and his contemporaries provide answers, but not good ones. From the two 1609 quartos to the 1623 folio, they include just about every existing genre. The title page of quarto state one (S 1) calls it a "Historie"; the title page of quarto state two (S2) calls it a "Famous Historie," but "The Epistle" repeatedly regards it as a comedy; and the folio calls it a "Tragedie."2 These changes in terminology involve at least three possible explanations. One is the problem of censorship because of the satire of 
TI - What Kind of Play Is Troilus and Cressida?
JF - Explorations in Renaissance Culture
DO - 10.1163/23526963-90000447
DA - 2013-12-02
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/brill/what-kind-of-play-is-troilus-and-cressida-1A6RDQnB9A
SP - 41
EP - 52
VL - 39
IS - 2
DP - DeepDyve
ER -