While reading Troilus and Cressida for the first time, I felt that it was somehow a bit off, tonally. It was after learning a bit more about the work that I found out I was not alone in my observation. Troilus and Cressida is a problem play. So what is that problem exactly? Kristina Faber points out that critics have not reached an agreement on this matter, but in her essay “Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida: Of War and Lechery” she sets forth her own theory. Continue reading
I have always found criticism made by actual artists particularly interesting. People who make art see it in a different way from those who merely study it. Artists have a personal closeness to the process of artistic creation, and are thus often able to understand more easily how a piece of work is put together. An artist’s criticism, however, provides insight not only into the object under scrutiny but also, reflexively, into the artist/critic’s own methods or beliefs. Continue reading