How to Act Cressida’s Monologue: “Boldness comes to me now, and brings me heart” (Troilus and Cressida 3.2)
- Arianna Gayle Stucki
- May 31
- 5 min read
By Acting Coaching Online
Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida isn’t a fairytale. It's a war story—written with a bitter edge that challenges the romanticized myth of Helen of Troy. And at the center of that war, we find Cressida: not a villain, not a coquette, but a deeply vulnerable, intelligent young woman caught between duty, desire, and fear.
This blog post is for actors preparing Cressida’s monologue that begins:“Boldness comes to me now, and brings me heart…”Here’s how to break it down with clarity, context, and heart.
The Text - Act 3 Scene 2:
CRESSIDA Boldness comes to me now, and brings me heart.
Prince Troilus, I have loved you night and day
For many weary months.
TROILUS
Why was my Cressid then so hard to win?
CRESSIDA
Hard to seem won: but I was won, my lord,
With the first glance that ever--pardon me--
If I confess much, you will play the tyrant.
I love you now; but not, till now, so much
But I might master it: in faith, I lie;
My thoughts were like unbridled children, grown
Too headstrong for their mother. See, we fools!
Why have I blabb'd? who shall be true to us,
When we are so unsecret to ourselves?
But, though I loved you well, I woo'd you not;
And yet, good faith, I wish'd myself a man,
Or that we women had men's privilege
Of speaking first. Sweet, bid me hold my tongue,
For in this rapture I shall surely speak
The thing I shall repent. See, see, your silence,
Cunning in dumbness, from my weakness draws
My very soul of counsel! stop my mouth.
💭 Understand the World First:
This play is set in Troy, under siege by 69 Greek city-states. We’re not in a fantasy realm—we’re in what Shakespeare understood as history. When Shakespeare wrote this, the stories of Greece's siege of Troy were heroic and grand. Shakespeare's play gives a "debunking" tone to the usual heroism of this story. He wants to bring reality to the mess of war, and people's mistakes and motivations inside of it. Everyone is exhausted. Loyalties are tested. Love is not a luxury; it’s a risk.
So again, the play is in Troy. The Greeks are attacking. All 3 people in this scene (Cressida, Troilus, and Pandarus) are Trojans. Not only that, Troilus is a Prince of Troy - the younger brother of Paris, who caused this entire war by "stealing" away Helen from the Greeks.
Cressida’s father, Calchas, has betrayed Troy and defected to the Greeks. Cressida has been left behind, young and alone, to rule her household in a literal warzone. Her uncle Pandarus supports her, but he doesn’t live with her. There is real abandonment and betrayal in her bones.
Months before this monologue, in Act 1 Scene 2, Cressida confessed privately to us that she loved Troilus, but refused to show it. This moment—this monologue—is her breaking point after months of holding back.
🔍 Where Are We in the Play?
This scene takes place in Cressida’s orchard, during the day, in her own home. Troilus has finally been granted time to be with her, and she knows it.
Moments before she speaks this monologue, Troilus says that the pain he feels in love is how boundless his feelings but how limited his ways to express them, ie. a sort of "I love you so much it hurts" idea.
But Cressida pushes back—hard. She challenges the idea of romantic declarations, calling them hollow, painful, and unreliable.
Then, Pandarus makes an offhand comment about how women in their family are slow to show affection but fiercely loyal once they do. That comment—about how she loves—cracks Cressida open. And this is where the monologue begins.
🧠 Text Trick: Let the Verse Guide You
If Shakespeare’s verse overwhelms you, start by looking at the final word of each line in the monologue. For this one, they are:
heart – day – months – lord – me – tyrant – much – lie – grown – fools – us – ourselves – not – man – privilege – tongue – speak – silence – draws – mouth.
Even without the full text, these words paint a clear picture:
Emotional conflict: tyrant, lie, fools, not
Longing and exposure: heart, me, speak, mouth
Themes of honesty and restraint: silence, tongue, privilege
Try emphasizing these end-words when you first read the piece aloud. Shakespeare’s verse supports the emotional turns—it’s built to help you find the thought.
Want to go line-by-line with a coach? Book a Shakespeare Homework Help session with Acting Coaching Online.
👥 Use Both Scene Partners:
Remember: Troilus AND Pandarus are in the room.
Pandarus is the family member who’s been pushing this connection, as well as the father figure who has stayed by your side. You can check in with him as if to say, “Am I speaking too much/is my vulnerability putting us in danger or ruining this?" or "Look what an idiot you've turned me into, and how embarrassed I am." or "Ok, I'm finally being honest with him!"
Troilus is her beloved, her greatest fear, her deepest desire. Every line is an emotional negotiation with him: Do you love me back? Will you abandon me? Can I trust you?
🎯 What Does She Want?
At the core of the monologue, to me, Cressida wants:
Safety. Loyalty. Stability. Love that won’t betray her.
Her dream is to be fully known and still be safe. Her nightmare is to be vulnerable and then left—like her father left Troy. She wants to trust, but her body remembers what betrayal feels like.
If this objective doesn’t light you up, dig deeper:
Start with the most obvious thing you can see - maybe it's: “I want Troilus to love me.”
Then ask: “What would that give me?”
Keep going until you reach something that feels alive in your body.
🚧What Gets in Her Way? (Obstacles)
Cressida’s inner conflict is between:
The fear that love will make her foolish and vulnerable (like her motherless “unbridled” thoughts) - if she shows too much, Troilus could hurt her.
The fear that if she doesn’t speak now, she’ll miss her one chance at real connection
Let her past of having a traitorous father and her present of Troilus being a literal soldier and prince of Troy deepen both of these fears.
🛠 Acting Advice From Our Coaches:
Don’t play “nervous.” Play the war: between restraint and release. Between fear and desire. Between self-protection and self-revelation.
Let the metaphors be personal. “Unbridled children” can mean her thoughts, her hope, her inner life. Make it vivid.
Use the environment. This is her home. Her orchard. Her bed is near, and she's (almost) alone with her beloved. She grew up here. It matters that he’s in her space. Make that physical.
Let it be messy. This isn’t about delivering a clean, composed confession. It’s about spilling. Trying to patch it up. Then spilling more. Every line is a tug-of-war. Don't let yourself off the hook. Cressida is deeply uncomfortable here, so we have to imagine that space in ourselves as specifically as possible.
❤️ Final Thought from Acting Coaching Online:
Cressida is often written off as duplicitous or untrustworthy. But in this moment? She is entirely honest. And it terrifies her.
Your job as the actor is to honor her courage. Show the cost of truth-telling. Show what it means for a woman to speak first—and fear the consequences.
Want to get to work on your next monologue? Book a lesson with us today.
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