Essex in Trilogy

After his disobedient return from Ireland, the Earl of Essex was kept in house arrest, first in York House, then in his own palace, Essex House. He thought this punishment was extended by his enemies at court and plotted to rid Whitehall of those men. This play presents his imprisonment and subsequent plots pursued in London.

The earls of Essex and Southampton are tried together for high treason before a jury of the noblest peers. Pleading not guilty, they strive in angry and arrant disputation with Attorney General Edward Coke and Francis Bacon. This drama is the third part of an Aeschylean trilogy and maintains the classical form of tragedy in English, with seven scenes of dialogue and seven choral performances.