The Unhappy Favourite; Or, The Earl Of Essex is a 1681 tragedy by the English writer John Banks.

The first Drury Lane cast included Thomas Clark as The Earl of Essex, Philip Griffin as Earl of Southampton, Michael Mohun as Burleigh, Thomas Disney as Sir Walter Raleigh, Anne Marshall as Queen Elizabeth, Sarah Cooke as Countess of Rutland and Mary Corbett as Countess of Nottingham.

[1] John Dryden wrote a special prologue for a performance attended by Charles II and his wife Catherine of Braganza.

Banks dedicated the published version of 1682 to Princess Anne, niece of the king, who herself later came to the throne.

In 1731 James Ralph wrote The Fall of the Earl of Essex, borrowing heavily from Banks.