'Tis Pity She's a Whore
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'Tis Pity She's A Whore is a Caroline era tragedy written by John Ford. It was likely first performed between 1629 and 1633,[1] by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre. The play was first published in 1633, in a quarto printed by Nicholas Okes for the bookseller Richard Collins. Ford dedicated the play to John Mordaunt, 1st Earl of Peterborough and Baron of Turvey.
The play was revived early in the Restoration era: Samuel Pepys saw a 1661 performance at the Salisbury Court Theatre. In 1894 The play was translated into French by Maurice Maeterlinck under then name of Annabella, and produced at the Theatre de l'Ouvre.[2]
The play's treatment of the subject of incest made it one of the most controversial works in English literature.[3] The play was entirely omitted from an 1831 collected edition of Ford's plays; its title has often been changed to something euphemistic like Giovanni and Annabella or 'Tis Pity or The Brother and Sister. Until well into the twentieth century, critics were usually harsh in their condemnations. The subject matter offended them, as did Ford's failure to condemn his protagonist. "Instead of stressing the villainy, Ford portrays Giovanni as a talented, virtuous, and noble man who is overcome by a tumultuous passion that brings about his destruction."[4] Since the mid-twentieth century, scholars and critics have shown more tolerance, understanding, and appreciation of the complexities and ambiguities of the work.[5]
Contents |
[edit] Characters
- Men
- Bonaventura - A Friar
- A Cardinal - Nuncio to the Pope
- Soranzo - A Nobleman (Annabella's suitor and eventually husband)
- Florio - A citzen of Parma
- Donado - Another Citzen
- Grimaldi - A Roman Gentleman (Annabella's suitor)
- Giovanni - Son of Florio (pronounced with four syllables)
- Bergetto - Nephew of Donado (Annabella's suitor and then Philotis's fiance/suitor)
- Richardetto - A suspposed Physican (actually Hippolita's wife in disguise)
- Vasques - Servant to Soranzo
- Poggio - Servant to Bergetto
- Banditti
- Women
- Annabella - Daughter of Florio
- Hippolita - Wife of Richardetto (Soranzo's former paramour)
- Philotis - Niece of Richardetto (becomes Bergetto's fiance)
- Putana - Tutoress of Annabella
[edit] Synopsis
Giovanni has developed an incestuous passion for his sister Annabella, despite their blood relationship. She, meanwhile, is being courted by a number of suitors, including Bergetto, Grimaldi and Soranzo. She is not interested in any of them, however, and when Giovanni lies and tells her that their love is permitted by the church, she tells him she loves him. Annabella's maidservant Putana (a classic nutrix figure) encourages the relationship. The siblings consummate their relationship, and Annabella becomes pregnant.
To keep their secret, Giovanni's friar advises Annabella to marry. She marries Soranzo, who is in love with her but comes to despise her when he discovers she is already pregnant. He has his man Vasques find out the father of her child from Putana, who is later blinded by Banditti as punishment. When Vasques learns of Giovanni and Annabella's incestuous relationship, both he and Soranzo are disgusted. They resolve to have Annabella put to death.
Annabella meanwhile has repented of her sin, and sends a letter to advise her brother. Giovanni then comes to see her, possibly aware that Soranzo intends to kill her. He instead kills her, purportedly to save what little virtue and honor she has left, and cuts out her heart.
Giovanni then bursts in upon the Cardinal, Florio, Soranzo and Vasques. He carries Annabella's heart on his dagger, and admits to the adulterous relationship. His father, Florio, dies in shock and horror at this announcement. Giovanni stabs Soranzo in contempt and fatally injures him. However Vasques takes up the fight, and with the help of Banditti, Giovanni is killed. The play ends with the Cardinal ordering Putana be burned alive and Vasques banished for murder.
[edit] In popular culture
- Midsomer Murders, Pilot Episode, “The Killings at Badger's Drift” (1997) - Cully Barnaby rehearses for the role of Annabella throughout the episode, and this detail ties up a loose end at the conclusion of the episode.
- In Angela Carter's short story collection American Ghosts and Old World Wonders, the story "John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's A Whore" sets the story in an Old West setting typical of the films of director John Ford.
[edit] References
- ^ Terence P. Logan and Denzell S. Smith, The Later Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists, Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1978; p. 141.
- ^ http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/John_Ford
- ^ Logan and Smith, p. 127.
- ^ Mark Stavig, John Ford and the Traditional Moral Order, Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin Press, 1968; p. 95.
- ^ Logan and Smith, pp. 128-9.
[edit] External links
- [1].
- CurtainUp Review of 'Tis Pity - review of a modern performance of this play
- Times Online Review - another review of a modernized performance
