Overview
Synopsis
A brother and sister and their forbidden love - this is the premise of John Ford’s dark revenge tragedy ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore. Young Parman nobleman Giovanni is desperately in love with his sister Annabella, and is overjoyed when she reciprocates his feelings. But they know that their incestuous passion must remain a secret, a secret they believe they can keep - until Annabella is pregnant. With suitors clambering for Annabella’s hand in marriage, the solution seems obvious: She must marry one of them right away to save her honor and keep the secret. Will this plan work? With multiple revenge schemes, jilted lovers, and manipulative servants, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore spares no character from heartbreak, leaving the audience in shock at the lengths someone will go to in the name of love.
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Context
John Ford wrote ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore sometime between 1629 and 1633, officially publishing it in 1633. He dedicated the play to his friend John Mordaunt, the Earl of Peterborough, telling him, “The gravity of the subject may easily excuse the lightness of the title, otherwise I had been a severe jude against my own guilt.” Despite having a flippant title, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore is one of the darkest tragedies of English Renaissance drama.
Unlike many other plays of Renaissance
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Giovanni, son of Florio (a citizen of Parma), is in mental anguish and has confessed his heart to the Friar: the young man is desperately in love with his own sister, Annabella. The Friar demands that Giovanni examine his heart and conscience, and remember his learning and reason, rather than court lust and death. Giovanni agrees, and promises to pray with the Friar for deliverance from his unnatural desires.
In the streets of Parma, the nobleman Grimaldi is ready to fight with Vasques, the
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Character Portrayals
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Guide Written By:
Cindi Calhoun
Theatre teacher, director, writer, and seamstress