Who is the Real Whore of Parma? - Representation of Women in Ford's ''Tis Pity She's a Whore'

Zusatztext

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,3, University of Marburg, course: Concept of Love, language: English, abstract: Not only because of its provoking title, Tis Pity Shes a Whore can be described as John Fords most controversial play (Anderson 92). The plays main plot portrays the passionate but forbidden love between the siblings Giovanni and Annabella. Moreover, Tis Pity is an extraordinary violent play with several vivid action sequences (Abate 94). All in all, there are five murder victims, Annabellas tutress Putana is blinded, and her father Florio drops dead. The play reaches its brutal climax when Giovanni enters the feast with Annabellas heart on his dagger. Nonetheless, the Cardinal does only blame one person for what has happened in the course of the play: Of one so young, so rich in Natures store, | Who could not say, Tis Pity shes a whore? (V.vi.158-159). The Cardinals final condemnation seems to be unnecessarily vindictive (Hopkins ix) because Annabella has not only repented of her sins, but she was also killed by her brother and her heart was displayed on his dagger. Besides, Corinne S. Abate points out that there are several other characters who could claim this denunciation and our pity (Abate 94).

Weitere Details