John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore contrasts the generic tragedy in more ways than one. Beginning with Giovanni's incestouous relationship with Annabella, the reader gets the sense that we are dealing with a playwright prone to opposing all that is conventional. Naturally, one might ask how this controversial subject of incest would be received at the time, as today it seems to be a taboo subject.
More specifically I was interested in the father, Florio, and his treatment of his scandalous children. Rather than presenting the typical overbearing father, who is concerned with his own financial well-being, Ford presents a father intent on allowing a certain freedom to his daughter. He outlines this very clearly in Act I when he says to Donado, "As for worldly fortune, I am, I thank my stars, blessed with enough. My care is how to match her to her liking. I would not have her marry wealth, but love, and, if she like your nephew, let him have her. Here's all that I can say" (1.3, 8-13).
It seems, from this speech, that this is the very type of father that we would have wished to see in plays such as The Merchant of Venice or The Jew of Malta, one that only wishes for the happiness of his daughter; however, it seems that Ford is criticizing this patriarchal type. This father, whose only wish is the happiness of his children, is, in the end, punished for the freedom he allows his children. In fact, his death is induced by the shock from such an unspeakable and sinful act. What is Ford's intention in constructing this seemingly good-natured father and then tearing him down in the end of the play? What does this say about the control, or lack thereof, fathers exhibit over their children? Should Florio have taken more control over his children as Donado did with Bergetto?
Other things to think about might be the way the Christian Church is conveyed, and its overall involvement with the law. Ford presents some controversial instances, such as the Cardinal pardoning Grimaldi's murder of Bergetto, and the Church seizing all the wealth of the deceased at the end of the play. Why might Ford insert these instances, and what is he inferring about the Church's involvement in the law?
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I think Tommy's point about a relatively lenient patriarch is spot on. I also think it has a direct relationship to what Ford is doing with the Cardinal and the friar. The Catholic Church is definitely being criticized in this play, and I think it is very ironic that the Cardinal banishes Vasquez forever for being a good Catholic--for paying "the duty to the son which I have vowed to the father" (V. vi. 113). Vasquez's language here reflects that of a good Catholic, and his respect for his own patriarch, Soranzo's father, only gets him banished in the end. Furthermore, the friar, another Catholic figure, is too weak to even persuade Giovanni from not attending Soranzo's birthday party. The Cardinal's leniency is, I think, directly related to Florio's; Ford seems to be suggesting that incest and murder will flourish without a more rigid rule, both at home and in the Church.
ReplyDeleteWill
PS. Here is my bibliography for my final paper so far, in case anyone is interested.
Beauregard, David N. “‘That Great Supremacy’: Kings and Cardinals in Kings John and Henry
VIII.” Catholic Theology in Shakespeare’s Plays. Newark: Newark University of
Delaware Press, 2008. 124-144.
Hamilton, Donna B. “Henry VIII: The Protestant-Catholic Court in 1613.” Shakespeare and the Politics of Protestant England. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1992. 163-190.
Mayer, Jean-Cristophe. “Revisiting the Reformation: Shakespeare and Fletcher’s King Henry VIII.” Shakespeare’s Hybrid Faith: History, Religion and the Stage. Early Modern
Literature in History. Reading: University of Reading, 2006.
BenDC says,
ReplyDeleteTommy makes an excellent and interesting point about the father's leniency but for some reason I don't quite agree.
I feel no matter what kind of father Florio was Giovanni and Annabella still would have incestuous tendencies. Also any parent would be distraught to find out his/her children were incestuous so it is no surprise that Florio died from shock. That death may have been for dramatic purposes rather than criticism.
But then again Will's post seems to suggest otherwise. If Ford is criticizing the Church's need for more rigid rules (as seen in the Friar's weakness) than it is reasonable to believe that he was also criticizing the home (Florio's parenting skills). Giovanni and Annabella's incest may very well be a result of this incredible leniency.
Come to think about it I am not so sure where I stand in this matter...
I think that the way the play separates marriage from love is very interesting and relates to Ford's view of Catholicism and Florio's lack of control over Annabella and Giovanni. The only example of true love we see in the play is a taboo incestuous relationship between Annabella and Giovanni, perhaps made more possible by Florio's unusual lack of control over Annabella and the Friar's inability to stop Giovanni from loving Annabella. Perhaps Ford is trying to show that this kind of real love, as opposed to forced marriage (Annabella and Soranzo) should not be prevented, even if it cannot exist successfully and will inevitably end in tragedy.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, after seeing the cruel revenge at Annabella and Soranzo's wedding and Hippolita's death, Richardetto, formerly looking to marry his niece, Philotis, to a wealthy man, abandons the idea of her marrying and sends her to a convent. Distraught by the ruined conventions of marriage, Richardetto laments that, "in tender love and pity of your youth... [I] should free your years" (4.2.15). From this scene, I think we can see that marriage is viewed as a lost cause, separate from anything related to love.
During the time that this play was written, an incestuous relationship between brother and sister must have been quite provocative. What is also provocative is the concept of a father who just wants her daughter to be happy in the end. This is something that is virtually unseen in most Renaissance plays; such as Merchant of Venice or Jew of Malta. When Ford wrote this play I do not think that he meant to make a new statement about how fathers should act. Quite differently I think he was only reaffirming that fathers, and men in general, should have more control over their daughters and women in their lives. Without this control, women are only led to corruption and sin.
ReplyDelete-Hayley
I am inclined to agree with Ben, in that it does not seem as though the play is making the claim that treating children with leniency will lead to ruin, for both the children as well as the parents. Giovanni and Annabella fell in love, not because they were both treated liberally by their father, but because they had strange affections for one another. The way I see it, there is only one thing that would have prevented the onset of their amorous relationship: If their father had come to expect that his children would behave in such a manner, then he might have decided to separate Giovanni and Annabella from their infancy or youth, but, of course, no father ever envisions that his children are going to enter into an incestuous relationship. Another point that I would like to make, and this may or may not be an apt comparison, is that in today's society, parents are generally more lenient with their children, and despite this leniency or liberality, one does not encounter incestuous relationships forming all over the landscape. Though I understand and appreciate Tommy's argument, I simply cannot accept that Florio was to blame for what transpired between Giovanni and Annabella.
ReplyDelete-RP